Tag Archive for: Time

It’s time for Harrogate – BTME 2026 Preview

/in /by

It’s time for Harrogate – BTME 2026 Preview: From 20-22 January, BIGGA hosts Europe’s largest and most influential indoor turf management exhibition – three action-packed days filled with new ideas, new technology and new opportunities, running alongside, from 18-22 January, the Continue to Learn programme offering a comprehensive world-class education programme tailored for turf professionals.

I attended my first BTME in January 1996.

I’d been Editor of Greenkeeper International for just under a year and had spent the months leading up to Harrogate promoting the occasion through its pages – there weren’t any social media platforms, or even the internet, in those days.

So when came to drive up to the famous old town I thought I knew what to expect. I didn’t. BTME was much more than I could have imagined and it has remained part of my life for the subsequent 30 years.

It has grown, shrunk and grown again over that period but, other than the one Covid year and the next when it was moved to March, it has remained as a constant in what has become an increasingly fast-moving industry.

What was once dominated by machinery and fertiliser bags has been overtaken by robots and AI. Large display monitors have replaced flags and banners and faces that I first became familiar with three decades ago are looking a little more wrinkled and topped by a thinner thatch! Not least my own. Smiles are just as wide now as they were in the last century, however.

So, I’m looking forward to this year’s BTME. The Halls will buzz during the day and the streets, pubs and restaurants will buzz during the evening.

I look forward to catching up with many of you there.

Scott MacCallum, Editor

It's time for Harrogate - BTME 2026 Preview

It’s time for Harrogate – BTME 2026 Preview

Prize draw bonus for attending

Every January, Harrogate transforms into the beating heart of the turf management world as BTME and Continue to Learn bring thousands of grounds professionals together for a week of innovation, inspiration and unmissable learning.

Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a seasoned expert, BTME 2026 promises a fresh start to the year. Expect a powerful blend of hands-on education, forward-thinking insights and practical solutions crafted by the people who understand the industry best.

Continue to Learn features everything from intensive full-day technical workshops to bite-sized seminars and a two-day management conference. Topics span agronomy, irrigation, sustainability, leadership and more, each session built to deliver immediately applicable knowledge.

Many courses are deliberately small and interactive, giving delegates valuable time with leading practitioners who know the pressures and complexities of maintaining exceptional turf.

On the exhibition floor, BTME delivers six halls packed with innovation. From cutting-edge machinery to the latest technological breakthroughs, it’s the ideal place to see what’s emerging, compare solutions and plan future investment – all free of charge.

Just as importantly, BTME acts as the profession’s annual meeting point, offering space to network, recharge, share challenges and reconnect with colleagues from across the UK and beyond.

A standout moment of the week is the BIGGA Celebration sponsored by Bernhard Academy and hosted by Sky Sports’ Sarah Stirk, where the BIGGA Awards shine a spotlight on the individuals and teams raising standards across the industry.

And for 2026, there’s an added bonus: thanks to support from KRESS, everyone who registers will be entered into a special prize draw – making this the perfect start of the year for one lucky attendee.

If you’re looking to sharpen your skills, expand your network and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry, Harrogate in January is the place to be. BTME and Continue to Learn remain the essential professional development experience for anyone serious about turf management.

Exhibitors of note at BTME

Agrovista Amenity – Stand 126

Aquatrols – Stand 114

BAGMA – Stand 642

Baroness – Stand 624

Campey Turf Care – Stand 220

ClearWater – Stand 612

Consolidate Turf – Stand 234

Dennis Mowers – 252

DLF – Stand 124

DSV Seeds – Stand 213

Foley – Stand 528

GKB – Stand 644

GroundsFest – Stand 233

Groundsman Industries – Stand 108

Hunter Grinders – Stand 217

ISEKI UK & Ireland – Stand 646

KAR UK – Stand 550

Kress – Stand 136

Kubota UK – Stand 624

Manfield Sand – Stand 242

MM Seed – Stand 124

Origin Amenity Solutions – Stands 230 and 200

Price Turfcare – Stand 122

Redexim – Stand 532

Reesink – Stand 662

SISIS Machinery – Stand 252

Team Sprayers – Stand 518

Techneat Hire – Stand 106

Turf Tracker – Stand 140

Wiedenmann UK – Stand 524

EcoBunker Pre-Cut Revolution Halves Bunker Build Time

/in , /by

EcoBunker Pre-Cut Revolution Halves Bunker Build Time: 18 years after Richard Allen first conceived the idea of using synthetic turf to create low maintenance, high durability edging for bunker walls, industry pioneers EcoBunker have announced the latest in their long line of innovations in the sector – Pre-Cut synthetic tiles.

“EcoBunker Advanced was the last big step forward we took in bunker edge technology,” said Richard Allen, CEO of EcoBunker and inventor of synthetic bunker edging. “That enabled us to build bigger, stronger walls with fewer synthetic tiles, so the impact on the business and our bunkers was very dramatic. While our latest innovation, pre-cut tiles, might not be as obviously impactful, the results we are seeing from early adopters are quite remarkable.”

EcoBunker Pre-Cut Revolution Halves Bunker Build Time

EcoBunker Pre-Cut Revolution Halves Bunker Build Time

The process of installing traditional EcoBunker Advanced walls and edging involves the individual cutting of each tile to provide the flexibility required to shape the bunker wall. With the new pre-cut tiles, build time on each project is dramatically reduced, while quality, consistency and safety are all increasing.

“Pre-cut might not sound much, but an average bunker uses 750 synthetic tiles so that’s a lot of time saved! But it’s not just the cutting time,” continued Richard. “Greenkeeping staff have to wet pallets if they become dry, handle tiles with care when they turn them over, and they have to use a Stanley knife to hand-cut each tile. When you also account for all that time unstacking and re-stacking, we have been able to reduce the average bunker build by half on several projects. And when we pre-cut, each tile has exactly the same cut. This all adds up to a very high level of quality, consistency and durability.”

One club that has already used pre-cut tiles in the third phase of their work with EcoBunker is Lundin Links. Having previously used traditional EcoBunker Advanced technology, course manager, Gavin Neill, noticed an immediate and significant impact.

He said, “For the first two phases of our bunker restoration project we used EcoBunker Advanced and the results have been fantastic. The new bunkers look great and have significantly cut down on maintenance time. For the most recent phase we used the new EcoBunker pre-cut tiles and couldn’t believe the time we saved on installation. We are now able to build bunkers in half the time. Eliminating all on-site cutting also means that not only is it quicker, but it’s safer and reduces the number of waste tiles.”

While the introduction of pre-cut offers immediate advantages for clubs who are looking to build new bunkers themselves, the benefits of the new system are also available for clubs who want to commission a bunker project.

“As a contractor who regularly installs EcoBunker products, having the option to buy pre-cut Advanced Tiles is a major advantage for us. It removes the need to spend time on site cutting tiles, which immediately reduces labour hours, accommodation and travel costs, and allows us to offer more competitive and transparent quotes to clubs,” commented Andrew Greenslade, Managing Director at AMG golf course renovation. “Pre-cut tiles also mean we can start construction as soon as we arrive, rather than losing one or two days preparing materials. This keeps the programme tight and helps us deliver projects more efficiently.”

“We’ve introduced several advancements to the bunker sector, but this has actually been one of the most difficult to perfect.” concluded Richard. “Now we have the tooling and methodology to create consistent cuts every time, this will revolutionise the way in which greenkeeping teams approach a bunker project. All the advantages of EcoBunker technology remain – significantly lower maintenance, increased longevity, sustainability and zero sand contamination – and all of that is now accessible in half the time.”

For more information on EcoBunker please visit www.ecobunker.co.uk

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.

MM50 Helping Tees Stand the Test of Time

/in , /by

MM50 Helping Tees Stand the Test of Time: At Southerndown Golf Club in the Vale of Glamorgan, MM50 grass seed has become an essential product. With tees that endure relentless wear from players and exposure to some of the UK’s harshest growing conditions, Course Manager Andrew Mannion has come to rely on the hard-wearing ryegrass mix to keep surfaces strong, consistent, and fit for year-round play.

MM50 is one of the UK’s most popular grass seed mixtures – and with good reason. The blend of fine-leaved, high shoot density dwarf perennial ryegrasses is built for performance: it tolerates close mowing down to 4-5mm, recovers rapidly from wear, and maintains excellent year-round colour. For Andrew, it’s a perfect match for a course that refuses to follow convention.

MM50 Helping Tees Stand the Test of Time

MM50 Helping Tees Stand the Test of Time

 

“Southerndown’s unique,” says Andrew, who’s been at the club for over 30 years. “It’s like managing two courses in one. The front nine is very sandy and free-draining, almost links-like. The back nine is more loamy, heathland terrain. It means you’ve got to think differently about how you manage each area – and what you grow.”

The course sits around 70 metres above sea level on exposed, windswept land. Underfoot, a layer of acidic sand overlays limestone – an unusual soil profile shared by just a few sites in the UK. “That limestone layer can be two metres down, or just a couple of inches below the surface. It creates real challenges when it comes to aeration and water movement. We’ve got good irrigation, but water doesn’t hang around for long.”

Add in grazing rights – Southerndown is built on common land and home to up to 600 sheep, depending on the season – and it’s easy to see why traditional turf practices don’t always deliver.

For many years, Andrew stuck with a fescue-based programme passed down from his predecessor. But in areas of heavy traffic, especially on par-threes, the turf simply couldn’t keep up. “They’d turn to dust in the summer,” he says. “The recovery wasn’t quick enough. We weren’t getting the results we needed, and we were doing the same things every year expecting a different outcome.”

The spark for change came from an unlikely place: Wimbledon. “I remember watching coverage of Centre Court, and they mentioned these new dwarf ryegrass varieties. I thought, well, that’s just a big golf tee really. So, we trialled some MM50 on the worst par-threes – and the difference was incredible.”

The trial showed immediate improvements. “It gave us better grass coverage, but more than that, the recovery from divots was two or three times quicker than anything we’d seen with fescues. In some cases, you’d get shallow divots regenerating naturally without any intervention.”

That initial success quickly led to a full overseeding programme. “We moved to using MM50 across all the tees. It was an easy sell to the club – we could literally say, ‘Look at the par-threes. Why wouldn’t we want all the tees to look like that?’”

MM50 Helping Tees Stand the Test of Time

MM50 Helping Tees Stand the Test of Time

The benefits went beyond performance. “Golfers weren’t questioning it. The ryegrass is so fine-leaved that they didn’t even realise it was rye. They just saw a tight, clean surface that looked good and played well.”

MM50 has even made its way onto selected fairways – especially those that suffered during the prolonged heat and drought of 2018. “That year really opened our eyes,” Andrew recalls.

“We always thought fescue would bounce back after going dormant, but it didn’t. It just disappeared. We were dragging hoses out onto bare fairways, trying to save them. That’s when we looked at what we’d achieved with MM50 on the tees and thought – why not try it here too?”

“We’ve got a busy course. It’s used 365 days a year. Members expect value for money. You can’t keep relying on a surface that can’t keep up. MM50 gave us a way forward.”

For Andrew, MM50 hasn’t just improved playing surfaces – it’s changed his outlook. “I’m not one of those who hides behind tradition for tradition’s sake. We tried the fescue route. It worked up to a point, but it wasn’t giving us what we needed. MM50 has helped us manage trickier areas, maintain better grass cover, and deliver a better experience for the golfer.”

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.

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.

It’s time to winterise your lawn!

/in , /by

It’s time to winterise your lawn!: The weather is getting colder and it reminds us that it must be time to turn our thoughts to preparing our lawns for the winter.

The Lawn Association team know that for the healthiest lawns, there are always jobs that can be carried out no matter what the season.  David Hedges Gower, the chairman of the Lawn Association, offers suggestions below on how to look after your lawn at this time of year.

It’s time to winterise your lawn!

It’s time to winterise your lawn!

Preparing for Winter – If It Ever Arrives!

Barmy degrees at the end of November—who’d have thought? I’ve seen many a gardener in short sleeves, hard at work well into December. Our autumns and winters are clearly changing, and with them, our gardening habits. But there’s a challenge in this shift.

TV shows and magazines often suggest our gardens shut down over winter. So what are we supposed to do with a warm spell in November—get out the deck chairs? And grass? It’s often overlooked, yet it never really stops growing. In fact, winter preparation and a bit of care during the coldest months can make all the difference for your lawn.

Many plants and shrubs go dormant for winter, so we cut them back and protect the vulnerable ones from frost, calling it a day. But grass is different. Your lawn consists of millions of individual plants, each with a delicate root system. If you think about it, you’d want to throw a thermal blanket over it at the first sign of frost!

Fortunately, no need for such drastic measures. Grass may be small and delicate, but it can survive even tough winters with a bit of support.  In fact, I believe a lawn’s appearance mid-winter is a true measure of good lawn care. It’s easy to make grass look lush in summer with a little fertilizer, sunshine, and regular mowing. Real lawn care, though, is year-round. This season, here are a few simple steps to get your lawn ready for winter—if it ever comes:

  • Aerate if conditions are good. Hollow-tine aeration is ideal, and don’t forget to clear up those cores. You don’t need to fill the holes—they’ll help moisture move through the soil.
  • Apply ferrous sulphate sometime over the next few months. It will lock in valuable nutrients, strengthen the turf, and deter moss.
  • Keep mowingif the grass is growing. Just make sure the blades are sharp, and don’t cut too short; your lawn will actually benefit.
  • Continue edging, shaping, and tidying. Use turf rather than seeds for repairs for faster results.
  • Remove fallen leaves. Leaves create a warm, damp environment that can encourage diseases and dead patches. While you’re at it, inspect any overhanging trees and shrubs, and prune them back to help those struggling shady areas.

And finally, when sub-zero temperatures do arrive, avoid walking on a frosty lawn. You’ll only bruise the grass. Instead, make a cup of tea, sit by the fire, and review last year’s lawn care, planning any tweaks for next season.

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.

Time saving solutions the focus for GKB at BTME

/in , /by

Time saving solutions the focus for GKB at BTME: Time is a precious and ever-decreasing commodity when it comes to completing operations around the golf course. That’s why the multi-functional Sandfiller will be taking centre stage on the GKB stand, when they return to BTME in 2024.

The GKB Sandfiller is designed to tackle the problem of surface drainage and aeration on sports turf and golf courses, especially on greens. A true multi-tasker, the Sandfiller scarifies and simultaneously backfills with sand, or a combination of sand and seed, in a single pass. Delivering the perfect conditions for excellent root growth and optimal plant health, the Sandfiller can be operated by one person, where other similar methods demand more time and labour.

Time saving solutions the focus for GKB at BTME

Time saving solutions the focus for GKB at BTME

Tried and tested by contractors and courses up and down the country, the heart of the Sandfiller utilises the principles of GKB’s much-praised Combinator – carbide blades effectively slitting the surface and creating channels to be easily refilled with dried sand and leaving a clean, play-ready finish in its wake.

Alongside the Sandfiller on stand 644 will be the equally versatile Combiseeder. Four working widths of Combiseeder are available, all equipped with twin spiked rollers which create 1500 holes per square metre, and two brushes to ensure seed is accurately deposited into the pockets for optimal germination conditions. Facilitating routine overseeding quickly and efficiently, the GKB Combiseeder proves an effective tool in retaining sward density and preventing weed, annual meadow grass or moss ingress as more chemical remedies are removed from the market.

The Sandfiller and Combiseeder are just two of a broad portfolio of quality-built maintenance solutions from GKB Machines, further details of which can be found by speaking to the technical team on hand across the three days in January.

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.