Tag Archive for: On

Walking on air in Greenwich Park

/in , /by

Walking on air in Greenwich Park: The oldest enclosed Royal Park, Greenwich covers 74 hectares on top of a hill where visitors enjoy sweeping views across the River Thames to St Paul’s Catherdral and beyond.

There has been a settlement on the site since Roman times, and Greenwich has always had a strong association with royalty. Historic tree areas date from 1660 when Charles II was king and eleven original trees from the period can be found in the park. In 2019, the park had over five million visitors and with its view and attractions – there’s even a Saxon burial mound – it is no wonder when the pandemic struck there was a massive increase in visitors in the first year of lockdown.

Walking on air in Greenwich Park

Walking on air in Greenwich Park

“It was like bank holiday every day,” says Adam Stoter, Greenwich Park’s Technical Officer. “Greenwich Park offered an open-air space when there were few places people could go. The trouble was, the added footfall compounded the growing problem of compaction in and around the tree areas.”

The Royal Parks’ flagship project ‘Greenwich Park Revealed’ had already begun to restore the 590-year-old park to protect and share its heritage. They aim to go above and beyond in tree care and management and it was a natural progression to bring in the specialist services of Terrain Aeration’s Tree Division. The company has been treating tree areas in Royal Parks for many years and, in the case of Greenwich this year, applied their technology across 15,000 square metres. Where there is heavy compaction it is essential to break up the soil at a depth greater than the tree roots, other than the main tap roots which go straight down, to allow excess water to drain away and help stop anaerobic conditions and rotting of the root system.

The Terrain Aeration Terralift machine sends a probe to a depth of one metre where compressed air is released to a maximum of 20Bar (280psi). This blast of air fractures the soil and creates fissures which interlink as the Terralift repeats the process on a grid system of two-metre spacings. As the probe withdraws at the end of the air blast, dried seaweed is injected which sticks to the fissure walls, expanding and contracting with moisture content in the soil to keep the area ’breathing’. In most cases, the area treated will be one-metre inside and one-metre outside the canopy drip line to reach beyond the growing roots, increasing the percentage of oxygen intake and allow maximum drainage. In all, Terrain Aeration treated around 15,000 square metres to help ensure the future of the historic tree areas where visitors will literally walk on air.

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.

Vandals on motorbikes destroy greens

/in , /by

Vandals on motorbikes destroy greens: Police patrols will be carried out at a popular golf course after vandals riding a motorbike damaged the greens.

Read the full article from Express and Star here

Vandals on motorbikes destroy greens

Vandals on motorbikes destroy greens

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.

Rapid ROI on Capillary Bunkers

/in , /by

Rapid ROI on Capillary Bunkers: Last year, the six-course Landings Club, in Savannah, Georgia, installed the Capillary Bunkers liner on its Magnolia course, as part of a large-scale renovation with Arnold Palmer Design architect Brandon Johnson. And director of ground and projects Chris Steigelman says the results are already showing the wisdom of that decision.

“We have dabbled with various bunker drainage techniques across our courses, though none of them apart from Magnolia have wall to wall liners,” he says. “But part of the goals of the renovation project was to reduce our bunker maintenance workload. Brandon’s designs called for the bunker surface area to be reduced by 50 per cent, and with the Capillary Bunkers liner, the amount of time we now spend on bunker sand maintenance has gone down dramatically.”

Rapid ROI on Capillary Bunkers

Rapid ROI on Capillary Bunkers

The new-look Magnolia has retained the steeply flashed bunker faces that the course previously had, and Steigelman says that the liner has played an important role in making the design work effectively. “We get around fifty inches of rain a year, and in the summertime we often get thunderstoms coming from out of nowhere and dumping a huge load of rain on us,” he explains. “Previously, every time we got a big rain, the bunkers were destroyed, and I had to put several guys on rebuilding them for several days. Now, that doesn’t happen.”

The club started the renovation project in March 2021, with the Capillary Bunkers installation starting in June. The bunkers were finished in August, and the course reopened – hosting a Korn Ferry Tour event in its first week – at the start of November. Georgia-based contractor Todd Godwin Construction handled the work.

Steigelman says the benefits of the Capillary Bunkers technology have already been made very clear. “We operate two golf courses out of the Magnolia maintenance facility, the Marshwood course as well as Magnolia,” he says. “We got hit by two tropical storms, one on a Sunday night at the end of June: seven inches of rain, four in an hour and a half. It trashed the bunkers on Marshwood, to the extent that we had to spend $25,000 dollars on new bunker sand. The bunkers on Magnolia were like nothing had ever happened. It was incredible. I took our board out there and said to them ‘This is what you’re paying for’.”

“I’m very grateful that we chose Capillary Bunkers, because of the ease of installation. During the build, it was raining every day, and so we wouldn’t have been able to install some of the competitor products. But the guys were just out there laying the concrete and then putting plastic sheeting over it to help it dry!”

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.

EVO 165DT keeps S P Tree & Landscaping on track

/in , /by

EVO 165DT keeps S P Tree & Landscaping on track: Wiltshire based S P Tree & Landscaping have recently taken delivery of a brand-new EVO 165DT woodchipper from GreenMech, to keep pace with growing demand from commercial customers.

After running a GreenMech SAFE-Trak unit for several years, Owner Steven Parker decided to invest in the 6” EVO 165DT to benefit from increased processing power – on par with the performance of their existing 8” road-tow machine!

EVO 165DT keeps S P Tree & Landscaping on track

EVO 165DT keeps S P Tree & Landscaping on track

With a client base ranging from domestic customers to commercial outfits, parish councils and building firms, S P Tree & Landscaping often require a tracked chipper for speed and ease of access. Steven explained, “I looked around at the tracked offerings from various manufacturers and was almost ready to commit to another brand when Ashley Stevens of GA Groundcare Ltd demoed the EVO 165DT for us. I was really impressed by the brute strength and performance of it, which, combined with the after-sales support we’ve always had from GA Groundcare Ltd, sealed the deal.”

The addition of twin-drive horizontally extending tracks makes the EVO 165DT the perfect ‘go-anywhere’ woodchipper. The track system provides ground clearance of 194mm and a tracking speed of 3.2kph to provide the operator with optimal manoeuvrability and stability when working on uneven ground. As with the other models in the GreenMech EVO series, the 165DT features a wide infeed chute, twin horizontal feed rollers and a heavy-duty flywheel which delivers unparalleled processing power for a machine in its category.

“The work that’s gone into the new EVO range is evident” Steven explains. “A lot of thought around the design and the accessibility of all the controls has made the EVO 165DT incredibly user-friendly – all of my team love using it. The position of the infeed controls in particular make a huge difference, and the ability to reverse bulky material out is great. Compared to our SAFE-Trak, it’s also smaller and lighter to navigate when on site.”

He adds, “Since we took delivery of this machine in September 2021, it’s processed everything we’ve needed it to and performance-wise, it’s been keeping up with our 8” woodchipper which is seriously impressive.”

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.

Moving on up with the Razor Ultra

/in , /by

Moving on up with the Razor Ultra: The Dennis Razor Ultra cylinder mower is helping the ambitious Rykneld Bowling Club to progress in the right direction.

Rykneld Bowling Club, based in Derbyshire, boasts an impressive history that stretches back to 1918.  It is an exciting and progressive club that promotes participation of the whole community in the sport of crown green bowls.

Moving on up with the Razor Ultra

Moving on up with the Razor Ultra

It is arguably one of the best clubs in the county and has its sights set even higher.

“As a club we are on the move upwards, and we need the very best equipment to ensure we have a fantastic green,” said committee member Malcolm Holden.

It is for this reason that Rykneld Bowling Club now boasts a brand-new Dennis Razor Ultra cylinder mower.

Superbly balanced and ideal for bowls greens and other fine turf surfaces, the Razor Ultra has an operating width of 560mm (22in) and an 11-blade cutting cylinder for a perfect finish.

An ultra-short wheelbase ensures easy manoeuvrability and excellent performance, even on undulating surfaces. The Dennis Razor Ultra also encompasses the simple ‘no tools required’ click height adjusters for quick and easy operation.

This unique mower has certainly made a difference according to Malcolm.

“We had a couple of old cylinder mowers, but they just could not do what the Razor Ultra does,” he said. “The main benefit is that it has a groomer on it which lifts up the grass before it cuts, and that is really important because the speed of the green is very high on the list of priorities for our top-class bowlers.

“We did look at other mowers, but we know a local greenkeeper from a club five miles away who has a Dennis Razor Ultra, and he was singing its praises. When Dennis Mowers came to do a demo, Howard, who is a groundsman here, thought it was his birthday!

“We’re all absolutely delighted – it is a fabulous piece of kit, and we use it three times a week during the season – Sunday, Tuesday and Friday.

“The Razor Ultra has helped us to get rid of a lot of the horizontal growing grass and the players have noticed a big improvement – the feedback we are getting is that the green is running better than it ever has.”

Aside from being impressed with the product, Malcolm was quick to praise the customer service he received.

“Dennis are absolutely superb,” he said. “We had the Razor Ultra on order and while we were waiting for it, our old mower stopped working, we panicked because we had a competition coming up. We spoke to Dennis, and they sent a loan machine out to us the very next day. It was fantastic customer service, and that goes a long way in my opinion.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Dennis on Twitter and Instagram @DennisMowers and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/DennisMowersUK You can also view the latest Dennis videos by visiting www.youtube.com/DennisMowers

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.