Tag Archive for: Works

Why Late Summer Sowing Works

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Why Late Summer Sowing Works: Why Late Summer Sowing Works – Lawn Advice from The Grass People’s Chris McIlroy 

While spring may seem like the natural time to sow grass seed, lawn care experts are encouraging homeowners to look later in the calendar. According to Chris McIlroy, lawn specialist at The Grass People, late summer is one of the most effective times of year to establish new grass or overseed tired lawns.

Why Late Summer Sowing Works

Why Late Summer Sowing Works

“Sowing in late summer is often overlooked, but it can actually give you some of the best results,” says McIlroy. “The conditions are more stable, soil temperatures are ideal, and there’s less weed competition than in spring. It’s a great window for successful germination.”

Soil is still warm – but the worst heat has passed

“By late August and into early September, the soil holds onto summer warmth but without the extreme temperatures that can dry out young seedlings,” explains McIlroy. “This creates an ideal environment for quick and even germination.”

Rainfall becomes more reliable

One of the key challenges in establishing new grass is consistent moisture. “In late summer, you typically get more regular rainfall,” says McIlroy. “That natural watering supports seed development and reduces the need for constant manual watering.”

Fewer weeds to compete with

Spring sowing often means competing with aggressive weeds. “By late summer, most annual weeds are past their peak,” McIlroy notes. “This gives grass seed a much better chance of establishing without having to fight for space or nutrients.”

A stronger lawn before winter

Sowing in late summer gives your lawn a head start heading into colder months. “New grass has several weeks to grow and develop roots before winter sets in,” says McIlroy. “That makes it stronger, more resilient, and better able to bounce back in spring.”

Ideal timing for repairing worn patches

Summer can take its toll on lawns, especially in high-traffic areas. McIlroy recommends late summer as the perfect time to repair any damage. “Whether it’s from kids, pets or prolonged dry weather, now’s the time to fill in bare spots and encourage uniform growth across your lawn.”

Final thoughts from Chris McIlroy

“Late summer is a golden opportunity for lawn care that many people miss. With the right timing and preparation, you can set your lawn up for long-term success heading into autumn and beyond.”

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Rolawn works with Feefo

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Rolawn works with Feefo: Rolawn has subscribed to a newly launched initiative with Feefo – the world’s largest verified reviews provider – whereby tree-planting projects are funded in return for genuine customer reviews.

As part of its sustainability strategy, Rolawn pursues opportunities to make a positive impact on the environment and this is the latest example of the business acting on its commitment. With this new feature, Rolawn is assisting their customers who wish to “give something back” with their purchase. It comes at a time when consumers are increasingly choosing to purchase from sustainably conscious businesses:

Rolawn works with Feefo

Rolawn works with Feefo

• 40% of UK consumers are now conscious shoppers. These are customers who buy from brands that clearly communicate sustainable and ethical practices. (Deloitte, 2022)
• A poll carried out with Ipsos showed 69% of respondents were ‘interested in making more sustainable choices’. (Travel Weekly, December 2022)

Jonathan Hill, Rolawn Sales & Marketing Director, commented: “This initiative makes perfect sense as we know most of our customers are environmentally conscious so it feels appropriate that we are enabling them to make a positive contribution to biodiversity restoration.”

To establish the ‘Treefo’ feature, Feefo has partnered with Ecologi. A reputable climate solutions specialist, Ecologi works hand-in-hand with genuine project providers who are engaging with local communities to restore landscapes. These tree-planting projects nurture seeds to have the best chance of growing into full-grown trees.

Kerry Leighton-Bailey, Chief Product & Marketing Officer at Feefo, said of the Treefo launch: “This is the feature we’ve been waiting for. It builds on Feefo’s ethical journey and means we can finally support businesses to reach their sustainability goals. Businesses are collecting customer reviews anyway. Why not turn that into planet-loving action?”

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Guernsey States Works switch to TinyLineMarker Pro X

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Guernsey States Works switch to TinyLineMarker Pro X: At the end of February 2023, Origin Amenity Solutions delivered their latest GPS guided robotic line marking machine, the TinyLineMarker (TLM) Pro X, to the States Works Propagation Unit in Guernsey.

Richard Langmead manages the Land Management section of States Works, where the team carry out grounds maintenance predominantly for States of Guernsey local Government which includes maintaining school grounds, parks and gardens, social housing, coastal areas, and cliff paths, as well as health properties including the main hospital.

Guernsey States Works switch to TinyLineMarker Pro X

Guernsey States Works switch to TinyLineMarker Pro X

 

Richard comments, “The primary use for the line marker will be to mark out sports pitches on our education sites. We will also be offering a service to other sports clubs on the island. My team used to mark out by hand using a manual line marking machine but this is time consuming and as our workload has grown so has the requirement for us to be faster and more efficient.  I decided to purchase the TLM Pro X robot for many reasons but mainly the efficiencies the robot will give us.”

Tiny Mobile Robots is marketed and distributed exclusively in the UK by Origin Amenity Solutions which brings together four leading industry names – Headland Amenity, Rigby Taylor, TurfKeeper.com and Symbio.

Packed with a range of brand-new innovative features, the TLM Pro X is an exciting new GPS robot designed to make line marking projects as streamlined and effortless as possible.

Richard adds, “As a business we were looking at ways to do tasks more efficiently and are always looking at technology to try and help with this. We came across the TLM Pro X on the internet. The potential cost savings on labour and the ability to have a pitch marking service that we could offer to other sports clubs on the island did appeal and fitted in with our business plans.”

“We have only just started using the robot, but it has already made the initial marking of the pitches much more efficient, and we certainly expect to see the savings in labour costs going forward.”

The TLM Pro X easily manages line marking from start to finish, whether it’s initial marking or overmarking. The robot runs on the ultra-reliable RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) network which means it doesn’t need a base station like some robots use. The robot will mark or remark  the pitch in the correct location every time, even if previous lines have disappeared. Once set up it incredibly simple to use and very reliable.

The TLM Pro X has over 200 customisable pitch templates which include sports pitches, athletic tracks, and parking.  “The ability to quickly and accurately mark out various pitch templates is a fantastic benefit to us.” Richard adds.

A popular new feature of the TLM Pro X is the multi-select tool and Richard agrees that it gives a “noticeable time saving.”  This tool gives users the ability to queue up multiple pitches to be marked out in a specific order of their choosing. The robot will then mark out the designated areas without having to recalibrate the robot each time. To help avoid problems, the robot displays the route it will take to mark out all queued pitches, so the user can ensure that the path is clear of obstructions for a seamless line marking project. As a part of this feature, the robot also gives an estimated time of completion as well as the distance to drive so users know when they can expect their project to be completed.

Working hand in hand with the Multi-Select Tool, the Low Paint Alert feature ensures no time is wasted due to running low on paint when sending the TLM Pro X off to mark multiple pitches in succession. When the robot is running low on paint, an automatic alert is sent to the user’s hand-held tablet notifying paint level is low. In addition, the robot will also send an alert if there is blockage which is preventing the robot from marking. “A simple yet time saving feature that is going to be incredibly useful to us” comments Richard.” “It means my team can carry out other jobs nearby while the robot does it thing, making us more productive and efficient. We don’t need to waste time monitoring the robot closely but are aware immediately when the paint is low, and we can top up before it runs out.”

The Origin Amenity Solutions team offer onsite training, maintenance, and general advice. Richards concludes by saying, “The communication with Simon Hughes and Glen Howard from Origin Amenity Solutions has been excellent, from the initial inquiry, right through to the training once we had purchased the robot, technical support is only a phone call away which is reassuring.”

Free demonstrations are being offered across the UK.  To book or enquire visit https://tinymobilerobots.com/tinymobilerobots-uk/

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Ventrac – versatility that works

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Ventrac – versatility that works: This is Price Turfcare’s first venture at SAGE and they will be demonstrating the new Ventrac 4520 all-terrain compact tractor which has over 30 dedicated attachments designed specifically for the turf manager.

On Stand 7 their demonstration vehicle, equipped with 20- and 30-degree ramps, will be there so the team can put the machine through its paces on slopes that no other ride-on machine in the UK can tackle. Rupert Price, the company’s managing director, invites you to come and view this remarkably versatile machine and see for yourself why Ventrac has become the ‘Swiss Army Knife’ for the turfcare industry. Versatility that works, every day.

Ventrac – versatility that works

Ventrac – versatility that works

www.priceturfcare.com

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PRO 34R Works Wonders For Wolves

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PRO 34R Works Wonders For Wolves: Seven new Dennis PRO 34R rotary mowers have recently been purchased by Premier League outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, and deputy head groundsman Anthony Parker claims they have made a huge improvement to turf maintenance operations at both the Molineux Stadium and the Club’s Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground.

Since the 2016 takeover by Fosun – a Chinese conglomerate and investment company, Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, one of the greatest names in early professional football and one of the first of the Football League’s 12 founder members, are back where they belong.

PRO 34R Works Wonders For Wolves

Promoted back to England’s top flight and impressing on their return to the Premier League, exciting times lie ahead after the Club finished in a very respectable 7th position and continue to make their presence known in the transfer market. However, while it may well be the results on the pitch which are grabbing the headlines, improvements are also being made behind the scenes.

“It just all seemed to come together at the same time,” said Anthony. “The new owners arrived and more investment was available for equipment, the club were doing well and it just all went hand in hand.”

At a time when the Club was investing in new turf maintenance equipment the Dennis PRO 34R was launched and Anthony explained why the purchase of these new machines became the number one priority.

“We used to use six small rotary mowers which did a decent job but because of the additional pitch lighting we purchased, we needed to take more staff off the rotaries in order to have more help putting the lighting rigs out during the winter months. When we saw the PRO 34R’s come to the marketplace, it just made complete sense to get a fleet of these in so we purchased four for the training ground and three for the stadium.”

The Dennis PRO 34R is a 34″ (860mm) rotary mower which has been designed to help groundsmen achieve an aesthetically pleasing appearance and desired playing surface. It is ideal for sports pitches producing the enviable ‘Dennis Stripes’ while a powerful vacuum flow collects debris quickly and efficiently.

The angle of the cutting deck and twin blades can be easily adjusted using a single ‘click adjuster’ ensuring the mower is suitable for changing conditions and meeting groundsmen’s requirements.

Since its launch in 2018 the PRO 34R has received rave reviews with many groundsmen praising the machine and the speed of its operation.

“With these bigger machines you are allowing more staff to go elsewhere to do additional jobs,” said Anthony. “At the training ground we didn’t rotary cut very often because it was such a time consuming task – normally we had to wait until the first team were off for a day and then maybe six of us would get on the small rotaries and it would take quite a while.

However, with these new PRO 34R’s the staff are using them straight away after a training session to clean the pitches up. They are using them every day and they have improved the pitches no end.

“It is a very user friendly machine and it is extremely adaptable because it has so many different gears. If the time allows then you can go over the pitch as slow as you want cleaning up all the debris efficiently but it is also incredibly quick – you put it into fourth gear and you are done in no time at all. You can get a pitch cleaned up in about 40 minutes with three of you.

“It is great when you leave the stadium after a match-day knowing everything has been done and everything is clean – it certainly helps me sleep easily!”

At the stadium, Anthony and the team use the PRO 34R and the Dennis G860 in conjunction by relying on the rotaries to cut down to 25mm before switching to the cylinder mowers for the final presentation cuts (23mm) in preparation for match-day.

While the G860 has long been the industry’s number one mower of choice for presentation, Anthony is hugely impressed with the finish achieved by the PRO 34R.

“The finish on the rotaries is absolutely superb and I think you could even use them for a match-day cut because they will provide presentation of the highest quality.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

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

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