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Haileybury Grounds Manager Praises MM Tetra Sport

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Haileybury Grounds Manager Praises MM Tetra Sport: Andy Richards, Grounds Manager at Haileybury, one of England’s leading independent schools, has hailed MM Tetra Sport for setting a new standard in maintaining the school’s extensive sports pitches.

Praising its exceptional performance, Andy highlighted how the innovative seed mixture has delivered outstanding results on high-use pitches, transforming both their resilience and his team’s workload.

Haileybury Grounds Manager Praises MM Tetra Sport

Haileybury Grounds Manager Praises MM Tetra Sport

Nestled in 500 acres of stunning Hertfordshire countryside, Haileybury is one of England’s leading independent co-educational schools. Known for its academic excellence and vibrant co-curricular programme, Haileybury boasts national champions in girls’ hockey, top-tier cricket teams, and competitive rugby and football squads.

Maintaining the school’s extensive sports facilities, which include approximately 180 pitches and courts, is no small feat, but Grounds Manager Andy Richards thrives on the challenge.

Now in his sixth year at Haileybury, Andy oversees the site with a team of 11 staff. “It’s a large site, and the co-curricular side is massive—not just sport but activities like mountain biking and horse riding,” he explains. “The sports side is huge, and we’re constantly working to maintain and improve the pitches to meet high standards.”

Andy was drawn to the role by the potential he saw at Haileybury. “It’s a big school and was a bit of a sleeping giant when I started. It wasn’t in the best condition, but they wanted to improve it and make it one of the best schools in the country. I liked the challenge—it ticked a lot of boxes for me.”

Having relied on MM50 and MM60 seed mixtures for years, Andy recently turned his attention to MM Tetra Sport, a winter sports overseeding mixture treated with Headstart® GOLD – a performance-enhancing grass seed coating. Impressed by tetraploid ryegrass trial results he’d seen, Andy decided to test MM Tetra Sport on one of Haileybury’s high-use rugby training pitches.

“What I’d heard about Tetra Sport was that it’s harder wearing and requires less water, which was ideal for us given the site conditions,” Andy says.

Its unique tetraploid ryegrass composition offers several advantages:

  • Rapid establishment and germination, even in challenging conditions.
  • Reduced water requirements, promoting deep rooting.
  • High wear tolerance, perfect for high-use pitches.
  • Outstanding disease resistance and excellent colour year-round.

The results were astounding. “We sowed Tetra Sport in three directions, then did a fourth pass after two weeks. The germination was really quick—helped by a rainstorm—but even when the weather turned dry, we didn’t need to water it as soon as we would have with traditional ryegrass.”

For Andy, the reduced need for irrigation was transformative. “Watering a pitch here takes 8 hours, with 290 metres of hose to set up. With Tetra Sport, we held off watering for 10-12 days longer than usual, which was unbelievable.”

After four weeks of growing in, the pitch was ready for its first training session. “It held together really well,” Andy notes. “The pitch next to it, which isn’t Tetra Sport, is like chalk and cheese. That pitch gets about 2 hours of use a week, while the Tetra Sport pitch averages 6 hours, and you’d think it was the other way around. The coverage is fantastic, the colour is natural and vibrant, and it’s incredibly resilient.”

Andy has also noticed other benefits. “We’ve had no disease on the Tetra Sport pitch, whereas other pitches have had issues like fusarium. It’s ticked every box we could have hoped for.”

Andy is so impressed with MM Tetra Sport that he plans to use it across the entire site next year. “I’m even going to experiment with it on a cricket wicket,” he says. “It shows how much seed breeding has developed — tetraploids used to be too coarse, but now the colour and performance are exceptional.”

He also credits MM Seed’s Matt Gresty for his support. “Matt is exemplary—always at the end of the phone and great for bouncing ideas off. He’s incredibly knowledgeable.”

For Andy Richards and the team at Haileybury, MM Tetra Sport has revolutionised pitch performance, proving that with the right seed, you can achieve exceptional results while saving time and resources.

For further information, please contact MM Sports Seed on 01386 791102 or visit the company’s website www.mm-seeds.co.uk.

You can also follow the company on X: @MM_Seed.

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MM Seed at BTME

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MM Seed at BTME: As the pressure grows on greenkeepers to deliver exceptional playing surfaces, MM Seed provides the tools to meet modern expectations while championing sustainable turf management.

Visit Stand 126 at BTME to explore the innovative MM Golf range, designed to enhance every area of your golf course with high-quality, high-performing grass seed mixtures that support environmental goals.

MM Seed at BTME

MM Seed at BTME

Key MM Products to Explore at BTME:

NEW MM21 – A low-input mix for tees and fairways, blending Fescue and Ryegrass for a dense, fine surface with impressive wear tolerance and recovery. MM21 minimises inputs while maintaining vibrant summer and winter colour, aligning performance with sustainability.

MM13 – Featuring improved hard fescue, this mixture is perfect for overseeding or renovating tees, fairways, and roughs. With excellent drought resistance and low maintenance requirements, MM13 supports sustainable course management practices while delivering outstanding results.

MM50 – A reliable choice for high-wear areas like tees, fairways, and driving ranges. This fast-establishing, disease-resistant mix is not only ideal for overseeding and divot repair but also helps minimise disruption by establishing quickly and enduring all year round. MM50 continues to the lead the way in being one of the top overseeding mixtures in the greenkeeping industry.

Sustainability in Focus

MM Seed’s commitment to sustainability shines through its carefully developed mixtures. Products like MM12 and MM13 offer drought tolerance and reduced input requirements, making them ideal for fairways and roughs in light of changing climate conditions. For courses prioritising environmental stewardship, the MM Coastal Fescue mixture provides disease resistance and thrives in low-nutrient soils, reducing the need for fertilisers and water.

For links and heathland courses, where preserving natural habitats is essential, MM Seed offers specialised solutions that balance playability with ecological harmony. Sustainability doesn’t mean compromising on quality—MM Seed proves you can have both.

Discover More at BTME

From tees to greens and everywhere in between, MM Seed offers tailored solutions to elevate your course while reducing its environmental footprint. Don’t compromise—choose seed from the MM Golf range for purity, vigour, and the sustainability your course deserves.

Visit stand 126 to explore these mixtures in detail, ask questions, and find out how MM Seed can help your course stand out while staying green.

For further information, please contact MM Sports Seed on 01386 791102 or visit the company’s website www.mm-seeds.co.uk.

You can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed.

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

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MM Seed to be showcased at GroundsFest

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MM Seed to be showcased at GroundsFest: An impressive range of MM grass seed mixtures will be showcased at GroundsFest 2024, and visitors will get the chance to find out how the innovative seed technology could vastly benefit their sports pitches.

Here’s a snapshot of just some of the mixtures on display at GroundsFest.

MM Seed to be showcased at GroundsFest

MM Seed to be showcased at GroundsFest

MM50

MM50 is perfect for cricket squares, tennis courts and also golf tees and fairways. This hard-wearing mix has rapid germination, extremely fine leaved appearance, high shoot density and is tolerant to very close mowing, as low as 5mm, along with high disease resistance. All these attributes together produce a fantastic sward.

MM60

MM60 is a 100% Ryegrass formula and the UK’s leading winter sports renovation mixture. It is well-known for its extremely fast germination and its high wear tolerance, fast recovery plus excellent disease resistance.

MM Tetrasport

A Tetraploid based Ryegrass mixture, especially useful for seeding and overseeding of high quality sportsfields to improve sward composition, disease resistance with fast recovery from play and damage. Tetraploid Ryegrasses also provide high drought tolerance along with good colour.

All mixtures in the MM range, are treated with HEADSTART® GOLD – a revolutionary grass seed treatment that ensures rapid, even germination.

PRO Flora Wild Flower & Colour Boost Flower Seed Mixtures

Pro Flora is a range of Native Origin Wildflower Mixtures that can bring colour, biodiversity and interest to any landscape area and also benefit the environment, pollinators and conservation.

Colour Boost is a range of high impact flower mixtures designed to create a dazzling display of colour and interest in many different landscape’s sites and situations.

If you are seeking advice for your natural turf projects – no matter how big or small, then pay a visit to the DLF stand where the MM Sports Seed specialist team will be on hand.

For further information, please contact MM Sports Seed on 01386 791102 or visit the company’s website www.mm-seeds.co.uk.

You can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed.

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 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.

Transforming Repton School’s Grounds with MM Seed

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Transforming Repton School’s Grounds with MM Seed: Repton School in Derbyshire is a well-known institution which mixes tradition with new ideas.

Behind the scenes, Andrew Butler, the Head of Grounds and Gardens, is the man responsible for ensuring the grounds are not just aesthetically pleasing but also resilient to the rigours of year-round sporting activities. That’s where MM Seed comes in.

Transforming Repton School's Grounds with MM Seed

Transforming Repton School’s Grounds with MM Seed

After working at Repton for twelve years Andrew became the Head of Grounds and Gardens in 2022. Upon assuming his role, he faced a daunting challenge: the need for a grass seed capable of withstanding the constant onslaught of sporting activities across Repton’s extensive grounds.

Repton’s vast expanse, spanning over 100 acres, hosts a variety of sporting fields, including football pitches, rugby pitches, hockey pitches, athletic tracks, and cricket squares, each demanding its own maintenance. Additionally, the school boasts formal gardens and orchards, adding further complexity.

Reflecting on this challenge, Andrew says, “We are on such a heavy clay-based site, and with it being a multi-sport site, it is pretty much used 12 months a year…so therefore we needed a seed with a lot of durability.”

Enter MM Seed, a name synonymous with excellence in the UK sports turf and amenity industries.

“I didn’t feel that the seed which was being previously used was giving us the durability we needed,” says Andrew. “I started looking at different options, did a lot of research and we gave MM Seed a trial on our first-team football pitch. It just showed us what we were missing. Firstly, the take-up was fantastic, secondly, the durability of it was great, and the fact that it got growing well in the heavy clay-based soils we have here was very impressive.”

Andrew’s decision to switch to MM Seed, particularly utilising MM Tetra Sport and MM50, proved to be a pivotal moment.

MM Tetra Sport, a versatile blend of Diploid and Tetraploid Ryegrass, emerged as the solution for Repton’s winter pitches and cricket outfield. Its ability to improve sward composition and recover from scarring perfectly complemented the school’s diverse sporting calendar.

The inclusion of Tetraploids also improved drought resistance during the summer months which is important on the cricket outfields. Meanwhile, MM50, with its fast germination, establishment and ability to withstand heavy wear plus its ability to recover quickly after use found its role on Repton’s cricket squares, ensuring optimal playing conditions season after season.

Transforming Repton School's Grounds with MM Seed

Transforming Repton School’s Grounds with MM Seed

Andrew elaborates further on the durability of MM Seed, “With us going from different sports throughout the year, it means we have to give the grass different heights of cut – so when you go from the height of cut on a rugby pitch down to a football pitch, down to a cricket pitch and then back up again, you are putting a lot of stress on it, but the seed copes incredibly well.”

What sets MM Seed apart is not just its performance on the field but also its commitment to innovation. Treated with HEADSTART® GOLD, a unique seaweed-based seed treatment, MM Seed ensures rapid and even germination, laying the foundation for a resilient and vibrant turf. Andrew confirms this, stating, “I think it is down to HeadStart in the mixture which gives it that extra boost.”

Transitioning to a new seed variety is not without its challenges, yet Andrew found support in Agrovista Amenity, a trusted distributor of MM Seed. “Agrovista Amenity are great – I know I can ring up and have a pallet of seed here in 48 hours,” he remarks, underlining the importance of reliable partnerships. He also praised the advice he received from Matt Gresty, MM Sales and Marketing Manager, “Matt came in and explained everything about the seed. I have been carrying out exactly what he said to do, and the results have been superb ever since.”

The results do indeed speak for themselves. Repton’s grounds now boast not only durability but also supreme aesthetics. “The definition of stripe the seed gives us is first-class,” Andrew proudly states.

Andrew’s success story highlights the importance of strategic decision-making in the turf management industry. With MM Seed, he has improved the quality of the grounds, and will continue to do so for years to come.

For further information, please contact MM Sports Seed on 01386 791102 or visit the company’s website www.mm-seeds.co.uk.

You can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed.

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

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

MM Seed: A Key Ingredient for Golf Course Excellence

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MM Seed: A Key Ingredient for Golf Course Excellence: Attendees at BTME 2024, visiting DLF’s stand 126 in Hall B, can anticipate a showcase of cutting-edge products from the world’s premier grass seed breeder and producer.

In the face of increasing demands and pressures on modern greenkeepers to maintain a consistent playing surface, the pivotal elements for a top-tier golf course are seed quality, purity, and vigour. The MM range of seed mixtures stands out by utilising materials from the DLF Select programme, ensuring high purity and germination rates.

MM Seed: A Key Ingredient for Golf Course Excellence

MM Seed: A Key Ingredient for Golf Course Excellence

For over three decades, greenkeepers and course managers have reaped the benefits of choosing the MM brand and its superior quality varieties. All MM varieties undergo thorough testing at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI), guaranteeing that the final product meets the requirements for play, appearance, and maintenance.

Leading the way for golf greens is MM9, a three-way Browntop bent mixture that remains a top choice for renovations and species exchange. MM8, designed for links-style courses and sustainable golf, offers a three-way fescue mix with excellent disease resistance, drought tolerance, and minimal fertiliser requirements. MM Coastal is a great alternative to MM8 where salt spray is a concern, providing excellent salt tolerance for golf greens, tees, and fairways with its 100% Slender Creeping Red Fescue mix.

For golf course managers seeking a 100% Ryegrass Greens mix option, MM Supreme Ryegreen mix is the answer. It includes Singapore Perennial Ryegrass, known for its fine leaves, good shoot density, high disease resistance, and wear tolerance. This mix embodies the main benefits of perennial ryegrass, including fast establishment and wear tolerance in close mow situations.

If you’re in search of a mixture ideal for tees and fairways, consider MM50, a 100% ryegrass blend. It boasts rapid establishment, quick recovery from divot scarring, high wear tolerance, and an extremely fine appearance. Meanwhile, for links-style fairways where damage and wear are less prevalent, MM13 is well-suited. With a high percentage of Crystal Hard Fescue, it offers excellent drought tolerance and low maintenance requirements for this challenging environment.

DLF’s stand also provides information about the DLF Pro Flora and Colour Boost range of Wildflower mixtures, perfect for those looking to establish a traditional perennial flower meadow or create a vibrant display of annuals and perennials.

The MM team of amenity seed specialists will be present at BTME to discuss these products in more detail and offer their expertise to address any queries attendees may have.

For further information, please contact DLF UK on 01386 719758 or visit the MM website www.mm-seeds.co.uk.

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

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