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Plan Your SALTEX Visit

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Plan Your SALTEX Visit: SALTEX 2018 is fast approaching, and here is a reminder of everything you need to know ahead of Europe’s largest annual turf management event, taking place at Birmingham’s NEC on 31 October – 01 November.

Firstly…

1. Register for FREE to get your ticket in advance and avoid the queues.

2. Plan your route. Located in the centre of the UK, whether you are travelling from overseas or within the UK, the NEC is easy to get to by car, rail or air.
This year, anyone attending SALTEX, can save 25% on car parking charges. Event organisers have negotiated a freeze on the £12 charge, which the NEC have just increased to £16 for other visitors. Alternatively, the IOG is also providing one free parking voucher for each membership account, be that an Individual or Organisation/Company. Simply bring your membership card to the IOG Hub (stand C180) and collect the FREE car park voucher

Plan Your SALTEX Visit

When you get to SALTEX 2018…

1. Update yourself on industry trends, techniques and latest innovations at the Innovation Hub on stand K021.

2. Gain CPD points by attending any of the 53 FREE-to-attend educational seminars through the Learning LIVE programme.

3. Bring along your soil sample to the Pathology & Soil Science LIVE clinic, located on the IOG Hub between 11am and 1pm each day.

4. Get face-to-face FREE expert, impartial advice from the IOG’s regional pitch advisors on stand E180.

5. Make sure you sign-up for the Women in Turf (via the IOG Hub) and the Lawn Care Legends (Concourse Suites 22-23) networking events.

6. Ready to make your next career move? Visit careers counsellor Frank Newberry between 9am and 3pm each day at the Job Clinic on the IOG Hub for the best career advice you’ll ever receive.

7. See the latest products in action at the SALTEX Outdoor Demo area, outside Halls 6,7 & 8.

8. Bring your shooting boots and try your luck in the penalty shoot-out competition on stand K189. Hosted by Rigby Taylor on behalf of the Perennial charity the competition is free to enter, but donations are appreciated – and a major prize is up for grabs!

9. Have fun! Walk the three large halls and network with thousands of other like-minded individuals – don’t forget to bring your business cards!

SALTEX 2018 is free to attend. To register your attendance and beat the queues visit www.iogsaltex.com

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Scarify Your Lawn To Good Health

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Scarify Your Lawn To Good Health: The simplest way to ensure that your garden lawn is sufficiently healthy to withstand the rigours of winter and be in good condition for the 2019 growing season, is to scarify the surface this autumn.

Mechanical scarifying using either a mains electric or petrol machine will remove the ‘thatch’ from the roots of the grass plants.  Thatch is dead material or rubbish and moss which builds up forming a spongy surface that prevents air, light, nutrients and, most importantly, moisture from reaching the roots to generate healthy new growth. It is amazing just how much thatch can be lifted from even a small lawn!

Scarify Your Lawn To Good Health

Cobra is the UK’s largest range of powered garden machinery and has four specialist scarifiers; two mains electric and two petrol powered machines.  All four have all been expertly designed in the UK to cater specifically for the changing conditions of the British lawn.

“With our rapidly changing weather, the need to scarify regularly is more important than ever,” says Peter Chaloner, managing director of Cobra.  “As we seem to swing from virtual drought to almost flood conditions throughout the year, the need for lawns to absorb rain and slowly release it to the sub-ground water courses helps reduce the risk of flash flooding.  Lawns that are not regularly scarified tend to hold water, forming more moss and further slowing down this vital role of absorbing rain and slowly releasing it back to nature.”

The two electric options are the SA32E and the S36E. The SA32E has a 1300W motor with a 13” working width, and can work depths from -9mm to +4mm. The S36E is slightly wider at 14” and has a 1800W motor, it offers 2mm more depth too. Both electric models have a 40-litre grass bag capacity.

There are also two petrol models, both with a 15” working width, 16 steel blades and 45 litre grass bag capacity. These models have the choice of a 127cc Briggs & Stratton 550 series engine (the S390B), or a 135 cc Honda GP160 engine (the S390H).

The recommended retail prices for the Cobra scarifiers are £119.99 (SA32E), £159.99 (S36E), £529.99 (S390B) and £579.99 (S390H).

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

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Protect Your Veg Plot From Slugs

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Protect Your Veg Plot From Slugs: Slugs can be active throughout the year but cause the most damage when weather conditions are hot and humid. The slimy gastropods will make a meal of a huge variety of vegetables, even when you think that your plants are large enough to have escaped the threat. They will munch through peas, beans, lettuce leaves and tomatoes, and are partial to underground potato tubers; so even plants that you think are safely buried underground are at risk from the hungry beasties. This is because, at any one time, 95% of the slug population are living underground, feeding on plant roots and potatoes!

The answer to vegetable garden woes, though, is easy as watering on a simple, environmentally sound, pest control product – Nemaslug. Not only are nematodes extremely effective when they come into contact with slugs, but they can also reach the places that other slug control methods simply can’t. As nematodes are watered on, and don’t simply lay on the surface of the soil like pellets and other pest control options do, they can travel down through the soil to the pest and attack them before they get a chance to damage your plants.

Protect Your Veg Plot From Slugs

Unlike pellets, Nemaslug can be used as a preventative pest control, so even if you are lucky enough to have not seen any damage caused by slugs, treating the garden to a dose of Nemaslug will keep the critters at bay before they become a real problem.

The best time to target slugs is when they are newly hatched, so the period between March – October is ideal. A regular regime of using Nemaslug every six weeks is the most effective way to protect plants throughout the growing season and will help to ensure that your vegetables survive long enough for you to eat them!

All Nemasys products can be ordered online, with an entire season’s worth being ordered and sent out as and when needed. This means that all of your planning can be done now, and you can concentrate on planting and growing, safe in the knowledge that your pest control is taken care of.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

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Taking Pride In Your Work

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Taking Pride In Your Work: “Taking pride in what you do.” This was the closing message in an address given to the UK Lawncare Network conference by Professor John Moverley, Independent Chairman of the Amenity Forum. He said ‘For too long the excellent work in our sector maintaining amenity surfaces has been under recognised. What is done every day keeps Britain moving, through weed control of our road and rail networks, our sports surfaces, our gardens and lawns and more. In many ways, Britain sets the standard and it is important that we shout about this a little more’. 

John was asked to give the opening address when he addressed the topic of ‘Policy change – promoting best practice, responding to the change and communicating the importance of what we do’

Taking Pride In Your Work

The Amenity Forum is once again running a series of free Updating Events at venues across the UK. This series of free Updating Events seeks to address topical issues of interest and relevance to all involved in the amenity sector and will comprise short presentations by speakers drawn from the Chemicals Regulation Division of HSE, BASIS Registration, the National Sprayer Testing Service, STRI, the various host organisations and from the Amenity Forum itself. They are timed to occupy half a day, normally mornings, and on dates between February and April 2018.

The series has been given the title of ‘Meeting the challenge’ and there will be adequate time for questions and discussion. Whilst the events are free, delegates are required to register in advance. There is sure to be a venue near you and so if you require further information, please email admin@amenityforum.net. These have proved extremely popular events in previous years and have been very well received.

Locations and dates confirmed are:

Belfast 8th February
Peterborough 15th February
Wales 20th February
Stoneleigh 6th March
Pontefract 1st March
London 14th March
Reading 21st March
Essex 22nd March
Edinburgh 10th April
Darlington 11th April
Devon 19th April

This year there will also be three events within the programme especially designed for grounds staff and greenkeepers and hosted by Forum members, IOG and BIGGA. Dates and venues are yet to be confirmed but will take place at locations in the North, Midlands and South. If you wish to register interest for these again contact admin@amenityforum.net

Professor John Moverley, Independent Chairman of the Forum, said ‘’We offer these events as a convenient way for those involved in, or with an interest in, amenity to keep updated on current issues. The locations are spread across the UK and we are especially grateful to member organisations for providing venues and our speakers and supporters which make it all possible’’

The Forum has also announced the date for its popular annual conference and exhibition. In 2018 it will be held once again at the Pirelli Stadium, Burton upon Trent, on Tuesday, October 11th. The conference will be entitled ‘Change, challenge and opportunity’

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

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