Tag Archive for: Truro

MM and Designer terrific for Truro

MM and Designer terrific for Truro: After experimenting with various seeds, Dominic Gibbard – Head Greenkeeper at Truro Golf Club, found that the market leading MM and Designer brands of grass seed produced the best results.

Dominic has been working at Truro Golf Club for four years. He spent three of those as the Deputy Head Greenkeeper but last year his hard work and dedication to the role was rewarded with a promotion.

MM and Designer terrific for Truro

MM and Designer terrific for Truro

He now oversees a team of three who work around the clock to maintain the stunning 18-hole, par 67 parkland course in Cornwall.

“It’s a great place to work,” said Dominic. “Truro is a short, tight and challenging course, which attracts a lot of golfers – in fact we are picking up members all the time.”

One look at the course will tell you why Truro is so popular – it is beautifully maintained by the team, and Dominic is considerably careful when it comes to selecting the correct products.

“Over the years I have experimented with lots of various seeds, but I haven’t found any particular benefits from using others compared to the MM and Designer brands,” he said.

MM is one of the most respected brands in the UK amenity industry, with over 40 years of experience and knowledge. The extensive product portfolio is second to none with performance proven mixtures that are used at many leading venues in the UK and Europe.

All the varieties have an excellent breeding pedigree and have been selected and bred for their ability to deliver a range of quality turf characteristics. The Designer range is also formulated specifically to meet the needs of landscapers, local authorities and sports clubs.

Investing in the Designer range offers true value for money as they combine high performance with competitive pricing.

At Truro Golf Club, Dominic relies on two specific mixtures from the MM and Designer brands which he purchases through David Bevan of Agrovista Amenity.

For the greens he uses Elite Green from the Designer range which is an excellent, all bent (70% Sefton Browntop bent and 30% Arletta Browntop bent) mixture that produces a fine, dense hard-wearing surface.

“It is a brilliant seed which gives us great germination,” he said. “We are really increasing the amount of bent and reducing the Poa in the greens and this mixture is helping us.

“I have found it is quite soil temperature dependent for us, so I don’t tend to overseed with Elite Green until mid-summer after our big golf week. I’ll follow up with another overseed towards the end of September, early October, and these two big hits work incredibly well for us. The greens are in a great condition and the seed has been integral.”

On the tees Dominic relies on MM50 which possesses exceptional shoot density along with tolerance to close mowing making. This superior mix contains the perennial ryegrass cultivars, Venice, Alison and Malibu, which are renowned for providing a great sward for golf use.

“It is great for repairing divots and worn areas,” he said. “We have even used MM50 really early in the season in February and we had germination in temperatures of 6-7 degrees Celsius, which it is not even meant to do. We couldn’t believe it.”

Both the Designer and MM seeds are treated with HEADSTART® GOLD – a unique seaweed-based seed treatment which helps to ensure rapid and even germination. This tried and tested grass seed treatment helps the seed get off to the best possible start.

“I’m really impressed with the products, and they are very good value for money,” said Dominic. “It is for these reasons why we keep choosing MM and Designer.”

For further information, please contact MM Sports Seed on 01386 791102 or visit the company’s new website www.mm-seeds.co.uk. You can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed

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ISEKI SXG323 For Truro School

ISEKI SXG323 For Truro School: ISEKI UK & Ireland, distributors of ISEKI compact tractors and mowers alongside their local dealer Nigel Rafferty Groundcare based in Redruth, Cornwall recently sold an ISEKI SXG323 19hp High-tip to Truro School, a day & boarding school for Girls & Boys aged 3-18, to help maintain their grounds, formal gardens and over 40 acres of sports fields to the highest standard.

Since starting with Truro School as Head of Grounds Joshua Stebbings has worked hard to improve and further develop the grounds that are key to offering a broad range of co-curricular opportunities to the students of the largest coeducational independent school in Cornwall.  Part of his recommendations included purchasing a new collector mower and having previously used an SXG19 there was no question as to what machine Joshua would request.  Commenting on the machine Joshua said “the SXG19 never missed a beat, with no issues and over 2,500 hours on the clock the quality and reliability of ISEKI cannot be beaten.  As part of the buying process we had demonstrations from three other products but the quality and value for money of the ISEKI SXG range allowed us to make a very easy decision”.

ISEKI SXG323 For Truro School

Speaking about their local dealer, Joshua commented; “I use Nigel Rafferty Groundcare for many products and services, the aftersales received is just as good, if not better than the initial sale which is invaluable.  Nigel is always so helpful and knowledgeable, I know should we have any problems, which just doesn’t happen with an ISEKI product, I would be fully supported”.

The SXG323 is used by all the grounds team at the school, the ergonomic design, extra leg room and easy dial-in height of cut adjuster provide excellent operator comfort.  The SXG323 is used across the lawns, around the wildflower meadows and in the gardens throughout the site.

“The blowerless superior collection of the SXG323 means that even when the ground is wet you can still collect with the same finish enabling us to be as productive as possible.  Then when the leaves have dropped in the woodland we can also collect these using the SXG323, saving valuable time instead of manual raking, this use has been just as essential to us as the grass cutting and collecting.  The efficiency of the pickup provides a degree of compaction maximising the 550 litre capacity of the collector.

A high-tip collector was chosen on the SXG323, with its 1.93m maximum lift height for emptying into a trailer, it allows us to be as efficient as possible enabling us to carry on with mowing instead of wasting time going back and forwards to the compost heap due to the size of the site.

“Our SXG323 is the perfect addition to our fleet of grounds maintenance machinery, without doubt the quality and reliability, along with year round use cutting grass or collecting leaves in the wet or dry, will make this piece of equipment invaluable for many years to come” explained Joshua.

For more information, visit: www.iseki.co.uk.

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