Tag Archive for: Success

Mulching Head Success Story

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Mulching Head Success Story: SW Landscapes in the South West and South Wales provide grounds maintenance services to small and large customers in both the public and private sectors including property management companies, retail parks, industrial estates, parish councils, housing associations, residential developments, schools and local authorities.

The company is, like many, giving serious thought to carbon footprint management, and for one particular Housing Association they undertook a joint consultation to assess ways of accomplishing a reduction.

Mulching Head Success Story

A fundamental point was grass collection; the housing association understandably wanted their grass looking its best, and a successful approach put forward by Will Stops was the use of a mulching head fitted to a SCAG Tiger Cat ride-on mower, supplied by STM Co Ltd.

Will knew the SCAG make from past experience and has always found them sturdy, reliable and impressive.

Equally impressive have been the results from this exercise. Importantly, the Housing Association have been pleased with the look of the grass, and for SW Landscapes they easily show the benefits: previously they would take two vehicles and three men – and the extra vehicle was only just enough for the grasscuttings. Now they take two men and one van – the Transit that the SCAG Tiger Cat neatly fits into. They mow a little more frequently to keep the mulching process as effective as possible, but it’s a quick cut, because the grass isn’t too long.

The whole venture has proved to be, in Will Stops’ own words: a “win-win situation”; a happy customer and clearly identifiable efficiency savings in time, fuel and carbon emissions.

SCAG machines are available through the STM dealership network. To find your nearest dealer ring 01789 488450, email info@st-mach.com or look at our website www.st-mach.com

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Turf Science Lite A Success

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Turf Science Lite A Success: ICL and Syngenta recently held a successful series of Turf Science Lite events, which took place at Aston Villa FC’s stadium Villa Park, Slaley Hall Golf Club in Northumberland and Liverpool FC’s Academy facility in Kirkby.

The series, which showcases the latest research information and technological innovations in turf agronomy, attracted over 200 delegates including turf managers, groundsmen, agronomists, greenkeepers and course managers.

Turf Science Lite A Success

Syngenta Technical Manager, Glenn Kirby, kick-started each event with an insightful presentation entitled Life After Propiconazole – an outlook on future disease management strategies. Within his presentation Glenn explained that good practice of integrated turf management techniques to promote turf health is going to become ever more important with the loss of important fungicide actives. He also revealed that there are exciting new fungicide options in the UK registration system, and that the company’s £1.4bn annual investment in R&D will continue to create new innovations.

“The loss of propiconazole is undoubtedly a serious concern for maintaining turf quality,” warned Glenn. “Adopting new turf technologies alongside fungicide programmes, such as Ryder pigment, Qualibra wetting agent and the potential for bio-stimulants will be key. Furthermore, pioneering innovations, such as sensor technology, predictive modelling and application, does offer a positive future for turf management.”

Dr Andy Owen, ICL’s International Technical Manager, was next to take to the stage to present The Devil is in the Detail in which he talked about controlled release fertilisers (CRF) and the technology which goes into developing each product. Andy focussed on how to select a CRF in a crowded marketplace and the questions that could be asked about products; for example, what is the % coated material in the bag? How are the claimed longevities calculated? Also featured in the presentation was the Pearl technology found within two new SierrablenPlus products and how these can be best used to support sports turf renovation and establishment.

Following a complimentary lunch, Daniel Lightfoot, Syngenta’s UK and Ireland Business Manager, gave an informative presentation on the Art of Application, explaining how best to get the active ingredient where you want it. According to Daniel, this includes understanding the product being applied, where you want it to end up and then fine tuning the variables of nozzle selection, water volume and sprayer set-up to deliver to the right place at the right time. Daniel also demonstrated how too little water volume may not achieve sufficient coverage, while too much could over wet leaves and run off. “The sprayer operators’ role is vital to balance all these factors to optimise results,” he added.

Henry Bechelet, ICL Technical Manager for UK & Ireland and Simon Taylor, ICL Product and Business Development Manager for Turfgrass seeds, were next to provide top tips on how to Improve your Grass Seed Knowledge in which they discussed various topics regarding seed breeding, selection and management. The audience were asked to select from a list of 10 seed topics and then Simon and Henry thrashed out the issues in an entertaining and forthright fashion to get to the nub of each issue.

Turf Science Lite A Success

Commenting at the event which took place at Liverpool FC’s Academy facility, Tony Sinclair, Manchester United FC Grounds Manager, said: “I came along today and realised just how important these days are in terms of upgrading your education and learning new things. One thing about the industry we work in is that everything changes so quickly and every day is a new day so it is important to keep up with everything that is going on. There is no question that as things continue to move forward ICL will be a part of that – they are a massive player in educating people around the country.”

Scott Reeves, Course Manager at Leyland Golf Club, added: “We are at an interesting point within the industry regarding the use of chemicals and there seems to be a lot hearsay and misinformation around. Therefore it is worthwhile coming to an event such as this to get an update and find out exactly where we are.”

Dr Christian Spring STRI, Research Operations Manager, said: “Today we have been looking at the practical demonstrations and they have been really fascinating because they have focussed on how to get the best out of the products we use and how to get optimum efficiency when we are applying wetting agents, fungicides, liquid nutrition and granular nutrition. It has been incredibly beneficial because it is all about getting the best bang for your buck and looking in details at all the stages we need to focus on in order to get the best possible results.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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Dennis & SISIS Seminar Success

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Dennis & SISIS Seminar Success: Dennis & SISIS have completed another successful season of  seminars, with the insightful events welcoming over 500 attendees at various venues throughout the UK.

Dennis & SISIS have, for a number of years, hosted free-to-attend educational seminars designed to educate groundstaff on a variety of topics associated with sports turf maintenance. High quality speakers and interesting subjects have ensured these seminars have a reputation as ‘must-attend’ events with groundstaff travelling considerable distances to be in attendance.

Dennis & SISIS Seminar Success

While the seminars continue to go from strength to strength, Dennis and SISIS continue to evolve the seminars with the people of the industry in mind, and this year, the British manufacturers launched a new multi-sport groundcare seminar which featured a number of high quality speakers discussing subjects such as renovations, sports-turf construction, drainage, winter sports pitches and the future of groundcare maintenance.

This new event, which took place at St. Albans School, Woollam Trust Playing Fields, saw an incredible 220 delegates in attendance and attracted grounds staff from all over the UK including volunteers and professionals representing schools, sports clubs, local authorities and contractors.

Nick Lockhart, cricket professional and head of grounds and gardens at Felsted School in Essex, attended the event and claimed that the Dennis and SISIS seminars are essential for anyone who wants to take their sports surfaces to the next level.

“It has been thoroughly enjoyable, informative and thought provoking,” he said. “I would go as far as saying that it is a must-attend event for people in this industry. It has been incredibly interesting listening to all of the speakers who have all raised great points that we can take away with us and put into practice. Speakers aside, the networking opportunities are also important because it gives us a chance to speak to other delegates, find out what they might be doing differently to us and hopefully learn from them too.”

The ever popular Dennis and SISIS bowls seminars, which have been credited for improving the greens at numerous bowls clubs throughout the country, offered tips on topics such as early spring maintenance of bowling greens, grant funding support, and choosing the correct grass seed, chemicals and fertilizers.

Kev Brazier, a contract greenkeeper working in partnership with Harpenden Bowls Club, attended the seminar at the Herts Bowling Club in Watford and felt that it was a great opportunity to enhance his greenkeeping knowledge.

“It was an excellent and really informative seminar,” he said. “The speakers had great knowledge and they presented it in a way in which everyone could understand. It was great for networking and there was a broad range of subjects. They were all incredibly relevant and I took a lot away from seminar.”

As well as hosting their own events, Dennis and SISIS are committed to supporting sports turf education wherever possible and this year they also offered their expertise at eight Rugby Football Union (RFU) Pitch Maintenance seminars.

Further information about the range of bowls maintenance products available can be found by visiting www.dennisuk.com / www.sisis.com.

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

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Sherriff A Hit At Budleigh Salterton

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Sherriff A Hit At Budleigh Salterton: Richard Quelch, groundsman at Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club, has seen an improvement in the health of the eleven fantastic lawns at the club in East Devon, thanks to a tank mixture from Sherriff Amenity.

Founded in the late 1860s, Budleigh Salterton is one of the premier croquet clubs in Europe and is situated in a beautiful location with wonderful views looking over the town of Budleigh Salterton.

Sherriff Success At Budleigh Salterton

Richard maintains the lawns to a very high standard, so much so that the club is regularly chosen to host major British and International Tournaments, including the European Golf Croquet Championships.

Although the venue is considered by many to be the ‘Wembley of Croquet’, that doesn’t stop Richard from continuing to make improvements and finding new ways to take the lawns to another level.

“I’m trying to boost the overall health of the lawns and I would like to get more roots into the ground,” he said. “The more roots I have, then the better the lawns can withstand a dry season and stresses. Plus, we are recently starting to have a few issues with leatherjackets and there are not many chemicals available on the market to solve this.

“Ultimately it is a case of trying to make the grass as strong as possible to combat the hot summers and any disease.”

Richard felt that he needed a nice ‘cocktail’ of nutrients which he could apply to the lawns on a regular basis and after speaking to Sherriff Amenity’s David Chammings, he found the ideal solution.

He now applies a monthly tank mix consisting of E2Pro Liquid 12.0.12 (at 60 l/ha), E2Pro PhosRite (at 10 l/ha) and SeaVolution seaweed liquid (at 20 l/ha) and noticed an immediate improvement.

“I trialled a few different products to see which would be the best for this site,” said Richard. “I felt that these products from Sherriff Amenity were the best for me and I was particularly keen to include the PhosRite, because it encourages a deeper, healthier root and relieves stress.”

As Richard says, Sherriff Amenity’s E2 Pro PhosRite can bring dramatic improvements to turf. Results from trials have shown improved turf quality and enhanced rooting. The benefits come from the plant’s improved ability to withstand stress conditions, allowing stronger, healthier grass to develop.

It is rapidly absorbed into the plant leaves where it translocates as phosphite within the plant cells. This stimulates strong, healthy growth and plants with a better root structure that are more able to withstand stress. The phosphite in E2 Pro PhosRite is rapidly distributed throughout the plant using both upward and downward transport systems (xylem and phloem) ensuring that all parts of the plant are quickly affected.

The addition of E2Pro Liquid in the tank-mix works to provide rapid leaf penetration and quickly relieves nutrient deficiency symptoms while Seavolution encourages disease infected areas to recover, optimising turf quality.

“It appears to be the perfect tank mix for me and it has already created a good thickness of grass,” said Richard. “Very soon, we are set to host the European Championships and I’m confident that the lawns will be of a good enough standard to cater for some of the very best players in this sport.”

For further information, please contact Sherriff Amenity on 01638 721 888 or visit www.sherriffamenity.com

For more news and insightful views, you can follow Sherriff Amenity on Twitter @SherriffAmenity.

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Carbon Gold Success At Mullion GC

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Carbon Gold Success At Mullion GC: With more and more chemical fungicides getting banned, how can Greenkeepers keep their turf healthy?  A chance encounter at the 2018 BTME conference in Harrogate led Mullion Golf Club to the answer…  

Mullion Golf Club is the most southernly course in the country, just a few miles north of Lizard Point in Cornwall.  Being right on the coast, it’s under constant barrage from the Atlantic winds and, as such, often suffers salt damage, irrigation issues and disease outbreaks, particularly on the 14th green which is considered the club’s problematic green, sited on a cliff and constantly being awashed with salty air from the Atlantic Ocean. The green was built with a fine sand and has always struggled to get good rooting.   

Carbon Gold Success At Mullion GC

Head Greenkeeper, Gordon Tamblyn, happened upon Carbon Gold’s enriched biochar Turf Improver at the Sherriff Amenity stand at the BIGGA’s annual exhibition BTME at the start of 2018 and was intrigued. 

Biochar is a high-carbon, purified form of charcoal that improves the structure, aeration and water-holding capacity of soil.  Its chemical stability means it doesn’t break down, making it a one-time application, and its porous structure provides a permanent refuge for beneficial microbiology.  

Carbon Gold’s biochar is enriched with mycorrhizae, Trichoderma, seaweed and wormcasts and has been shown to improve the health and vitality of turf, improve grass rooting, reduce irrigation costs, eliminate the need for fungicides and dramatically reduce the need to put down fertiliser in trials by Sherriff Amenity.  

In March, during the Clubs greens renovations, Mullion’s 14th green had been hollow-tined ready to have Carbon Gold’s enriched biochar Turf Improver swept into the Rootzone.   

“I was intrigued by Carbon Gold’s Turf Improver because the science around biology made a lot of intuitive sense and the trial results were impressive, plus the fact that it reduces costs and is a one-time application, it was definitely worth a shot.  I’m always looking for new ways of improving soil structure, preventing disease and promoting the Fescue grasses, due to the nature of our environment at Mullion owing to how exposed to the elements we are.” 

Gordon Tamblyn, Head Green Keeper, Mullion Golf Club 

The biochar was used in conjunction with mycorrhizae inoculants and, eight months on, despite an outbreak of Fusarium this Autumn, the 14th green is completely disease free, the grass is showing better rooting, feels firmer and is looking much healthier.  

“I’m really impressed by the fact that our biggest problem-green is a lot healthier, firmer and is disease free.  And the rooting is impressive, I noticed there’s absolutely no break-off when changing holes.” 

Gordon Tamblyn, Head Green Keeper, Mullion Golf Club 

As a result of the trial, Gordon is applying Turf Improver to its putting green and would like to incorporate it to the rest of the course, permanently improving the health of Mullion Golf Club’s turf. 

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