Tag Archive for: Key

Sherriff’s Marathon Key For Trojans

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Sherriff’s Marathon Key For Trojans: With sports pitches facing heavy usage at the Trojan Club in Eastleigh, Hampshire, head groundsman Dave Edwards needs to ensure the turf stands up to the rigours of winter sports. It is for this reason he chooses Sherriff Amenity’s Marathon Sport extended release fertilisers.

The Trojan Sports Club is a community-based amateur sports club which is run by the members, for the members and is open to all. The club receives no ongoing support from local or national sports authorities, and is totally reliant on member subscriptions, bar takings and fund-raising for its continued survival; and in a true case of Trojan by name, Trojan by nature – survive it certainly does.

Sherriff’s Marathon Key For Trojans

Trojan is one of the largest amateur sports clubs in Hampshire and has a long history of playing sport at a high level including rugby, hockey, squash, cricket and football. Tasked with ensuring the quality and safety of the sports pitches is Dave Edwards, who aside from the help of volunteers two days a week, tends to the large site alone.

Dave has been in the turf industry for the entirety of his career and after a nine year spell as a groundsman at AFC Bournemouth, he went onto positions at Iford Golf Club, Christchurch F.C and Meyrick Park Golf Club before accepting the role of head groundsman at Trojan two and a half years ago.

It was in his previous employment that he first became acquainted with Sherriff Amenity’s Marathon Sport extended release fertilisers.

“I had previous experience of using the Marathon range and especially when I was at the football grounds – I didn’t really use anything else. I thought they were good slow release products which lasted an incredibly long time. In my opinion there are a lot of slow release products out there which are hit and miss and it can be a bit of a lottery but I was impressed with the Marathon range. In summer, the pitches used to really kick on when using them for the end of season renovations, so when I started here I thought it made sense to start using them again.”

The Marathon range is characterised by a balance of nutrients, the analyses of each product being geared to a specific growth stage or season. With five existing products in the Marathon Sport range – Autumn, Pre-Seed, Spring, Summer, Lawn Mini Pack– there truly is a solution for every requirement, no matter what the time of year.

Across the four rugby pitches, Dave’s maintenance programme sees him start the season with the Summer mixture 10.0.15, which he applies at 35g/m2 before turning to the Marathon Sport Autumn 7.0.21 to ensure good grass coverage over winter. Just through these two applications, Dave believes that it is all he needs to ensure the turf stays strong and healthy all year round.

“The products are very good in respect of providing the turf with a lovely colour and they are extremely hard wearing – it keeps the grass looking healthy but toughens it up as well which is what we need for the amount of usage. The pitches are used approximately 6-7 days a week through the winter and the slow release gives us great longevity, it doesn’t tail off after a few weeks.

“Overall, I would say that the Marathon Sport fertilisers are great value for money without a shadow of a doubt. The customer service I receive from Sherriff Amenity is also fantastic; I always get products on time and my representative David Evans is full of advice and very supportive.”

For further information, please contact Sherriff Amenity on 01638 721 888 or visit www.sherriffamenity.com

For more news and insightful views, you can follow Sherriff Amenity on Twitter @SherriffAmenity

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Limagrain Key At York Racecourse

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Limagrain Key At York Racecourse: Having been a long-term user of Limagrain grass seed, Adrian Kay, head groundsman at York Racecourse, believes that an improvised MM25 mixture gives him the confidence to keep the course to an exceptionally high standard all year long.

Adrian, the man in charge of keeping York Racecourse ahead of the pack, has been the head groundsman for twelve years. He joined York from Aintree Racecourse in 2006 and two years later was instrumental in a huge £2.6 million track development project.

Limagrain Key At York Racecourse

As part of the project, significant drainage works were carried out in order to remove and keep water at bay from the surface, which is situated on an old river bed and flood plain. Although that project was undertaken over nine years ago, Adrian and his team still continue to focus their attention on maintaining and improving the surface and primary drainage.

It could be argued that Adrian is somewhat of an industry pioneer as he continues to adopt new methods, particularly in his decision to embrace the Koro process in order to strip the top of the surface and remove all vegetation and rootzone – something which is practically unheard of in horse racing turf maintenance. As a result, Adrian admits that whichever grass seed he uses, he must have full confidence that it is going to provide him with exceptional results and guarantee a fast return to usability.

“I’ve been using Limagrain seed for about 16 years now and I’ve got every confidence in the seed. I used MM25 when I was at Aintree and then we played around with the mixture here at York to suit our renovations.

“The mixture we use consists of 50% Tetraploid Perennial Rye, 30% Diploid and 20% Slender Creeping Red Fescue – and it’s treated with HEADSTART® GOLD. It’s a perfect mixture here for what we are trying to achieve and occasionally we use 100% Tetraploid when we are carrying out our renovations.”

With the race season at York finishing in mid-October, Adrian typically uses this period to start his renovations. Although renovating this late in the year can present certain challenges, Adrian believes that his Limagrain mixture ensures a smooth process.

Limagrain Key At York Racecourse

“We normally begin our renovations in October after the race season, which is sometimes not ideal, but we have full confidence in the Limagrain mixture that it will begin to germinate.

“This year renovations were very late with the seed being sown in early November. Unfortunately for us, we then had an extreme winter with Beast from the East followed by a very wet start to the spring.  However, the track couldn’t have looked better with a very good coverage of new grass ready for the first meeting of the on the 16th May – this really is testament to the quality of the seed.”

Racecourses have to withstand a high degree of damage from horses over a whole season which means that selecting the right mixture for renovation and divot repair is vitally important. Adrian’s tailored mixture provides him with a dense hard wearing surface which offers quick germination and provides cushioning in the bottom of the sward.

Adrian says, the mixture which is treated with HEADSTART® GOLD – Limagrain’s unique seaweed based seed treatment helps to ensure rapid and even germination. This tried and tested grass seed treatment helps the seed get off to the best possible start – something which Adrian has been quick to notice.

“I use Limagrain because of the attributes of germination, establishment and the quality of leaf. If I put the seed down two weeks before we are racing, I absolutely know that in ideal conditions we are going to get the germination and establishment that is required.

“For me, it’s a year round product that I use. We use the same mix for repairs on the track as well which we apply after every race meeting. It really is the full package.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/mm.

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ICL Key For John Ledwidge

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ICL Key For John Ledwidge: Leicester City Football Club’s Grounds Manager, John Ledwidge, has praised the consistent support he receives from ICL – particularly during what is an incredibly exciting and somewhat busy period for the club.

John first became familiar with ICL products when he started his groundsmanship journey as a volunteer at Coventry City FC. It was in his next role at Aston Villa FC under the guidance of Jonathan Calderwood that he had more of an active role in applying the products. At the age of 24, he returned to Coventry City as the Head Groundsman of the Ricoh Arena before joining Leicester City four years later.

ICL Key For John Ledwidge

However, even though ICL may well be a brand that he has relied on at every club he has been at during his career, he is the first to admit that sentiment can afford to play no part in his decision to use the products.

“It all stems back to when I was at Coventry City and I first started seeing the products being used on the pitch. But my association with those products from an early age hasn’t influenced our decision making and it isn’t just because we’re comfortable – it is purely because of the results we get from the products. Ultimately, we want to be the best we can be and ICL products have worked for us and have consistently given us great results. It is that product quality and the support we receive from ICL which makes them a key supplier.”

John adheres to an ICL structured iTurf nutritional programme for both the stadium and the training ground. It is a proven programme which John claims helps deliver not only the nutrition that the plant needs but also offers those aesthetic qualities which is expected of the Premier League as well as the standards that are expected from the players, the staff and the owners (King Power).

Recently, King Power bought the Belgian second-flight football club Oud-Heverlee Leuven (OHL), and they signalled their ambitions by significantly investing in all areas of the club. John was tasked with improving the stadium pitch and the training ground, and was keen to implement his ICL programme which has worked so well at Leicester City.

“The day after the owners purchased the club I was flown over and given four days to put together a strategic plan for the development of the pitches, development of the grounds department and to basically replicate what we do here.

ICL Key For John Ledwidge

“We now have a full-time team in place that manage the stadium and the training ground and through that we have translated our use of ICL products and the framework that we use here. I like to think we have created a nice structure in a way of working with the products and it’s given us the results that we’ve wanted at this standard for a long time. Using this framework of ICL products, we’ve managed to do that successfully in Belgium and the pitch has gained a lot of credit.

“Based on what I’ve seen travelling round various clubs in Belgium and listening to feedback from the players and coaches I would suggest that football groundsmanship there is nothing like the top end of professionalism that you would expect here in the UK. With that in mind I see this project as an opportunity to try and change the culture over in Belgium. The Belgium FA are saying that what we are doing is incredible and they are looking at it from a whole view across Belgian football. So, we are hoping to not just make strides in the sense of creating great pitches for OHL but we are also trying to spread that a bit further across the country for the benefit of the industry.”

It is safe to say that John is extremely passionate about the industry he works in. From facilitating educational days for school children to working alongside the Young IOG (Institute of Groundsmanship) board of directors in encouraging young people into the industry – John is a proud and pro-active groundsman. He is always looking for that next opportunity to make a difference and very recently he was presented with exactly that.

Last year, Leicester City Football Club revealed plans for a brand new, state-of-the-art training facility, as part of its long-term commitment to strengthening Leicestershire’s status as a home for the development of world-class sport. Not only will the training complex help to nurture footballing talent but it will also play host to a very unique sports turf academy.

“It’s going to be quite a dynamic site in the sense that it will cater for a lot of different areas of the industry as a whole. The purpose of the sports turf academy was really to capitalise on that amazing venue and hopefully train the next generation of groundsmen. It’s going to be something that has never been done before and the unique part of this academy is that we can give students access to the reality of what they will work on a day to day basis. Whether it’s a one-day course for volunteers or an intensive three year course for someone that wants to go into management – there will be something for everyone and the students can receive a qualification and then move into a work place. There will be a variety of pitches to work on, there will be a golf course for aspiring greenkeepers; there is the option for those interested in horticulture and also for those keen on learning mechanics – which in my opinion there is big shortfall of in the industry.

“Our aim for the sports turf academy is to provide that elite setting for the highest possible standard of training for the industry.

ICL Key For John Ledwidge

“It is such a huge project and we’ll be looking to engage with our key suppliers, such as ICL, for growth and development, of not only the department and the club but also for the industry as a whole.”

John admits that his key suppliers are integral to the Club’s long-term plans and he believes that loyalty is an essential ingredient in these relationships.

“When times have been tough, ICL has always been there – they haven’t just jumped in when they’ve seen the pound signs, which does unfortunately happen in this industry. To us, that loyalty is incredibly important.

“It’s also the confidence in the back-up and the technical support that you get. Ultimately, we know the products that we like, but for me it’s the advice and education that ICL can offer to my members of staff. We want them to know exactly why they might be using a fertilizer or a bio-stimulant and that’s the good thing about having ICL on-board, because guys like Nick Martin (ICL Technical Area Sales Manager) are always quick to help them understand.

“Every month we have educational seminars where we invite our key suppliers to talk to our members of staff and I sit in there too, because we may have a talk on fertilizer and for me at the top of the tree it doesn’t mean that I know everything and actually sometimes my knowledge will slip because I’m so focused on the strategic plans. I feel that it’s vital that we have that outside knowledge from suppliers and Nick is more knowledgeable than me on the ICL products.

Therefore, it’s important that he can come in and translate that knowledge to them.“In my opinion, ICL has gone hand in hand with the evolution of the industry. The company is forward thinking; they have looked at developments and identified exactly how they can help us achieve the results that we are all after.”

Please contact ICL on +44 (0)1473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie.

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Rigby Taylor Key At Great Yarmouth

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Rigby Taylor Key At Great Yarmouth: Great Yarmouth Racecourse has been named as the best flat course in the Racecourse Association’s prestigious grounds staff awards 2018, and Rigby Taylor’s amenity products have played a vital role.

Combined with high-class groundscare routines led by head groundsman Richard Bradley, the use of a host of products as well as continual advice and support by Rigby Taylor this year saw the Great Yarmouth team succeed with a “well-covered and great-coloured” course during a racing season that experienced the hottest summer on record.

Rigby Taylor Key At Great Yarmouth

According to Clerk of the Course, Richard Aldous, the award reflects “both the success of the grounds team’s expertise as well as the efficacy of the products” that have been used at the site for the past five years or so.

“We use a range of Rigby Taylor products to ensure the track consistently looks and performs superbly,” he says, “and we’ve been especially pleased with the combination of using the Fineturf 6-0-18 and PolyPro 25-3-15 slow-release fertilisers and Microlite Activ-8 (both 12-0-12 and 6-0-24).

“Together these have enabled us to produce a track that particularly this year has received laudatory comments from jockeys, trainers and owners.”

He continues: “We re-laid the turf on the straight in 2015 to ensure we could attract top-class horses to Great Yarmouth and to provide opportunities, particularly for horses which might go on to big festival meetings such as Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood. This has certainly been the case this season and I’m in no doubt that the amenity products we use have played a significant part in that success.”

Rigby Taylor Key At Great Yarmouth

Staging 23 meeting each season on the course, from April through to October, the Great Yarmouth team utilises a year-round programme of Rigby Taylor soil testing regimes and products, including the Propel-R wetting agent, liquid seaweed, Greenor systemic herbicide, and Delta Sport granular and Microsol soluble fertilisers, as well as overseeding with the R14 100% perennial rye seed. This, says Richard, “not only germinates quickly and presents a sward that holds together excellently, but it also is very wear- and disease-tolerant”.

With expert groundscare routines coupled with regular visits from Rigby Taylor’s Technical Sales Representative Mark Keysell who, adds Richard, “is always on hand and offers an awful lot of support”, the Great Yarmouth team is happy that everything is being done to ensure they stay on track for successful racing at the 300-year-old racecourse.

For more information, visit: www.rigbytaylor.com

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SISIS Scarifiers Key At Merchant Taylors’

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SISIS Scarifiers Key At Merchant Taylors’: Merchant Taylors’ School, based in Middlesex, have recently invested in a range of SISIS turf maintenance equipment to help maintain high standards at the school’s cricket facilities.

Academic prowess aside, at Merchant Taylors’ there is a huge emphasis on sport and the success of its sporting teams is testament to this. Cricket at Merchant Taylors’ is exceptionally strong and just last year the school won the national under 17’s cricket competition – which was an outstanding achievement for a day school.

SISIS Scarifiers Key At Merchant Taylors’

To date there are currently 17 competitive teams throughout the school who enjoy playing the game across 12 grass cricket squares, indoor and outdoor (all weather) nets, grass nets, and 3 bowling machines. Such is the quality of the cricket facilities that Middlesex County Cricket Club train regularly at the school and use it as a pre-season training camp. The Australian cricket team also trained at the school in preparation for their Ashes tours of 2013 and 2015.

“I think the work we do with Middlesex County Cricket Club, and the teams we have hosted, only benefits the school because of our need to be at the top of our game,” says grounds manager Richard Ayling. “If you are going to host these kind of top sportsmen you have to be in a position to provide the very best surfaces for them. They wouldn’t come here unless they were right and that is, I believe, a reflection on the work carried out by my team.”

Richard and his team of ten have exceptionally high standards and never rest on their laurels despite a hectic work schedule.

“I like to think that all of our sports surfaces are good but we are always striving for that bit more,” he says. “I have a great deputy in Scott Patterson who was the former head groundsman at the Oval and he has really pushed the cricket on.

“The twelve squares are used every Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and we are actually one of the few schools that has started playing cricket throughout September whereas most schools would be moving to just rugby and football.”

As a result, Richard invested in a range of heavy duty SISIS scarifiers – two self-propelled Auto Rotorake MK.5’s and a tractor mounted Rotorake TM1000.

The SISIS Rotorake TM1000 is a tractor mounted heavy duty scarifier and linear aerator and is un-rivalled when it comes to removing and controlling thatch. It includes a collector box and floating unit to follow ground contours and its contra-rotating reel throws debris forward ensuring a clean, consistent groove resulting in an excellent finish when the time comes to scarify. With interchangeable blades and a quick, simple depth setting without tools, Richard has been quick to notice the benefits.

“The TM1000 is predominantly our main cricket scarifier and the ability to change blades is very convenient. With all of the cricket squares and grass nets there is a lot of scarifying to do and the TM1000 serves us incredibly well. It sits nicely behind our tractor, is a solid piece of machinery, collects well and does exactly what it says it will.”

Over recent years Richard has been a big fan of the Auto Rotorake MK.5 and the two new machines were brought in as direct replacements for two older machines. It is perfectly suited to a range of applications from sports field maintenance to synthetic turf maintenance, lawns and amenities. Its contra-rotating reel has specially designed tipped blades for clean, consistent cut and maximum thatch removal. Furthermore the Auto Rotorake MK.5 features a selection of seven different interchangeable reels which enables the machine to carry out a variety of maintenance tasks.

“The Auto Rotorake MK.5 is the perfect sized machine for us and we predominantly use it for cricket pitch preparation and also on the smaller school lawns for scarifying.

“We use the Brush Reel, Scarifying Reel, Verti-Cutter Reel and we like the Spring Tine Reel. We use this reel, not for scarifying, but more for standing up the grasses. It’s great for thinning the grass out, gently cleaning the surface and for a general tidy up on the wickets.”

“The staff use the Auto Rotorake MK.5’s a lot and I have the confidence to let them have their own say on preparations. Therefore, everyone has their own little quirks on how they like to do things and the Auto Rotorake MK.5 gives them the versatility to do so.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com

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