Tag Archive for: Rigby

Council Looks To Rigby Taylor

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Council Looks To Rigby Taylor: A revolutionary vertical drainage system is set to assist with reducing Wandsworth Council’s perennial misery of cancelled football games due to waterlogged playing surfaces on its Wandsworth Common pitches.

The non-obtrusive Groundwater Dynamics’ system – based on the use of vertical plastic pipes (EGRP) which draw in excess water horizontally – is being trialled on three of most troublesome of the council’s seven winter pitches and, depending on their success, the system could be extended across more of the 96 winter pitches that are under the borough’s care.

Council Looks To Rigby Taylor

As Principal Parks Officer – Operations for Enable Leisure and Sport, the operation that delivers Wandsworth Council’s leisure services, Steve Green explains:

“Being on a clay base, these pitches are forever flooding whenever we have excess rain and while the installation of traditional drainage would have been cheaper by up to around 20 per cent, we wouldn’t be allowed by Thames Water to link the new drains to surface water outlets (storm drains and sewers, for example).

“This alternative system not only means the water can be dealt with ‘at source’, but also that current infiltration rates can be increased by at least seven times [in some cases far higher].

“And the installation hardly impacts surface appearance – indeed, looking at the work, I reckon we could easily play on the pitches within hours of installation. In addition, the system will last over 25 years with regular vertidraining and earthquaking (twice per annum for each operation).”

Council Looks To Rigby Taylor

The system – which is suitable for all soil types and is in use on a number of sports surfaces, including at Edgbaston Cricket Club – was installed on the Wandsworth Common pitches by drilling a series of bore holes in a grid pattern across the playing surfaces.

Central rows of 3 m deep holes (of 89 mm diameter) are flanked by 1.5 m deep holes of 62 mm diameter, at 1.5 m spacings. The sequence was repeated at every 5 m along the length of each pitch. There are also adjacent bores to depths of 6 m and 12 m.

Each borehole accommodates an Energy-passive Ground water Recharge Pump (EGRP) pipe, the top of which sits 300 mm below the surface. The hole is then simply ‘plugged’ and top-dressed.

The innovative five-chamber EGRP design with its mild vacuum draws in water horizontally (to the deeper, 89 mm diameter EGRP pipe) and this then drains away into the lower unsaturated strata/water table.

“We have a myriad of users including private schools, academy squads as well as local teams using these pitches which are among the 1,600 acres of open space we maintain,” adds Steve. “The winter pitches are booked for seven days each week, so any cancellations always create headaches – and disappointed players!

“We started to investigate possible solutions and having such a good relationship with Rigby Taylor – from which we source (via idverde) a lot of products, including R14 perennial rye grass seed which we use across all the pitches, as well as selective herbicides, fertilisers, aggregates and topdressings – the Groundwater Dynamics’ system was presented.

Council Looks To Rigby Taylor

“We looked at the system in use at a football training ground (Fulham FC’s) and on a rugby pitch (in Bushy Park, Hampton Court) and spoke to the groundsmen there before going ahead with the trial.”

Steve has been with the council for 38 years and includes cemeteries, litter clearance and buildings maintenance in his remit, which embraces the management of three direct staff and around 100 indirect. He and colleague Andrew Green, who oversees and manages the council’s wide range sports surfaces, both agree that the former methods of earthquaking and vertidraining couldn’t cope with the waterlogging caused by severe rainfall.

“Nowadays,” says Andrew, “extremes of weather are becoming more common, but we’re totally confident that this new system of drainage will go a long way in reducing a problem we’ve had for years on these pitches.”

For more information, visit: www.rigbytaylor.com

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Rigby Taylor Commemorates WWI

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Rigby Taylor Commemorates WWI: To commemorate the centenary of the end of World War I, Rigby Taylor has introduced a number of Euroflor Commemorate wildflower mixes, with each of the six new mixes having special meaning:

  • Honour – a combination of red, white and blue flowers; the three colours of the Union Jack symbolising patriotism;
  • Souvenir – 100% Red Poppies – the Poppy in Great Britain, Commonwealth countries and the USA symbolises the blood spilled by the allied forces;
  • Bleuet – predominantly blue but also with white, pink and crimson Cornflowers; Cornflowers originally represented young French soldiers arriving on the battlefield and wearing new, grey/blue uniforms thereafter symbolising those who died for France;
  • Alliance – a mixture of Red Poppies and Cornflowers; the combination mix of the red and blue symbolises the alliance of British and French soldiers;
  • Peace – a white flower mix including Gypsophilia elegans, to symbolise the armistice and ending of hostilities; and
  • Hope – a mix of bright colours, including perennial species for longevity to symbolise hope.

Rigby Taylor Commemorates WWI

The mixes are available either as a Discovery boxed sets of 10 x 50 gm sachets (any combination) or as individual 1 kg sachets. Each 50 gm sachet will cover 10-15 m2; I kg will cover 150-350 m2. Colour brochures describing these and other Eurflor mixtures are available from a Rigby Taylor area representative or via Freephone 0800 424919.

For more information, visit: www.rigbytaylor.com

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Rigby Taylor Launches Project Pollin-8

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Rigby Taylor Launches Project Pollin-8: Rigby Taylor has launched Project Pollin-8, a major initiative aimed at reversing the national decline in pollinating insects, by introducing the new Euroflor Banquet urban flower seed mixture containing the best species for pollinators while also delivering high visual impact.

A key factor in the continual reduction of pollinators is likely to be loss of habitat, and the use of urban flower mixtures for landscaping projects will prove vitally important in arresting the decline.

Rigby Taylor Launches Project Pollin-8

The introduction of the Banquet mixture is the result of information obtained from independent research by the Urban Pollinators Group (UPG), a national research programme run by Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds and Reading Universities (2010-2013).

The research revealed that no one mix would meet the complex ecological demands of the diverse pollinator groups throughout the different stages in their life cycles – from early to late flowering, native and horticultural species, plants for egg laying, nectar for energy and pollen for protein.

With this in mind, nine other Euroflor mixtures (as well as Banquet) have been identified as meeting the demand for a longer seasonal supply of nectar and pollen, as well as a more diverse range of habitats, while also providing incredible flower displays.

The nine other Euroflor mixtures are Flora Britannica, Fragrant Lawn, Green Roof, Honey, Native Pollinator, Rainbow Annuals, Rainbow Perennials, Spring Flower and Super Blue Bee.

These are all detailed in the 2018 Euroflor brochure available from a Rigby Taylor representative or via Freephone 0800 424 919.

For more information, visit: www.rigbytaylor.com

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Rigby Taylor Brings Swathe Of Colour

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Rigby Taylor Brings Swathe Of Colour: As part of Course Manager Matt Aplin’s plan to enhance the ecological footprint of the Goring and Streatley Golf Club, the “amazingly colourful results” of sowing Euroflor wildflowers “attracted as many complimentary comments about the outstanding display of colour as about the quality and performance of our greens”, he says.

“That was in a year when the course was magnificent – it was looking immaculate and was playing very well – so the display of wildflowers obviously made a massive impression on everyone who saw them,” he adds.

Rigby Taylor Brings Swathe Of Colour

“The news travelled fast about the swathe of colours and we even had non-playing visitors coming to see the display!”

Since Matt was appointed Course Manager at the Berkshire club in 2015 – after joining the greenkeeping team as an apprentice 20 years ago – he has constantly been looking for opportunities to improve the course’s ecological footprint and last year identified a rough area adjacent to the 14th hole that he wanted to improve.

“I was bouncing my thoughts about the possible use of wildflowers off Gareth Acteson, Rigby Taylor’s area sales director, and he suggested that the Euroflor mix (rather than native species) might work better in that spot.

“The Sarah Bouquet mix of annuals was chosen on the advice of club member Joyce Gustard, who is renowned among the membership for the quality of the floral display in her own garden, and that was definitely a wise move because a few months after sowing the area was awash with colour.”

Sarah Bouquet is a mix of 30 different species, including Anethum Graveolens, Borago Officinalis, Callistephus Chinensis, Helianthus Annuus, Helichrysum Bracteatum, Lobularia Maritima, Lupinus Nanus and Rudbeckia Gloriosa, and has a flowering height of 70-90 cms.

Adding that he uses a lot of Rigby Taylor products on the 18-hole, par 71 course, not least the R9 100% ultra-fine rye seed mix – “R9 has outstanding wear qualities, for example, and is the best seed on the market”, as well as the Propel-R wetting agent and a range of conventional and controlled-release fertilisers – Matt confirms:

“We didn’t do too much preparation for sowing the wildflower seeds and we undoubtedly over-sowed in terms of seed ratio, but the impact was tremendous from June right through to October.

“That success, and the number of favourable comments we received, has spurred us to double the overall amount of space sown with Euroflor wildflowers this year and because we have used less seed (perhaps just 65% of what we sowed last year on a similar-sized plot), we will effectively have double the amount of colour for a relatively low additional cost.”

Another way in which Matt recovered some of the cost of the outlay on seed was to re-sell small Discovery packs (also supplied by Rigby Taylor) of the wildflower seeds. “After seeing the flowers a number of members wanted the seeds for their own gardens,” says Matt.

The cost savings to the club have also been aided by the fact that at the end of last season Matt cut down the plants and left them where they fell, to encourage natural seeding. “Already now [in May] some of last year’s seeds are 45 cms high”, he adds, “and that is as a result of using an annuals mix. That equates to real value for money.”

For more information, visit: www.rigbytaylor.com

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Rigby Taylor’s New Euroflor Brochure

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Rigby Taylor’s New Euroflor Brochure: Rigby Taylor has confirmed the launch of its 2018 Euroflor urban meadow flowers brochure.

This 56-page, fully-illustrated booklet has an ‘at-a-glance’ feature, site selector and details of the complete range including showing their colours, in-situ examples and individual characteristics such as timings for sowing and flowering, as well as sowing rates and pack coverage, height and species mix.

Rigby Taylor's New Euroflor Brochure

Included are both the commemorate mixtures, those selected for Rigby Taylor’s Project Pollin-8 and others recommended for BREEAM projects.

The brochure also details recommend site preparation, installation and maintenance, together with a helpful troubleshooting section and five ‘Identiflower’ pages showing common and Latin names as well as individual colour illustrations of all the flowers contained in the mixtures.

Included also are many customer testimonials from throughout the UK, from the north of Scotland to Cornwall.

Euroflor is available in 50 gram and 1 kilo foil sachets.

Rigby Taylor's New Euroflor Brochure

For your copy of this free, full-colour brochure, contact a Rigby Taylor area representative or Freephone 0800 424919.

For more information, visit: www.rigbytaylor.com

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