Tag Archive for: In

Celebrating 25 Years In Irrigation

/in , , /by

Celebrating 25 Years In Irrigation: Celebrating 25 years in the business, Jeremy Green became an authorised Landscape Agent for Rain Bird UK in May 1994. In 2006 he established Evergreen Irrigation in Pitstone and the company has become one of the UK’s most well respected landscape irrigation specialists.

Jeremy says: “Irrigation has become important in discussions about landscaping – not just to ensure appropriate watering, but also because of the need for more efficient use of water. Many building projects require irrigation as part of the eco-friendly requirements of local authorities. Increasing numbers of Landscape Designers are including irrigation in their layouts and looking to us to address the watering requirements for various types of plants and trees.”

Celebrating 25 Years In Irrigation

Jeremy’s original involvement with irrigation was when he began his career in the Middle East, acquiring experience on high profile projects. He familiarised himself with Rain Bird working for the landscape and irrigation project division of the BMTC in Saudi Arabia. “ The Middle East has a demanding climate so effective irrigation is essential. If products are tough enough to operate efficiently there, then the UK should present no problem. I was keen to be associated with Rain Bird on my return to the UK. “

Jeremy sees the most significant recent product development to be dripline surface irrigation that provides water exactly where it is needed. Automatic control systems including Wi-Fi linked and IQ-Cloud systems, which Rain Bird has developed, bring new levels of practicality and bespoke control. There has been a greater emphasis on training: “ Rain Bird and most other large irrigation suppliers provide extensive training programmes. I would like to see the industry take a greater lead in training, implementing recognised qualifications and codes of practice.”

Evergreen Irrigation supplies products for smaller residential installations and local roadside landscaping as well as commercial roof gardens and high profile installations including Royal Albert Hall, London Eye, Arsenal FC Training Ground, National Trust Properties and the HM Treasury.  “With increasing awareness of the need to use water responsibly, I see the irrigation industry going from strength to strength. The next 25 years will be an exciting period,” Jeremy concludes.

Evergreen Irrigation, Pitstone Green Business Park, Tunnel Way, Pitstone, Beds, LU7 9GJ

Tel: 01296 668402, office@evergreen-irrigation.co.uk  www.evergreen-irrigation.co.uk

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Killeen Castle Invest In John Deere

/in , , /by

Killeen Castle Invest In John Deere: Killeen Castle Golf Club in Co Meath, Ireland is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2019, as well as its recent investment in a state of the art golf course equipment fleet deal with John Deere and local dealer Dublin Grass Machinery worth in excess €500,000, with finance arranged through Deere’s partner Bank of Ireland.

The machinery acquisition represents a significant investment on the part of Killeen Castle in the future of the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course, as the club enters its second decade of golf operations. The championship golf course opened in 2009 and was described by the 18-time Major winner and course designer as “one of my proudest designs”.

Killeen Castle Invest In John Deere

The upgraded equipment fleet includes tees, fairway, greens and rough mowers, utility tractors, Gator utility vehicles, sprayers, top dressers and bunker rakes – with the latest John Deere E-Cut hybrid electric mowers now playing an important part in future-proofing the work of course superintendent Mark Collins and his team.

Killeen Castle has hosted The 2011 Solheim Cup between Europe and USA in addition to three Ladies Irish Opens from 2010 to 2012. The 630-acre estate also features a number of signature residential properties, The Dave Pelz Scoring Game School, Fore Golf Custom Club Fitters and a Norman castle dating back to 1181.

The castle will become the focal point of the estate following a recent grant of planning permission for a 177-room luxury hotel, including the renovation and restoration of the original structure which will house 17 suites and a number of luxury dining rooms. The new three-storey structure partnering this renovation will incorporate 160 rooms, a day spa, function rooms and a winter garden restaurant.

The investment in new equipment also included an upgrade and enhancement of the club’s rental golf cars and trolleys to the latest state of the art GPS units, as well as re-kerbing of the entire clubhouse compound. This was in addition to significant works around the golf course and peripheral areas to enhance the sanding and drainage profile of the course, all designed to ensure championship standard golfing conditions for members and visitors alike all year round.

“There were many key factors in choosing John Deere equipment,” said Mark Collins. “The relationship with Dublin Grass Machinery and sales manager Noel Bennett was high up the list, with the excellent technical and back-up service provided for the past 12 years.

“The quality of John Deere machinery is quite simply second to none, and the company’s advances in technology with the hybrid electric mowers made the decision an easy one. The overall package will allow us to continue to improve our work practices and deliver even better standards of course presentation to our members and guests.”

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Holes Appear In Cricket Pitch

/in , , /by

Holes Appear In Cricket Pitch: Vandals have hit a cricket club in Tameside after digging up more than 150 holes on the pitch.

The damage to the wickets at Ashton Ladysmith Cricket Club was discovered earlier this week.

It’s thought to have happened some time between 5pm on Tuesday and 2pm on Thursday.

The ground on Rosehill Road in Ashton-under-Lyne is secure and to get inside someone would have had to scale a 6ft metal fence – with a spade.

That’s why club bosses believe the attack on the pitch was deliberate and premeditated.

Club house manager David Gaskin discovered the damage.

“It’s definitely deliberate,” he said.

“Over 150 holes have been dug up with a spade.

“It happened last year as well, it wasn’t as bad and we thought at the time it may have been kids but not this, this is deliberate.

“It’s the same area that’s been targeted as well so it seems like someone has a grievance against the club.”

David said it took him three hours to put the dug-up grass back in the holes but says it will be at least a month before it is fit to play on.

Members will have to use practice pitches for the time being.

“Out of 10 wickets, seven had been damaged, and they’re the main ones that we use so whoever did this knew what they were doing.

“They will have also had to get over a 6ft metal fence with a spade to get in, and needed 30-40 minutes to do what they did so it had to have been planned.

“I just don’t understand it.”

The incident has been reported to police and enquiries are being carried out.

David said the club is now looking to install CCTV and is appealing to any local businesses who would be willing to help out to get in touch.

Click here to read the original article

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Limagrain Stays In The Family

/in , /by

Limagrain Stays In The Family: Alex Exton, head groundsman at Witham Hall in Lincolnshire, claims he has not looked back since using a range of MM grass seed from Limagrain UK, having had the mixture recommended by his father Keith.

Keith Exton has enjoyed a long and prosperous career in the turf industry and Alex, long inspired by his dad, is now carving his own successful path in the industry. However, he admits that he would be foolish to not soak up some of the wisdom Keith has accumulated over the years.

Limagrain Stays In The Family

“I first heard about Limagrain through my father who is a big fan of them,” said Alex. “He’s been quite successful within the industry and I suppose I have just tried to follow in his footsteps.

“I know he used Limagrain when he was at Oakham School for 16 years or so and then continued to use them when he went to Glamorgan County Cricket Club.  ​He is now at Grantham CC and is still using MM50 and Action Replay to this day”.

Alex is entering his ninth year at the prestigious Witham Hall which is a thriving boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 4-13 years. The school is committed to providing a first-class education both in and beyond the classroom and sport is a fundamental part of the curriculum – which is where Alex comes in.

The children can enjoy the major team sports of rugby, football, hockey, cricket, netball and rounders, and Alex alongside two other members of staff, maintain the fabulous sports pitches, grounds and facilities all year round.

Alex has a busy schedule which sees a tight turnaround in transforming the pitches for the relevant sports in between terms. As you can imagine, the playing fields experience an incredibly high amount of usage all year round but Alex claims that his use of Limagrain grass seed helps the turf to withstand such high wear.

Throughout his tenure at Witham Hall, he has relied on Limagrain’s MM50 for the cricket squares and Action Replay for all of the outfields which includes the rugby, hockey and football pitches.

MM is one of the most respected brands in the UK sportsturf and amenity industries and is relied upon at top sports grounds throughout the UK and beyond. In particular, MM50 is ideal for cricket squares and outfields. This hard-wearing mix has rapid germination, very fine leaved appearance, high shoot density and is tolerant to very close mowing, along with high disease resistance. All these attributes together produce a fantastic sward that has great colour all year round

Limagrain’s Action Replay belongs to the company’s Designer range of amenity grass seed and is an excellent mixture to use when renovating winter sports pitches. It will establish very quickly producing a dense, hard wearing sward for all heavy-duty sports areas.

According to Alex, both of these products provide him with everything he is looking for in a grass seed.

Limagrain Stays In The Family

“We try to put Action Replay down in the spring and autumn as part of our renovations. I have just recently purchased a disc seeder so I tend to put it down between 20-25g/m2.

“On the cricket square it all depends on what I’m doing. If I have cleaned a track out in the playing season and want to reuse it, I will groove out and apply the product with the pedestrian push spreader. When I’m over-seeding the whole square, as part of our end of season renovations, I must admit that I put plenty on. I will normally apply two bags with the pedestrian spreader, to fall into the grooves made by the scarifier and then I will go over it in four directions with our SISIS Variseeder, again with another two bags.

“I know it sounds a lot but our square is on a slope, so when watering, the water can run and take a fair bit of seed with it. I just think that doing it this way works really well for our site and I get a fantastic take and coverage.

“The MM50 is excellent for the cricket – it stands the sort mowing, the heavy rolling and recovers incredibly well. In fact, both products perform consistently well and I never have any bad results or problems. It’s as simple as that really – they are good solid products.

“If I’m ever asked what seed I use, I only ever say Limagrain and I would recommend MM50 and Action Replay to anyone.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/mm. You can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

INFINICUT® Improves Presentation In Sweeden

/in , /by

INFINICUT® Improves Presentation In Sweeden: Home to Ik Oddevold and Rössö IF, the Rimnersvallen Stadium in Sweeden have recently purchased a Cub Cadet INFINICUT® 34” mower from local dealer Grasvardsmaskiner. Used on the main stadium pitch, including before matches, Rimnersvallen Grounds Manager Robert Adamsson has been particularly impressed with the improvement in the quality of cut and appearance produced.

The multi-use stadium, which played host to Pele’s first World Cup match in 1958, is currently under redevelopment with the changes including taking delivery of their INFINICUT® in spring last year. “Ivan came over and did a demonstration and we liked the mower straight away” explains Robert, who is supported by a team of 3 groundstaff. “The first, and perhaps the most important thing for us, is that it runs on battery power making the mower very quiet which means we can get out and mow early in the morning.” Featuring an athletics track in addition to the main pitch, the quiet operation of the INFINICUT® means that mowing can take place at any time, including when the facilities are in use by children from the local school.

INFINICUT® Improves Presentation In Sweeden

“The whole team use the INFINICUT® and have been impressed with how easy it is to use, and how simple it is to adjust the cutting position. The quality of the cut it produces has dramatically improved the appearance of the pitch, which hasn’t gone unnoticed by the players and the fans.”

The Cub Cadet INFINICUT® has been specifically designed to offer the operator the ability to alter geometry and working parameters to ensure sward consistency is retained regardless of the time of year or conditions encountered. Plant health can only be augmented by choosing the correct equipment set-up for the circumstances that prevail at any given time. Setting the mower with an attitude angle that is too aggressive can weaken the plant during times of plant stress allowing pathogens to more easily ‘take hold’. Frequency of clip (FOC) is important in ensuring the correct quality is achieved for the specific height of cut as an incorrect FOC can mulch the plant leading to an unclean cut and an increase risk of disease.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.