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Honda’s new version of HRM3000

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Honda’s new version of HRM3000: The HRM3000 Live will now feature 3G and 4G connectivity for remote monitoring and control of all HRM3000 features including GPS tracking for peace of mind. For customers with more than one Miimo will also gain fleet management functionality. Connectivity costs are included for the first six years of use, and users can connect from anywhere with an internet connection through the Mii-monitor app

Monitoring and control

The new Mii-monitor app for the HRM3000 Live is easy to use. The modern intuitive layout indicates operating status by background colour, and the previous and next operating days and times are clearly displayed. A calendar overview makes it easy to check the working schedule. Changes can be made remotely and cutting sessions can be added or cancelled. Settings including the cutting height can also be changed without having to be near the machine. Push-notifications for technical errors, security alerts and maintenance can all be selected and checked. The HRM3000 Live upgrade also allows voice control through Amazon Alexa.

Honda's new version of HRM3000

Honda’s new version of HRM3000

Honda dealers can use the Live connectivity to provide efficient support – from checking and recommending settings to fault diagnosis, potentially saving a customer visit.

My Miimo fleet management

For customers with more than one Miimo HRM3000 Live, the My Miimo dashboard provides convenient monitoring of all the machines simultaneously on one screen. This is especially useful for those using Honda’s unique Multi Miimo system which allows two or more Miimo’s to work together in one continuous area.

GPS tracking

The Live upgrade also adds GPS location information. The mower’s current position can be viewed on the Mii-monitor app, and owners can also create a geo-fenced operating area for increased theft protection. If the HRM3000 Live leaves the location, then the owner receives an immediate warning through a push-notification.

Like the popular HRM3000, the new HRM3000 Live can maintain grass areas up to 4,000m2. Standard features include flexible docking which allows the base to be installed in preferred locations, as well as electric cutting height adjustment between 20–60mm with an optional automatic mode. Bluetooth connection to a smartphone app provides convenient set-up and monitoring, while any HRM3000K1 machine can also be upgraded to include the additional features and benefits of HRM3000 Live models including control through the new Mii-monitor app.

Advantages for all users

Remote monitoring through HRM3000 Live provides reassurance that the mower is in its intended location and performing correctly without needing to travel to the machine, making it a great option for all types of users. With additional options including heavy duty rear wheels and Multi Miimo, it also creates an ideal package for professional use.

Sales advice and service support are available through Honda’s authorised dealer network.

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Garden of the Year award

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Garden of the Year award: The Historic Houses Garden of the Year Award 2022 kicks off this Friday (1 April 2022) with eight extraordinary gardens competing to be named the Garden of the Year in a public vote. The award, launching in 1984, and run in conjunction with Christie’s auction house, has gone from strength to strength since then with over ten thousand votes cast in the 2021 competition.

Shortlisted entries are chosen from among the hundreds of gardens, parks, and grounds that offer free entry to members of Historic Houses, the association that represents and supports the UK’s independent historic homes, castles, and gardens. Details of this year’s eight finalist gardens are detailed below. Voting opens at 10am on Friday 1 April 2022, with the voting page located on the Historic Houses website.

Garden of the Year award

Garden of the Year award

Ben Cowell, Director General of Historic Houses:

“Once again, our Garden of the Year Award celebrates the very best gardens from across the UK – and now, beyond. That’s because for the first time our shortlist features a garden from the Channel Islands too. We are very excited to launch this public vote, at the start of what we hope will be a very successful year for open gardens. The award shines a welcome spotlight on our national passion for horticulture – so we encourage everyone to take a look at the shortlist and cast their vote.”

Ursula Cholmeley, Chair of the Historic Houses Gardens Committee:

“The Garden of the Year Award recognises the beauty and quality of independent historic gardens – often still those of family-owned homes. The contemporary spirit of our great country houses is reflected in gardens in which each generation of inhabitants makes their mark and leaves a legacy for the future. These evolving gardens are amongst the finest in the country and we hope that you will get great pleasure from visiting some of these gardens and voting for your favourite.”

Orlando Rock, Chairman, Christie’s UK:

“If a garden is a reflection of a person’s soul (as The Prince of Wales said) the shortlist for the Historic Houses Garden of the Year sponsored by Christie’s exemplifies some truly wonderful individuals. In addition to being horticultural wonders, the gardens selected from the rich variety across the UK and beyond reveal the changing fashions and tastes which have shaped our outside spaces and lives. I urge you, the public, to vote, and more importantly to get out there, visit and enjoy.”

About the eight competing gardens

The garden at Abbotsford, in Melrose, Roxburghshire, is distinct in character; taken together, the layout forms three outdoor ‘rooms’ designed to offer picturesque settings for the main house. The gardens we see today are still fundamentally Sir Walter Scott’s work, though with certain alterations carried out by his descendants to adapt the space for the changing needs of the family.

The gardens at Bressingham Hall, in Suffolk, range from the colourful island borders encircling the front of the house, laid out by founder Alan Bloom, to Foggy Bottom gardens developed by Alan’s son Adrian. Here you will find wide curving walks and great drifts or ‘rivers’ of perennials and grasses.

At Grimsthorpe Castle Gardens, in Lincolnshire, there is a long history of gardening, which continues to this day with fresh planting ideas that provide something to enjoy whenever you visit. Intricate parterres marked with box hedges lie close to the Castle, and a dramatic herbaceous border frames views across the lake.

Mount Ephraim Gardens, in Kent, are most well-known for their spectacular ten-acre Edwardian gardens featuring a topiary garden, rock and water garden, arboretum and rose garden. They also have a fabulous grass maze, planted with ornamental grasses and herbaceous perennials, and are home to an extensive collection of spring bulbs, trees and shrubs including Rhododendrons, many types of Camelias and Magnolias.

Parcevall Hall Gardens, in North Yorkshire, are a renowned historic plantsman’s garden laid out from 1927 onwards by the late Sir William Milner and set in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Comprising of 24 acres of formal and woodland gardens they rise up a hillside for 200 feet giving wonderful views in every direction.

At Pashley Manor Gardens, in East Sussex, you will discover eleven acres of beautiful borders and vistas – the culmination of a lifetime of passion for gardening and an admiration of the tradition of the English Country Garden. These award-winning gardens are family owned and maintained – visitors often express delight at the attention to detail displayed throughout and the intimate, peaceful atmosphere.

The Wild Subtropical Garden at Sausmarez Manor is an ancient woodland surrounding a couple of small lakes and is inter planted with exotic and subtropical plants, trees, ferns, and shrubs, which, because of Guernsey’s mild, equable climate can survive and flourish. Visitors can enjoy seeing around two hundred varieties of camellia, tree ferns from New Zealand, Australia, and Tasmania, and around forty different bamboos.

At Wentworth Woodhouse’s gardens, in South Yorkshire, you’ll discover a wildflower meadow, ancient trees, shaded woodland copses and 18th Century follies. Roam at your leisure or follow a trail which begins at the Stables and takes in the West Terrace, and don’t miss the sweeping views from the Ha-Ha and South Terrace.

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Agrigem reaches finals of FSB awards 2022

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Agrigem reaches finals of FSB awards 2022: Agrigem is pleased to announce that it has been nominated and shortlisted for the FSB Celebrating Small Business Awards 2022 in the category of High Growth Business of the Year.

After many years of continuous but sustainable growth, Agrigem is pleased that the FSB has recognised and finalised the company. The final is due to be held on 6th April 2022. Agrigem’s Managing Director, Kieran Would said “It’s a pleasure to see everyone’s at Agrigem hard working being recognised”.

Agrigem reaches finals of FSB awards 2022

Agrigem reaches finals of FSB awards 2022

The FSB has been helping small businesses and the self‐employed achieve their ambitions for over 45 years. As a non‐profit organisation and the UK’s leading business campaigner, they’re making real change happen for their members and the wider small business community. FSB members benefit from market‐leading services and support to help them run their business, including local networking events, legal advice, insurance protection and more.

The Federation of Small Businesses celebrates the achievements and contributions of small businesses and the self‐employed across the UK. As the largest event of its kind in the small business  calendar, the high‐profile FSB Celebrating Small Business Awards are free to enter and open to all.

Winners from each category securing a spot at the prestigious UK final and a chance to be crowned the UK Small Business of the Year. Entrants will be judged by a panel of leading business experts with a wealth of experience in their industry.

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Fentons of Bourne’s 35th anniversary

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Fentons of Bourne’s 35th anniversary: Fentons of Bourne Ltd, the family-owned agricultural, estate and turf maintenance equipment supplier, is celebrating its 35th anniversary on 7 April with an Open Day at its head office in Kates Bridge near Bourne in Lincolnshire.

The event kicks off at 10:00 am and will feature working demonstrations from manufacturers including Avant, Becx, Etesia , Farmtrac, Husqvarna, Homburg, Iseki, Major and more. Food and refreshments will be provided and attendees are requested to RSVP by phone on 01788 560466 or email, fentons@fentonsofbourne.co.uk, by 31 March.

Fentons of Bourne's 35th anniversary

Fentons of Bourne’s 35th anniversary

Commenting on his company’s milestone, Glen Bellamy said,

“We are very proud that we have reached this milestone for the business. We have survived the precarious nature of various business cycles, the latest being the Covid pandemic, but we are still here and stronger than ever. I think our longevity is a combination of excellent customer service, the ability to adapt in a dynamic marketplace and a dedicated and loyal staff with unparalleled knowledge of the products we represent. We look forward to welcoming customers to Kates Bridge to help us celebrate on 7 April.”

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New lease of life for machinery fleet at Chorley Golf Club

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New lease of life for machinery fleet at Chorley Golf Club: Chorley Golf Club has got its 125-year anniversary off to a good start by updating its machinery fleet.

The course sits in 127 acres between Bolton and Preston, drawing players out of both major conurbations to be challenged while taking in prime views that extend as far as the Lake District and North Wales.

New lease of life for machinery fleet at Chorley Golf Club

New lease of life for machinery fleet at Chorley Golf Club

With both healthy membership numbers and a high number of visiting players, Head Greenkeeper Tony Grayson and his team of four – deputy John Cottam, Chris Riley, Stuart Angus, and Daniel Woan – are working to meet expectations every day.

“I try to produce the best course I can every day, as we have so many competitions”, he says. “It’s all about the presentation and of course – people want what they see on TV.”

Living up to the manicured greens and fairways seen on televised competitions is no mean feat in the north west of England, where consistent rainfall and clay soils present major challenges.

“The ground is very quick to get wet but also quick to dry as we are on a couple inches of topsoil and thatch on the fairways,” Tony said. “The Bunkers are really difficult to maintain in bad weather because the clay contaminates the sand and, although others might put in liners nowadays, on a limited resource it costs a fortune.”

Pests and diseases, particularly fusarium, anthracnose, worm casts and leatherjackets are an increasing challenge too, with many chemicals being taken off the market. Frequently warm and wet conditions make this pressure relentless.

Keeping the course in top condition takes attention to detail, and the team can afford little  machinery downtime. A breakdown can threaten to overwhelm the team so when they were handed the keys to a brand-new shed just before the first covid lockdown in March 2020, the impetus was there to invest in new machinery.

Tony said: “It had been difficult to invest in machinery because of the previous sheds in terms of their security and the environment – you don’t want to be keeping machines in damp conditions.

“We had an ageing fleet and the reliability, particularly of our previous rough mower, was going down. When you’ve got the grass growing like mad and a rough mower down, it’s difficult to manage.”

The team’s new shed now stores a John Deere 7500 fairway mower, a 9009A TerrainCut rough mower, an 8000A E E-Cut Hybrid fairway mower, a XUV86SM Gator, three 220SL SL PrecisionCut walk-behind greens mower and two 2500 greens mowers.

Tony said: “Looking at other brands, I found that John Deere, as well as being at the top, was offering value for money as well. Once I demoed everything, it was obvious what I was looking for. The machines are now specific to our course and environment so we can go out with more confidence, getting a nicer cut.

“The 8000AE is so versatile and it can even act as a backup fairways mower by quickly raising the height of cut. It is our key machine and the one that will make people notice in terms of the appearance of the surrounds and approaches. Now, the green-side bunkers are part of the surround and we’re able to cut around this area with the new machine, making the presentation so much better.”

For the majority of the new machines, Tony opted to use John Deere Finance. And with a strong relationship with John Deere’s specialist servicing dealer Balmers GM spanning  20 years, the team at Chorley has direct access to support to maintain the machines. For its flagship machine, the 9009A, Tony reasoned that an operating lease, whereby the team would only pay for the use of the machine, would be the best option.

“The club looked at the hours our machines were doing – and with the rough mower doing the most hours, we took it out on an operational lease as we have a lot of semi-rough, and will look to change after five years.”

Following a successful 2021 with summer on the greenkeepers’ side and armed with a new machinery fleet, Tony’s sights are now set firmly on future proofing the course – and the reliability of the new machines will be crucial to ensure this work can happen.

“Our aim now is to make the course longer by building a few more tee zones set right back onto the course’s boundaries to cater for an increasing number of golfers hitting the ball further. All this has to be done without disrupting golfers’ experience or making a mess with the heavier equipment required.

“Our industry isn’t without its challenges but investing in the machines has really given our greenkeepers more pride in their work, and the machines are doing a fantastic job at presenting the course in the best light.”

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