Tag Archive for: Winter

Winter Water Feature Maintenance

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Winter Water Feature Maintenance: Leading water feature specialist Waterscapes highlights the importance of consistent winter care to protect investments and ensure spring readiness.

As temperatures drop and winter sets in, many facilities teams assume water feature maintenance requirements decrease. However, leading water feature specialist Waterscapes is highlighting that winter creates different, not fewer, maintenance priorities.

Winter Water Feature Maintenance

Winter Water Feature Maintenance

“Winter doesn’t mean your water feature maintenance stops,” explains Ed Harwood, Maintenance Contracts Manager at Waterscapes. “We consistently see that features receiving regular winter care experience fewer problems, require less intensive spring work, and maintain better overall performance. The facilities teams that maintain consistent inspection and care routines through winter report significantly fewer problems and lower costs.”

The Winter Maintenance Challenge

Neglecting winter maintenance leads to deteriorating water quality that’s harder to correct in spring, equipment wear that goes unnoticed until failure occurs, build-up of debris and contaminants that damage surfaces, increased chemical costs when rebalancing water, and shortened equipment lifespan.

Winter brings significant changes to water feature behaviour. Cooler temperatures and reduced sunlight mean lower algae formation, though the risk isn’t eliminated entirely. Cold water holds more dissolved oxygen and experiences slower biological activity, affecting how treatments work and how quickly water quality can deteriorate.

Essential Winter Care Areas

Water chemistry: For chemically treated features, continue regular water testing throughout winter. Weekly or fortnightly testing catches problems early. Chemical effectiveness changes with water temperature—chlorine works more slowly in cold water, requiring adjusted dosing strategies.

Plant room equipment: Pre-filters require weekly inspection, pumps need continuous monitoring for performance changes, and media filters benefit from backwashing every 2-4 weeks. Regular pipework checks identify leaks or joint movement before they escalate in cold conditions.

Surface care: Regular brushing prevents biofilm and mineral deposit build-up, while netting at least twice weekly removes wind-blown debris before it decomposes and affects water quality.

“The most successful approach combines consistent in-house daily and weekly care with periodic specialist inspections and support,” adds Harwood. “Your team handles routine maintenance whilst specialists provide expertise, equipment servicing, and problem-solving.”

Sustainability Benefits

Consistent winter maintenance delivers environmental and financial benefits. Features receiving regular care require fewer repairs and replacements, reducing waste and resource consumption. Proper chemical management reduces environmental impact, whilst well-maintained equipment lasts longer.

“Every problem prevented through regular maintenance saves resources, reduces waste, and lowers costs,” notes Harwood. “Winter maintenance is an investment in sustainability and spring readiness.”

Professional Support Available

Waterscapes provides comprehensive winter maintenance support including professional water testing, equipment servicing, maintenance training, and complete winter care contracts. With over 20 years of experience across corporate, municipal, and private water features, the team understands the challenges facilities managers face.

Read the full guide: For comprehensive step-by-step guidance on winter water feature maintenance, read the complete article at – https://waterscapes.co.uk/blog/winter-water-feature-maintenance 

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Parkstone Golf Club transforms winter playability

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Parkstone Golf Club transforms winter playability: Renowned as one of the finest courses on the South Coast, Parkstone in Dorset is proudly ranked in the Top 100 golf courses in Great Britain and Ireland.

Upholding their championship-level playing conditions year round isn’t always easy, particularly during increasingly heavy and prolonged periods of rainfall, but it is a challenge relished by Course Manager Grant Peters and his team of 9. He explains how the club’s winter playability has taken a major leap forwards thanks to the installation of Hydrowick drainage by Djuke.

Parkstone Golf Club transforms winter playability

Parkstone Golf Club transforms winter playability

Passionate about course quality, Grant has been at the club for the last nine years and, over that time, identified that persistent waterlogging on some problematic greens – and increasingly on the fairways – was impacting rounds. Seeking an innovative, non-invasive solution, Grant spoke to contractors Djuke about the Hydrowick drainage system and the rest, as they say, is history!

“We had a very tentative trial of the system on the back half of one of our worst performing greens and the impact was immediate and dramatic” he explains. “The transformation in water movement was so good we immediately pushed the button to have Hydrowick installed on all of our problem greens. Since then, we’ve had nine greens done – turning what were some of the wettest areas of the course into the driest.”

He emphasises, “We can see an inch of rainfall and, within a couple of hours, these greens are playable where, previously, they’d have been closed for half a day or longer.”

Encouraged by the results on the greens, Grant is delighted to have now rolled Hydrowick onto Parkstone’s fairways. “We had no concerns whatsoever that the system would perform equally as well here and, lo and behold, shortly after the installation at the start of November we saw 60mm of rainfall and the fairway remained playable.”

Hydrowick is one of the most efficient and effective drainage systems on the market, utilising a patented rope system to ‘wick’ away excess moisture. Laid at 2m centres, the installation process is also far less invasive than most other systems – maximising results and returning surfaces to play within 24 hours. Generating very little spoil was one of the key advantages for Grant, with Parkstone designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest meaning the club is highly constrained on where and how it can move and store soil.

The club now plans to extend the Hydrowick programme to a further three or four fairways, with installations proposed for late 2026 into early 2027. “Cameron and the whole team at Djuke are an absolute pleasure to work with. Everything from initial quotation through to installation was quick, polite, tidy and professional and the end result ticks every box for us” he concludes.

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The Grass People’s Expert Tips for a Greener Winter Lawn

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The Grass People’s Expert Tips for a Greener Winter Lawn: As temperatures drop and frost sets in, many UK homeowners assume their lawns must go dormant until spring. But according to Chris McIlroy, Lawn Expert at The Grass People, “winter is not the end it’s the preparation stage”.

Their winter lawn-care products gives gardeners the right tools to keep lawns nourished, moss-free, and healthy all season long ensuring a strong, vibrant return in spring.

The Grass People’s Expert Tips for a Greener Winter Lawn

The Grass People’s Expert Tips for a Greener Winter Lawn

Step 1: Spread precisely don’t waste your effort

Even the best fertiliser underperforms if it’s applied unevenly. The Grass People’s range of professional-grade lawn spreaders ensures consistent, controlled application across lawns of any size. From lightweight handheld spreaders for smaller gardens to broadcast options for larger areas, even coverage means better results and no patchy regrowth.

“A spreader may seem simple, but it’s the secret to consistency,” says Chris McIlroy, Lawn Expert at The Grass People. “Every handful applied evenly saves you from patchy growth and wasted product.”

Step 2: Feed for the season, not the week

Winter lawncare is about slow, steady nourishment not quick fixes. The Grass People’s SLOW RELEASE: Autumn/Winter Fertiliser provides up to four months of feeding in a single treatment. With an NPK of 8-0-6 plus added magnesium and iron, it strengthens grass against frost and disease, helping roots stay active through the colder months.

Apply in late autumn while the soil is still workable to lock in nutrients before growth slows.“Our slow-release formulas mean fewer applications and less waste, ideal for time-poor gardeners who still want results,” says Chris McIlroy.

Step 3: Control moss while you feed

Moss thrives in damp, shaded lawns when grass weakens during winter. The SLOW RELEASE: Winter Feed & Moss Control takes a dual-action approach, feeding the grass while discouraging moss growth.
With an NPK of 5-0-8 and 9 % iron, it delivers colour, strength, and up to eight weeks of moss protection.

“Winter can be tough on lawns, but it doesn’t have to be the season of damage,” adds Chris McIlroy. “By feeding your lawn and keeping moss in check now, you’re setting yourself up for a healthier, greener spring.”

When to act

  • October – December: Apply Autumn/Winter Fertiliser to strengthen before frost.
  • January – March: Use Winter Feed & Moss Control to protect and maintain colour.
  • Year-round: Use spreaders for precision, for fertiliser, seed, or even grit salt in icy conditions.

Why it matters

A strong, nourished lawn over winter:

  • Prevents bare patches and moss invasion
  • Reduces disease risk and frost stress

Requires less renovation in spring

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Maximising Winter Playability at Chester-Le-Street GC

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Maximising Winter Playability at Chester-Le-Street GC: When winter bites, it bites hard in the North East. At Chester-Le-Street Golf Club, Course Manager Jack Hetherington knows the battle all too well: persistent rain, cold soils, and long hours of leaf wetness that stretch from autumn into early spring.

Between October and March, maintaining playable surfaces becomes a test of strategy, not just stamina.

Maximising Winter Playability at Chester-Le-Street GC

Maximising Winter Playability at Chester-Le-Street GC

“Improving the movement of water through the surface is essential in maximising the window in which we can operate to produce the best surfaces,” Jack explains.

With a course built on mixed construction types, including clay push-ups with drains, keeping water moving is vital.

“It’s crucial that we get water down into the drains as quickly as possible to maintain turf health and ensure playability. We’d also had issues with access points and bottlenecks becoming unsafe for play after rain. Applying FlowSmart in these areas has kept the course open.”

Jack applies H2Pro FlowSmart monthly in a tank-mix with Effect Iron as part of his ITM programme.

“This combination aids playability and helps us stay on top of disease management,” he says.

The results soon spoke for themselves: firmer-feeling clay push-ups, faster infiltration, and more manageable disease pressure through the autumn and winter.

“The moment it really stood out was after a rain event — the next day you could walk onto the green, no dew, felt firmer underfoot, and performing better than the day before. It transformed how the greens performed throughout the autumn/winter period.”

Tank-mixing with iron has brought additional gains too, with improved turf colour, vigour, and resilience through high-pressure disease periods.

And with ICL’s support behind the product, Jack says the decision was straightforward.

“ICL is synonymous with data-driven products, and the support wrapped around them makes for an easy decision.”

For Jack, FlowSmart has become a reliable part of his programme.

“What we apply in our spray windows is increasingly important, which is why I always recommend products supported by data and research. FlowSmart is one of the many ICL have to offer.”

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

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Six Echo TM-2050’s transform the task of winter presentation

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Six Echo TM-2050’s transform the task of winter presentation: It’s not just the greenkeepers that are impressed with the fleet of six Echo TM-2050 robotic mowers installed by GroundTech at Hartsbourne Country Club, the members are too!

Less than a month after their delivery, players and staff alike have recognised the transformation in presentation of some of the club’s perimeter areas which previously proved near-impossible to maintain in challenging winter conditions.

Six Echo TM-2050’s transform the task of winter presentation

Six Echo TM-2050’s transform the task of winter presentation

Like many heavy clay soil courses, this 27-hole club in South Hertfordshire can often lay wet during prolonged periods of rainfall, creating problems in getting machinery out to regularly cut the rough and fairways. General Manager Terry Mulford-Lawlor explains that the knock-on impact extends well beyond the winter, “Both presentation and playability suffers and then, come the spring, the grass is so long and dense that it takes a lot of hard work to get them back to where we want them to be.”

“The proposition that the Echo robotic mowers could be cutting consistently whatever the weather was of great interest.”

Terry was assisted in his search by Marcus Glover and Sam Baker from GroundTech, along with Sam Daybell from Echo who paired the club with six TM-2050 robots with solar array and portable battery chargers. The largest of the Echo range the TM-2050 offers the pinnacle of productivity, capable of mowing areas of up to 75,000m2 while simultaneously providing precise mulching of material for an immaculate finish.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that these mowers have been a gamechanger for us. The intention was that they’d be used only for the rough. However, the GroundTech team mapped all of our fairways and with the results so outstanding we’d be mad not to use them everywhere.” Terry adds, “The work these Robots are doing has already freed up our skilled team of ten greenkeepers to then focus their efforts elsewhere,  hand-cutting areas such as aprons which we’ve not previously had the resources to do and focussing on the technical and agronomic aspects of course management that will take our offering to the next level.”

“Members have been quick to comment that the rough has never looked better, but what’s more they just love watching the robots at work – we’ve even been asked if it’s possible to name and sponsor them!”

Terry concludes, “The process from start to finish has been smooth, personalised and professional. GroundTech supported us and went the extra mile to ensure we had the right set-up and infrastructure to get the most out of our machines. They didn’t over-emphasise what the mowers were capable of, but then they didn’t really need to! We already see this is the future for us.”

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