Tag Archive for: sward

4turf® delivers a sustainable drought-tolerant sward

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4turf® delivers a sustainable drought-tolerant sward: Opened in late 2019, Stoneham Lane Football Complex comprises 64sq.Km of artificial and natural sports pitches – supporting grass roots football for players of all ages and abilities.

Part of the FA’s Parklife Project, the maintenance of the Complex falls under the remit of Hampshire FA Facility Operations Manager Pete Hussey who, in conjunction with seed from DLF, keeps the five grass pitches fit for more than 425 matches per season.

4turf® delivers a sustainable drought-tolerant sward

4turf® delivers a sustainable drought-tolerant sward

Alongside the Stoneham Lane facility in Eastleigh, Pete also manages operations at the Winklebury Football Complex in Basingstoke and the Front Lawn Community Hub in Havant – all designed to support and fund grass roots sport within the local area. “I’ve been in this role for three and a half years, but have worked with DLF for 17 years, having used various seed formulations at my previous venue” explains Pete.

“When Stoneham was constructed, one of the major focuses was on drainage – giving us incredible infiltration rates in the region of 52mm per hour. However, the flip side of that is that we have no irrigation meaning that in the dry months, pitches struggle to retain moisture and thin out quickly.” Foreseeing the challenges that lay ahead, Pete spoke to his DLF Regional Technical Manager Ian Barnett to explore more drought-tolerant varieties – and just in time, before one of the most prolonged droughts experienced in the UK, in the summer of 2022!

“We opted to switch from the 100% diploid perennial ryegrass mix to Johnsons J 4Turf 50, sown in May 2022, and we couldn’t have been more impressed with the results.” J 4Turf 50 incorporates 4turf® tetraploid perennial ryegrass, a larger seed with higher energy reserves to deliver deeper rooting, better establishing plants – including in cooler temperatures – with enhanced colour, disease resistance and drought tolerance. The 2023 formulation contains 50% 4turf® tetraploid rye and 50% diploid perennial ryegrass.

“The J 4Turf 50 established well before the hot conditions arrived. We were limited on how much water we could get onto the pitches and were thinking we would need to do a lot of recovery work ahead of the new season, however after the rain returned, the pitches recovered amazingly! We didn’t need to do any additional overseeding or fertilising, we relied on mother nature and the seed to do what it promised it would, and it did exactly that.”

Pete continues, “As the season progressed, the J 4Turf 50 coped with the high wear, recovered fast and remained strong enough that we saw no disease activity at all last year. In fact the pitches looked so good, we were able to wait until after Christmas to put a feed down.” He adds, “This switch has given us everything we want in terms of performance, but more than that, has moved us towards a lower input sward which is more sustainable to manage.”

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Stronger sward for Gloucester Rugby

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Stronger sward for Gloucester Rugby: Gloucester Rugby Head Groundsman, Stuart Lambert, believes that the use of Attraxor® plant growth regulator (PGR), has helped him to achieve a stronger sward while simultaneously reducing the amount of Poa annua.

Stuart started at Gloucester Rugby in August 2018 and admits to learning and adapting to the way the pitch plays every single day. This means that he must be flexible in his maintenance strategy and be open to new products which could make a difference to the pitch at the Kingsholm Stadium.

Stronger sward for Gloucester Rugby

Stronger sward for Gloucester Rugby

He came across such a product at BTME 2020 in the form of Attraxor® plant growth regulator (PGR). In further researching the product, he found that it came highly recommended by Mark Allen from Agrovista Amenity and Adam King, Head Groundsman at Oxford United Football Club.

“Attraxor® appealed to me because PGR’s are a significant part of my overall maintenance strategy to improve the turf and control Poa annua,” said Stuart. “2020 was a particularly challenging year for Poa so I was keen to see what the product could offer. Speaking to Mark and Adam gave me the confidence to try it and the results have been far better than expected.”

Stuart claims that a lack of sunlight to the pitch led to an increase in Poa: “In the winter months almost the whole pitch is in shade because the stand is so high,” he said. “This has been a big factor for the care programme I have chosen to adopt. Maintaining grass coverage is a constant concern in the lower light months and the thinning grass often gives way to Poa annua in the spring which takes hold. It’s a tricky combination to contend with.

The lack of light, winter thinning and then the Poa means the turf is high maintenance. Couple this with the winter months being in heavy use and it means we are regularly out with pitch lights to encourage growth in match torn areas.”

After carrying out a mini renovation in June last year, Stuart applied 1.1 kg/ha of Attraxor® with 20kg of 46-0-0 nitrogen fertiliser. Attraxor® contains prohexadione-calcium, a new active ingredient that regulates growth and also limits the spread of Poa annua by reducing seed-head production.

“It visibly weakened the Poa,” said Stuart. “It looked stressed but the rye around it looked good. It turned the seed heads brown.”

Following the first application Stuart is now confident that Attraxor® will form an important part of his overall maintenance plan. “It is good to have a product that strengthens the sward and improves density whilst weakening the Poa. I definitely intend on applying it again,” he concluded.

For more information about Agrovista Amenity, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

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