Tag Archive for: strength

MM Tetrasport proves its strength at Towcestrians

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MM Tetrasport proves its strength at Towcestrians: When the Women’s Rugby World Cup came to town, the pitches at Towcestrians Sports Club needed to perform at the highest level. Head Groundsman Tommy Waldock turned to a product he knew he could trust – MM Tetrasport – and the results spoke for themselves.

Based in Towcester, Northamptonshire, Towcestrians Sports Club is an open, non-profit, multi-sports venue offering rugby, cricket, hockey, netball, tennis, and archery. Its facilities have grown rapidly in recent years, and today the site boasts four full-size rugby pitches, a cricket square, and an artificial surface for hockey.

MM Tetrasport proves its strength at Towcestrians

MM Tetrasport proves its strength at Towcestrians

For Tommy, who has spent his entire career in sports turf, managing a site of this scale is no small task.

“I started back in 2011 at Peterborough United FC,” he explains. “A friend of mine worked there and asked if I could help with some strimming. One thing led to another, and they offered me a full-time job. That’s how I got into groundsmanship. From there, I moved to MK Dons, then spent five years at the Ricoh Arena before joining Towcestrians about six years ago.”

The club’s growing reputation was further boosted when it was chosen as an official training centre for the Women’s Rugby World Cup, hosting both Ireland and France for pre-tournament preparations.

“It was a brilliant experience,” says Tommy. “But it came with its challenges – especially during the drought. The pitch passed all the ProPitch tests with flying colours and MM Tetrasport really showed what it could do.”

Having first used MM Tetrasport during his time at the Ricoh Arena, Tommy knew it was the right choice for Towcestrians’ demanding rugby surfaces.

“I was always going to use Tetrasport for the Rugby World Cup prep because I knew how it reacts, and I knew how good it is,” he says. “It’s been absolutely brilliant. I’ve used it across all four pitches, and if you were to stand here now, you wouldn’t know we’d had a drought. The pitches are stunningly green.”

MM Tetrasport is designed for fast germination, rapid establishment, and outstanding wear tolerance – qualities that have proved vital under the heavy demands of rugby training and matches. Treated with Headstart® GOLD, it delivers strong performance from the off, while the tetraploid ryegrasses provide resilience and excellent colour all year round.

“The recovery is unbelievable,” says Tommy. “You can have 40-odd players out there, and by the time you give the pitch a brush and a cut after training, you wouldn’t even know they’d been on it. I’ve never known a seed regenerate like it – it just keeps coming.”

For the Rugby World Cup preparation, Tommy followed a ProPitch specification involving deep scarification and reseeding with MM Tetrasport at 45g/m².

“We pulled out a lot of old bent grass, did a four-way scarification, and used nine bags of Tetrasport per pitch. The seed was up in six days – we saw the first signs of growth that quickly. We also applied a pre-seed feed after five days to help it along. It was flat-out from there – it just didn’t stop growing.”

The same mixture was used across the other pitches without scarification, and despite the heavy usage, the results have been equally impressive. “It’s superb,” Tommy adds. “It got through the tournament without even a scar and was recovering within a week once conditions improved.”

Tommy also credits the service and advice he receives from Matt Gresty from MM Seed and Charlie Seager from Agrovista Amenity for helping him achieve such strong results.

“Matt Gresty has been brilliant – really knowledgeable and always gives you options,” says Tommy. “I buy through Charlie at Agrovista Amenity, and he’s fantastic too. You ask a question, and he’s got the answer straight away. Between them both, they really look after you.”

With professional-standard surfaces now maintained across all four rugby pitches, Towcestrians Sports Club continues to thrive. For Tommy, MM Tetrasport has become an essential part of that success.

“It’s a superb seed,” he concludes. “It got us through the Rugby World Cup, through drought, and everything else which has been thrown at it. You just can’t ask for more than that.”

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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Johnson’s J 4Turf 25 delivers strength at Stratford

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Johnson’s J 4Turf 25 delivers strength at Stratford: J 4Turf 25 from the Johnsons Sports Seed range is ticking the boxes of wear tolerance, quick establishment and fast recovery for the team at Stratford Racecourse – as the track finds itself in the midst of a packed eight-month summer race season.

Head Groundsman Sam Linley has been relying on the tetraploid blend for the last two years, with the deeper rooting and harder wearing perennial ryegrasses providing outstanding strength to the highest areas of wear and tear around the track.

Johnson’s J 4Turf 25 delivers strength at Stratford

Johnson’s J 4Turf 25 delivers strength at Stratford

Racing has taken place at the Warwickshire venue since 1755, with the summer jumps track hosting a meet on average every two weeks between the months of March and October. While seasonal breaks present an opportunity for Sam and his team to conduct some remedial works in late spring and early autumn, the batches of fixtures leave little time in the remainder of the season for recovery. “Stratford isn’t the biggest of tracks in terms of width and total ground” Sam explains, “so quick recovery is absolutely critical – especially in the summer where meets come thick and fast!”

“We’ve been using J 4Turf 25 for two years now after struggling to find a mixture that could withstand the high impact around the fences. Our Regional Technical Manager from DLF Ian Barnett together with Adam Moss from Aitkens recommended the tetraploids for their deeper rooting and we honestly can’t fault the results we’ve had with it, particularly on the bends and the landing and take-off areas.”

The blend of highly-rated diploid perennial ryegrass, along with Fabian and Tetragame 4Turf tetraploids makes J 4Turf 25 an ideal choice for equestrian use. The sward strength, outstanding visual merit and ultra-fast establishment delivered by the tetraploid cultivars have proven their worth as both a post and in-season renovation mix.

“The sooner we can get recovery post-race, the quicker we can crack on with the other maintenance tasks we need to get done, sometimes in very limited windows between fixtures. That’s been brilliant with the Johnsons mix.”

This year, Sam has also introduced further visual appeal to the site through the introduction of a wildflower area sown with the Chameleon mixture from DLF’s ColourBoost collection. “We had a banked area in one of the enclosures which was maintained but looked a little run down. Ian and Adam suggested some high-impact wildflowers and this has transformed the space… great effect with very little effort! Not only have we had lovely comments from people admiring the display but it’s been great to see more bees, butterflies and moths around.” He adds, “It’s been a great to compliment the work we do on the track with a real array of colour along the walkway to enhance the overall visitor experience. That’s what it’s all about.”

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TriCure™ delivers strength at Stourbridge GC

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TriCure™ delivers strength at Stourbridge GC: A fateful combination of high footfall, hot weather and a failing irrigation system has seen the tees at Stourbridge Golf Club struggling to retain all-important grass coverage in recent years.

That was until Head Greenkeeper Steve Harvey switched to a granular feeding programme with trusted nutritional partner Headland Amenity. This, coupled with the increased field longevity and flexibility of application of TriCure AD™ Granular wetting agent, has resulted in a transformational improvement in tee strength and playability.

TriCure™ delivers strength at Stourbridge GC

TriCure™ delivers strength at Stourbridge GC

Previously holding the Guinness World Record for the smallest acreage 18-hole course, the maintenance of Stourbridge for Steve and his team of four is challenging – with the sites free-draining nature only compounding issues with footfall crossover and compaction. “A wetting agent and fertiliser programme has always been available to us throughout the season but being liquid-based previously, we seemed to struggle to get applications out due to a mixture of staff availability, sprayer pressure or weather windows” explains Steve.

“The well-documented drought of summer 2018 really took it’s toll on the tees. We didn’t have irrigation capacity to maintain these as well as the greens, so we lost massive amounts of grass cover which in turn led to a lot of weed ingress, particularly Yarrow which really took hold. 2019 saw record rainfall and an increase in visitor numbers which meant that when we got to the spring of 2020, where COVID restrictions also began limiting the mechanical maintenance we could carry out, the tees were not in a good way.”

Steve switched the tee programme over to C-Complex® 5-2-10 and Xtend® 15-2-20+MgO later in the season, with TriCure AD™ Granular wetting agent, applied in five applications at a rate of 12.5g/m2 through the hottest and driest months. “The ease of application and logistics compared to trying to manoeuvre the sprayer round the small, misshapen, push-up tees has resulted in a more targeted approach and results which speak for themselves. We have the freedom and flexibility to apply TriCure when spray windows wouldn’t have previously allowed, and the field longevity we get on our free-draining profile is significantly improved. Following the success of the programme last year, continuing it this year is a no-brainer to sustain the strength and resilience the tees now demonstrate.”

Containing the same active ingredients as in liquid TriCure AD™ soil surfactant, TriCure AD™ Granular offers an effective alternative to spraying – preventing hydrophobic conditions on areas that may otherwise be hard to access. TriCure AD™ Granular utilises DG-Lite dispersible granule technology as a carrier to ensure fast solubilisation with no pick-up or residue left after normal irrigation.

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Armorgard arrives in strength at SALTEX

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Armorgard arrives in strength at SALTEX: Armorgard is a  leading innovator for solutions that improve safety, productivity and efficiency. The selection of products at Saltex represents the Armorgard range of unique engineered tool vaults, van boxes, site boxes and other site storage.

Every product is exclusive to Armorgard and built on a strong foundation of security, with the highest reputation for strength, reliability and effectiveness. Landscapers, greenkeepers, groundsmen and contractors will find the Armorgard StrimmerSafe Rack upright storage system the ultimate protection for what are the most commonly stolen power tools. The multi-purpose rack keeps your brushcutters, hedge cutters and chainsaws under high security with twin 5-lever deadlocks, and the rack can be bolted to a wall for additional security.

Armorgard arrives in strength at SALTEX

Flambank FB2 is an ultra-tough, lockable vault for storing hazardous chemicals and flammables, specially designed to comply with all relevant COSHH regulations. TuffBank TB2 is a new and improved version of Armorgard’s best-selling tool and equipment storage solution, with hardened steel plates and anti-jemmy features making it virtually impossible to break into. Enhancement includes SlamStop for safety and PowerShelf to turn the product into a secure charging station.

The COSHH compliant Forma-Stor is a quick-assembly, modular storage unit purpose-designed for safe storage of hazardous substances on site. The flat-packed unit can be constructed in around ten minutes and features 30-minute fire resistance, air vents and a fully welded sump to prevent leaks into the environment. Anyone looking for a cost-effective, secure container for storing and transporting hazardous fuels and chemicals will find Armorgard’s TransBank is purpose-built for the task and meets full HSE regulations. Protection from theft, fire and leakage is secure with this heavy-duty steel plate container.

Also displayed at Saltex will be a FlamBank FBC4 which can be seen on the Tudor Environmental stand. All the products featured are designed by Armorgard’s great team and you’re invited to see for yourself on stand K189

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