The turfcare magazinefrom pitchcare.com

WE’RE SERIOUS ABOUT TURFCAREJune/July 2006

Issue No. 7 £4.50

SPECIAL FEATURES

WOMENin TurfcareWOMENin Turfcare

DROUGHT v TURFAccording to the experts the worst drought since 1976 isheading our way. What will be the impact on turf growers?

WATER HAZARD!Winner of the Bill Adams Literary Award, Gordon Jaaback,says that imminent water restrictions offer new challenges

ENVIRONMENTAL MOTIs sports turf irrigation necessary and will the changes theEnvironmental Agency propose impact on all sports facilities?

HOW CAN WOMEN BE ENCOURAGEDTO JOIN OUR INDUSTRY?

+ NOISE•BALMERS ARMY•BATH IN BLOOM•MOTTY•SODS LAW

SUSTAINABLE GOLF AT DELAMERE FOREST GOLF CLUBCUTTING THE CLOTH TO FIT AT WOLVERHAMPTON

LEE JACKSON“HERE WE GO

AGAIN, THECONCERT

SEASON HASSTARTED”

For the first time ever, see the unique aeration and subsurface injection of DryJect®.

A never-been-seen-before close-up look at what actually happens under the surface.Each DryJect blast forms a unique aeration channel that fractures the soil three dimensionally and fills it with the amendment you select. At typical 3 inch spacings, you can see how one application substantially modifies the sub-soil root zone all in one process. Excellent for applications on golf courses and sportsfields, anywhere fine turf is grown.See the full animation on our website.

Call today for a freeDryJect demonstration.

Only DryJect Contractors give you this 3 dimensional, dynamic effect.DryJect does two unique functions at once. First, as an aerator. Most aeration equipmentpunches, drills or slits; some pull plugs. Only DryJect aerates three dimensionally-side to side,front to back and even connects hole to hole. There’s no glazing of hole walls, broken tineson buried rocks, changing tines or depth concerns of cracking drainage or other buried lines.It’s a revolutionary concept using powered water - a patented Venturi process - to open thesoil for air, water and amendments in high volume without disturbing the surface.

Secondly, it’s the only machine that can inject while aerating. Following a water blastinto the turf, it instantaneously injects a selection of flowable dry amendments – sand, peat,diatomaceous earth, calcine clay, zeolites, top dressing, seed, wetting agents, insecticides, orbiological products, you select the mix. For root zone modification, DryJect can use about oneton of material per green.

DryJect Service Center Contractors eliminate the traditional need for a crew to drag, filland remove cores; saving a tremendous amount of labor and time. Some have calculatedsavings into six figures for a year. What’s more, DryJect allows you to start a soil modificationprogram even as part of your regular aeration.

Why own equipment when you can contract for it with an authorized, experiencedDryJect Service Center Contractor? With over two dozen territories nationally, there’s adependable DryJect contractor near you. Check out the full animation on our website orphone today for more details, pricing.

© Advanced Agro Technologies, Inc; DryJect LLC, 2005 www.dryject.com

Nobody has ever seen before the unique, dynamicpattern of three dimensional channels that are created by a typical DryJect application. The aggressive subsurface changes created allow for air, water andnutrients to feed the root zone like no other systemon the market today without disrupting the surface.DryJect has been used on some of the nation’s topgolf venues including Oakmont, Winged Footand Merion. Also, the Dallas Cowboys Training Centeruses DryJect.

Only DryJect Contractors can inject while aerating.

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WATER HAZARDKeeping track of the balance of availablewater supply in the root zone seems logicalyet vital - by Gordon Jaaback.

BALMER ARMYFamily ties in Gloucester where GraemeBalmer looks after King’s School whilst hisbrother David and nephew Gareth tendthe turf at Gloucester RFC.

CUTTING THE CLOTHDave Saltman takes us through the end ofseason renovation work carried out at thehome of Wolverhampton Wanderers,Molineux, and the club’s training ground.

WOMEN IN TURFCARERewarding jobs and ambitious career pathsawait women in the sports turf industry buthow can they be encouraged to join up?

THE FULL MOTTYApart from discovering if John Motson candrive any better than he commentates,what is a Motty Test? David Goodjohn ofGSB Loams takes us through thisintriguing little soil analysis.

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The STRI’s John Lockyer explains that third generation artificial surfaces,whilst closer to natural turf, still require

a high level of maintenance

InsideTHIS ISSUE

SustainableGOLF!

Maintaining thirdgeneration artificial

football surfaces

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No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. Editorial contributions arepublished entirely at the editor’s discretion and may be shortened if space is limited. Pitchcare make everyeffort to ensure the accuracy of the contents but accepts no liability for its consequences. Pitchcare - TheMagazine is printed by the Gemini Press, Dolphin Way, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex BN43 6NZ

To subscribe to pitchcare magazine go towww.pitchcare.comFeatures and Editorial:Pitchcare.com Limited, The Technology Centre, Wolverhampton Science Park,Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV10 9RUTel: 01902 824 392 Fax: 01902 824 393 Email: mail@pitchcare.com

Advertising & Production:Pitchcare Magazine, 9 Imber Road, Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 8RXTel: 01747 855 335 Fax: 01747 858 744 Email: peter@pitchcare.com

Andy Ralphs,Head Greenkeeperat DelamereForest Golf Club

ONLY in the UK can we get,on occasions, all the seasonspacked into one day. Theweather always seems to be atthe top of everyone’s agendaand this year has thrown upmany extraordinaryconditions for us to copewith. In April and May partsof the country were issuedwith flood warnings, whilethe South East was alreadysuffering enforced droughtorders.

In Wolverhampton, even inJune, we witnessed hail, rain,glorious sunshineand

temperatures betweenfreezing and 20 degreesCelsius in just one day.

The start to this season’sgrowth was poor, soiltemperatures remainingbelow the +8 degreesrequired to stimulate theexisting plants and newlyplanted seed. Right up untilJune we felt that, in theMidlands, we were perhaps 6weeks behind previous yearsin terms of growth andrecovery.

Then the weather changedand there was an explosion of

new growth. The highwater content in the soilcombined with theincrease in temperatureprovided the perfectgrowing conditions-albeit a little late.

In my experience theweather rarelyprovides a perfectgrowing season andeach year I have thesame anxieties andworries that

surfaces willnot be

ready in time. In an idealworld we’d enjoy warm dayswith some overnight rainevery two to three days to topup the soil moisture content.

With the winter sportrenovations the clock is on acountdown to the playersreturning, after theirrelatively short break, totraining for the new season.The time seems to passquickly and as the deadlinelooms you are often leftwondering whether thesurfaces will be back to theireminent best in time. Despitethese inevitable worries, andlast minute panics, a goodmaintenance regime will getyou through.

The bowls, cricket, golf andtennis guys also had a toughstart to the year, unable, inmany parts of the country, toeven get on to do pre-seasonwork. Season starts were putback. Even once the seasonhad started much of Apriland May was a wash out.

With the sudden change inthe weather, many cricket andtennis surfaces then dried outtoo quickly and have beenprone to cracking astemperatures soared towards

30 degrees Celsius.

Whatever the situation,we have to deal with itas best as we can. Ialso aim to keep theSecretary,committee and/or

Chairman fully informed ofdecisions made, or soon to beundertaken, in relation to theweather.

Whilst watching our seedlingsrecently at the trainingground enjoy the irrigation, Ireally felt for all thosewithout the opportunity towater at will during thehotter spells. Hopefully, theGovernment will bow topublic concerns this year andforce the water authorities togovern their Industry morestrictly. All of these privatisedbodies are making hugeprofits, yet seem unable torepair their systems andprevent the untold millionsof gallons of water that arewasted each year. Certainly inthe southern part of thecountry more efficient ways ofsaving water need to beimplemented. During thewinter months there isnormally more than enoughrainfall to fulfil all our needsif it were collected and storedproperly.

However, as Groundsmenand Greenkeepers, we are aresourceful breed and, moreoften than not, find a way toget round the problems thatMother Nature throws at us -so good luck for the comingmonths.

WELCOME TO

DAVE SALTMANManaging Director

DAVE SALTMANManaging Director.Last seen, andheard, yodellinghalfway up a Swissmountain andsinging “the hills arealive”. Yes, our Daveneeded a holidayafter his recenthectic workschedule. He isbelieved to be “OffPiste” whichreverses his usualattitude - dda da!

JOHN RICHARDSOperations Directorand proof reader. Ifyou spot a mistakein this magazine it’sbecause John hasmissed it. Of course,you won’t (and if youdo, say nothing),because John hasthe keen eyes of ahawk - aalong withfootballers legs anda mop of ‘ash blond’hair - vvery attractive!

PETER BRITTONSales and Production.Has now turned his‘Meldrew’ behaviourtowards the Englandfootball team as thecricket team’s 2nd XIare beyond his help!As a Spurs fan he hadto pass up a recentopportunity to visitStamford Bridge -apparently theChelsea Trophy Roomwould have been tootraumatic for him!

ELLIE TAITPR and MarketingExecutive.Upstanding citizenand contributor, oflate, to the SundayTimes and SundayTelegraph. Rumourhas it she wasapproached by theNews of the Worldto ‘do a piece’ butrejected it on theprinciple of thepaper’s saucycontent.

ALASTAIRBATTRICKWeb Monkey. Despitethe smiley photoretains the attitude ofa grumpy northerner,which is onlymatched by the factthat he is a grumpynortherner. His dietand keep fit regime,which began with hiscycling to work, nowincludes eating acardboard substitutefor lunch.

DAN HUGHESPitchcare’sReceptionist andTelephonist. It’susually Dan’s nasaltones that you hearfirst on the phone -that’s if he hasn’tdropped thehandset. Still comingto terms with thetechnology requiredto transfer a callpreferring to shoutacross the office “Ereit’s for you!”

SHARON TAYLORCompany Accountant.Turned up for workwith a limp, black eyeand bruised body.Whilst Sharon is nostranger to danger herhorses do seem to bestrangers to goodmanners! Sharoncelebrated her, err,30th birthday lastweek so it’s handy thatshe loves chocolateand fizzy pop, of whichcopious amounts wereserved at the party.

Four seasonsin one day!

the PC teamthe PC team

LAURENCE(WRITING) GALEEditor. Reaching theripe old age of 50does not seem tohave dampenedLoz’s enthusiasmone jot. He comes upwith more ideas thanthe British PatentOffice have on theirbooks - oone of thesedays one of them willsee the light of day!Roadshowsanybody?

For the third year, four groundsmenhave been honoured at the home of

English cricket when they each receiveda Cricket World & Pitchcare CricketGroundsman of the Year Award for

2005.The awards recognise the hard work

and high standards achieved by cricketgroundsmen in the recreational gameand are split into four categories -educational establishments, privateclubs, local authorities and communitypitches.

Nominations were received throughCricket World® magazine, and thewww.cricketworld.com andPitchcare.com websites. Judging of theshortlisted entries was carried out inMarch by Pitchcare’s editor, LaurenceGale MSc at locations as far apart asAberdeen and Jersey.

The presentations were made toKeith Exton, who won the educationalestablishments award for the secondyear in succession, Nigel Nerac, GordonGill and Roy Takle by former Indianwicket-keeper Farokh Engineer in thepresence of sponsors and invitedguests. The winners then enjoyed lunchat the Lord’s Tavern before taking theirExecutive Box seats in the grandstandto enjoy the afternoon’s cricket.

Alastair Symondson, Editor of CricketWorld magazine and Dave Saltmanfrom Pitchcare both expressed theiradmiration for the winning groundsmenand thanked the sponsors, whosecontinuing support makes the awardspossible.

Sponsors are: John Deere, Lloyds ofLetchworth, Ransomes, SISISEquipment (Macclesfield), GroundsmanIndustries, Dennis Mowers, Tildenet,Synergy Products, C.H. Binder &Goundreys (now Monro Sport) and FlicxUK.

The winners and sponsors all agreedthat the competition is essential forraising the profile of the sport at all

levels. Without the hard work andcommitment showed by groundsmen,the game of cricket at grass roots levelwould cease to function.

In fact, everyone involved in theawards has agreed to look intoadditional opportunities to raise theawareness of the awards and how newpeople can be recruited into cricketgroundsmanship.

This year, for the first time,groundsmen working overseas arebeing invited to participate in theawards. For further information or tomake your nomination visitwww.cricketworld.com orwww.pitchcare.com.LOCAL AUTHORITYWinner - Nigel Nerac (States of JerseyPublic Services)Second - Simon Lawrence (Castle ParkCC, Colchester)Third - Ian Vautier (Grainville PlayingFields, Jersey)PRIVATE CLUBWinner - Gordon Gill (Bath CC)Second - Paul Tatton (Haydock CC)Third - Andy Clarke (Shenley CricketCentre)Commended - Andy Gilder (BishopStortford Sports Trust CC)EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTWinner - Keith Exton (Oakham School)Second - George Alexander (TonbridgeSchool)Third - Matt Pullen (Whitgift School)Commended - Ian Smith (St AlbansSchool)COMMUNITY AWARDWinner - Roy Takle - (Brompton RalphCC, Somerset.)Second - Jerry Dovey - (Letchworth CC)Third - Neil Lambourne - (Aston RowantCC)

Cricket groundsmenhonoured at Lord’s

Pitchcare and Cricket World would like to thank the followingcompanies for their generous sponsorship of these awards

Farokh Engineer with Ian Vautierwho was collecting the award onbehalf of Nigel Nerac

... and with Gordon Gill

... and Keith Exton

... and Roy Takle

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THE British Association of GolfCourse Constructors hasannounced the retirement ofDavid White, its long-servingsecretary cum public relationsofficer. Coming from a career insports journalism and bringingwith him a passion for thegame of golf, its history andarchitectural development,David was perfectly suited tosee the BAGCC through severaldifferent phases of its 27 yearshistory, though he insists nowthat it is time for him to pursuehis other great obsession;

restoring and driving classic Porsche sports racing cars. “I regret not being active in the BAGCC during the balmy

period of golf course construction in the seventies,” David said,“the so-called ‘golden age’ of land development and a timewhen every golf course constructor and architect boasted fullorder books and, quite often, waiting lists. Things are differentnow, with much more construction work being undertaken inmainland Europe, though there remains a demand for oldercourses to be refurbished and hazards repositioned to keeppace with ever-increasing length from the tee.”

With David’s retirement, the task remaining appears to be tofind his successor, with a brief that may include some writing,though more likely calling for a flair at encouraging membersand persuading prospective members of the benefits to begained in working together for the betterment of this vibrantindustry.

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THE winner of the Syngenta sponsored Bill Adams Award hasbeen announced. There were two categories - students andPitchcare members - and entrants had to produce a journalistic

style article on any aspect ofthe sports turf industry.The winner of the Pitchcaremember category, and a £500weekend break, is GordonJaaback, a ConsultingAgronomist, who wrote atopical article about the currentdrought problems being facedby the turf grass industry. Thearticle is produced in full in thisissue of the magazine.With regard to the studentaward, the judges consideredthat none of the entries metthe required criteria, thereforethe prize, a Laptop Computer,was not awarded. However,

Syngenta have kindly agreed for us to use the prize for anothercompetition to be run in the coming months.Everyone who entered the competition received a free copy ofStewart Brown's book, Sports Turf and Amenity GrasslandManagement.

Sponsored by

Bill Adams Award winner announced

Drought article winsGordon a weekend off!

BAGCC’s DavidWhite drives off!

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Where in the World? competition winner

Not surprisingly we hadentries from all parts of theworld for this SISIScompetition, from no lessthan 26 different countriesincluding Argentina, SouthAfrica and New Zealand.

The task was to correctlyidentify the location oftwelve SISIS machines inaction. Only a handful ofeagle-eeyed members gotall twelve right and,following a random

selection, the winner wasCharles Johnson of Woking& Horsell Cricket Club,Surrey.

Charles received hisSatellite Navigation Systemfrom SISIS’s SouthernRegional Manager, DavidLuxford.

The answers to thecompetition can be foundon the Pitchcare website -www.pitchcare.com.

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IT’S been exactly a year sincewe launched the hard copyversion of Pitchcare - theMagazine to cries of “does theindustry need anothermagazine?”. Well thankfully itdid and, judging by our members comments, it still does.

Our first edition was a blank canvas. One aim was always tobe ‘different’; to pack the magazine with interesting articles,written by turfcare professionals for turfcare professionals.We wanted a modern design, without going over the top, and,importantly, we wanted to reflect the same professionalismthat the turfcare industry deserves. We believe we haveachieved that and more.

In our first year Pitchcare - the Magazine won awards for‘Best Technical and Best Non-Technical articles’ at theBRITTIR Awards. We’ve held innovative machinery days whereproduct categories were tested side-by-side and we’vepublished stimulating articles that have created debate withinthe industry.

This Anniversary issue is the largest magazine we have everproduced - our aim is to get to the 100 pages mark - watchthis space!

We couldn’t have done any of this without the support ofour contributors, advertisers, membership and readership. Soon behalf of the Pitchcare team, thank you.

Anniversaryissue ofPitchcareMagazine

SISIS Southern Regional Manager David Luxfordpresents the prize to Charles Johnson

SATURDAY 3rd June2006 was a specialday for Pitchcare. Atexactly 9.13am our20,000th memberregistered online. Weran a bit of a funcompetition formembers askingthem to guess whenthe milestone wouldbe reached. The bestguess came fromPete Bond fromSidmouth and wesent him a case ofwine to celebrate withus.

However, there is aserious side to thework Pitchcare do.When the websitewas launched fiveyears ago the keyaims were to raisethe profile of peoplewho work in thesports turf industry,particularly theGroundsmen andGreenkeepers, and toprovide a free forumfor information and

advice using thegoodwill and supportof the manyprofessionals in theindustry.

Those aims havebeen maintained anddeveloped as we havegrown. Over the yearswe have taken onchallenges, ruffled afew feathers andfought a few corners,but all for the rightreasons.

Thanks to thesupport frommembers Pitchcare isnow established andacknowledged as theindustry’s leadingonline website andtrue independentvoice.

Our sincere thanksto all concerned.

More details ofPitchcare memberand user statisticscan be found on thewebsite. -www.pitchcare.com.

THE laying of theWembley pitchwas completedmid way throughJune. It is animportant signalthat the end ofthe bedevilleddevelopmentmay now be insight.

Wembley chiefexecutiveMichael Cunnahsaid: “The turfgoing down is a significantmilestone in the stadium’sprogress for us and our contractorMultiplex. The turf is a verysymbolic part of any stadium andit is important for Wembley tofollow in the tradition of beingfamous for having a fantasticplaying surface.”

According to main contractor,Multiplex, substantial completionof the new Wembley stadium isnow anticipated on 13 July 2006.

Multiplex believes it is entitled tosubstantial and legitimateextensions of time under the termsof its construction contract whichwill extend the contract completiondate until at least September2006.

At the beginning of June the

company won its legal battleagainst steel contractors,Cleveland Bridge, who walked offthe site in August 2004 citingbreach of contract. A High Courtjudge ruled in Multiplex’s favourbut urged both sides to reach anoverall financial settlement bynegotiation or mediation. Multiplexblames Cleveland Bridge at leastin part for the delays to thestadium build and had sought upto £45 million, including damages.

Despite the positive statementsemanating from Multiplex, thecompany is still beset by problemseven at this late stage. At thebeginning of June steelworkerswere told they would not be paidbecause of financial difficulties ofone the sub contractors.

Membershipmilestone

Turf down at Wembley

CARING FOR YOUR TURFFor moving people and equipment around the course or sports field there is nothing more productive than the E-Z-GO MPT.

Fast, safe and economical, it will help you today, tomorrow and for years to come.

Telephone: 01473 270000 for the name of your nearest dealer.

Ransomes Jacobsen Ltd, Marketing: PC06/06MPT,West Road, Ransomes Europark, Ipswich IP3 9TT UK Tel: +44 (0)1473 270000 Fax: +44 (0)1473 276300 www.e-z-go.co.uk Ransomes Jacobsen Ltd is the first groundscare equipment manufacturer accredited to ISO14001

LEADING Sports Equipmentmanufacturer Harrod UK, hasannounced plans to install an on-site wind turbine as part of arenewable energy project togenerate its own electricity.

Harrod UK is proposing theinstallation of a single 250kWwind turbine on its manufacturingsite at Pinbush Road, Lowestoft aspart of a long standing companycommitment to sustainabledevelopment.

The turbine will have anelectrical output of 250kW (0.25megawatts) and the electricitygenerated will be fed directly intothe company’s electricity supply,reducing the need for the companyto import power from the National

Grid and reducing its emissions ofcarbon dioxide, the maingreenhouse gas.

Harrod UK has made significantefforts to reduce their energyconsumption and improve theenvironment of their site. Theinstallation of the wind turbine willsupport a number of other energyefficiency projects undertaken inthe last two years. These includeengineering improvements, theinstallation of more energyefficient lighting systems, and afeasibility study into the conversionof their gas powder baking ovensto electric.

It is anticipated that the turbinecould be installed by the end ofthis year or early 2007.

The answer is blowing inthe wind for Harrod

Cambridge United arethe Dream Team

Company planning Renewable Energy Project

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Kubota UK have announced that CambridgeUnited’s Abbey Stadium has won the 2005/2006Dream Team Best Kept Winter Sports Pitchcompetition.

In the final, held at Chelsea’s world famousStamford Bridge stadium, Chelsea’s headgroundsman, Jason Griffin, who was also one ofthe competition judges, announced that CambridgeUnited had beaten Rushden and Diamonds,Durham City and Hyde United. The winner receivedthe prestigious prize of a Kubota B1610 compacttractor and Charterhouse Verti-Drain 7110 with acombined value of over £16,000.

Winning groundsman Ian Darler said “This willmake a tremendous difference to everyone atCambridge United. The judging process wasalmost like a therapy session for me as althoughthe judges from clubs such as Chelsea, Newcastleand Blackburn may have far greater budgets we allsuffer the same problems only on differing scales -it certainly made me feel that I was not alone!”

www.kubota.co.uk.

WATERHazard!

Imminent water restrictionsoffer new challenges

The need to conserve water now becomes areality. Shortly we could face drastic water

restrictions and rising costs as a result of lowrainfall this winter. Capacities of stored water

reserves are much reduced and restrictedpumping rights from rivers will present the same

concern. On the other hand there is thechallenge to reduce our water losses from run-off and control our water use. Monitoring willbecome a necessity. It is in times like these weneed to become more informed of actual water

losses, the rainfall that is effective and theminimum irrigation need. In essence, keeping

track of the balance of available water supply inthe root zone seems logical yet vital.

By GORDON JAABACK

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WITH water now critically scarce, andrising in cost, it will become clearlyevident how much water is squandered atpresent. Looking for a moment at howwater is lost daily, there are three mainways.

• Evapotransporation (ET) losses everyday vary with the weather. Furthermore,ET values emerging from sophisticatedirrigation installation and weatherstations are open to question. Measuredon the basis of continual adequate watersupply these values do not account forreducing water loss every day after rainor irrigation has ceased (Penman,1948).Nor do they allow for the restrictivecapability of the grass plant incontrolling the rate of water loss throughthe stomata in the leaves (Beard,1973).However, in order to create a simple yetrepresentative range of typical ET valuesunder a variety of conditions over thesummer season, calculations were madeusing the internationally acceptedPenman-Monteith formula. In brief, ETlosses range from 0.9mm per day on amild, cloudy and still humid day in Mayto 4.8mm on a clear, sunny, hot andwindy day with low humidity in July.

• Losses from surface drainage can besignificantly underestimated. Generallylow rainfalls of in the region of 2 to 6mm per day can be penetrating withlittle water lost as run-off. Once morethan 10mm is recorded in a day there areoften bursts of high intensity rainincluded and run-off can amount to 20%.Short storm downfalls of 10 to 20

minutes duration can generate up to80% run off. With this insight andexperience, a good idea of ‘effective’rainfall can be judged.

• Water beyond root depth lost bypercolation is lost to the plant. The mythof greater water need in sand root zonesis incorrect. Sure, sands hold less waterthan loams but surplus water simplypercolates out of reach into the drainagesystem below. Seldom are waterapplications made in accordance with thedegree of water penetration and thewater holding capacity.

Rainfall and irrigation

It is the intensity and duration of rainfallthat is most important. Furthermore, notall rainfall is beneficial. Average rainfallintensities in south east Britain are in theregion of 5mm per hour and in a tenyear study it was found that over 90% ofrainfall is less than 10mm per day with60% of that amount being less than 2mmper day (Royal HorticulturalSociety,2004).

In order to get the best value fromirrigation systems it is vital they applywater evenly. A measurement of theuniformity of a spaced sprinkler spacingdesign is the first prerequisite forconserving applied water. Secondly,measuring the actual precipitation inmillimetres is logical if we are to balancewater lost by ET with water falling aseffective rainfall. Ensuring penetrationmust be a main objective but the decisionwhen to irrigate and with how much

brings a further challenge. Water barelysufficient to overcome daily ET losses canbe water wasted if the water contentbelow is not monitored. Short durationrepeat irrigation cycles are notcommonly applied and yet thatch,compaction and gradient make this formof scheduling essential if water is not tobe lost as run-off. Four to five part-circlesprinklers around a golf green apply2mm in about 5 minutes and, being ableto apply water at 25mm per hour, wateroperation for more than 8 to 10 minutesusually results in run-off.

The storage

The water gains and losses are ultimatelydependant on the amount of short termstorage within the zone of root growth.The shallow root system of fine grass -generally not more than 50mm - poses aproblem in storage as not much morethan 6mm of water is available at thisdepth (the amount between field capacityand wilting point). With ET rates up to atleast 3mm per day in the summer thisseems hopeless. Yet there is a strangeanomaly in the fact that somehow it ispossible to hold off irrigation in thesummer for at least four days after agood rainfall of 10 mm in a day. Thereason for this is the time-lag the upperroot zone takes to reach field capacityafter saturation together with the plant’sability to slow down the rate of lossthrough the stomata in the leaves.

Different parts of a golf green or sportspitch vary in their ability to hold water. Asimple probe is the only practical way of

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gauging the amount of available water. Ifthe soil probed to 75mm wets the handsthere is too much water present but, ifthe soil flows like salt, it is probablyalready too late and grass cover hasshown signs of deterioration. Goodmanagement can prolong the waterstorage and the water use rate inturfgrass can be enhanced by the degreeof maintenance of the grassed area.Deep tine aeration to create a porousroot zone and deeper roots will meanthat more water can be stored to agreater depth. Good nutrition ensuringadequate potassium levels also promotesbetter durability at the time of waterstress and increasing the intervalbetween mowing reduces the rate ofwater loss (Kneebone,1992).

Determining the water need

A simple water balance table revealing alittle water stress could take the followingform (remembering that after goodpenetrating rain there is a time-lagbefore field capacity is reached and ETcvalues will lessen daily when no water isadded). This understanding givescomfort in judging the water availablebut nevertheless the table only gives a‘guide’ condition. Only by probing canwe judge the variation in water supply inthe different locations and aspects and apowdery dry condition should be never

be allowed to develop. Selective handwatering is often the best solution whererun-off has developed wetter and drierconditions on a golf green. On a sportspitch with deeper root depth, waterstorage is greater and conditions aremore uniform.

Interestingly, the turfgrass plant showslittle visual loss in quality with carefullymanaged deficit irrigation(Kneebone,1992). This simply meansapplying less water than the theoreticalcalculated requirement. In practice,aiming to ensure the available watercontent between field capacity andwilting point is the main considerationand a temporary shortfall causing a littlestress is better than too much water -more air is available in the root zone,roots will endeavour go deeper and thegrass will be less succulent and developgreater hardiness.

Duncan Kelsoe, golf course director atKingshill Golf Club, in maintaining aweather station able to record daily ETlosses, plans to apply 50% of these lossesat intervals of two to three days allowingfor expected rainfall. There is no doubtthat with experience, maintaining a tightrein on water application and continuingwith a sound maintenance programme,the water use rate of turfgrass cover canbe controlled and even reduced.Restricted watering can be taken to astress level where grass cover is not

significantly impaired. It now must be evident that as we

become more aware of the water lossesand effectiveness of rainfall andirrigation we can, with soundmanagement, use water more wisely andproduce hardier turfgrass growth thatstill meets our requirements.

The Bill Adams Literary Awards werekindly sponsored by Syngenta

Pitchcare would like to thank SimonElsworth at Syngenta for his assistanceand Bill Adams for judging thecompetition.

Gordon Jaaback wins a Weekend Breakfor 2 to the value of £500

Date Day Reservoir in Rainfall Effective Irrigation ET crop Gain/Loss Balance50mm in 24hrs rainfall effective r+i-e reservoirmm mm mm (r) mm (i) mm (e) mm c/f mm

18.4.05 1 6max (fc) 4 2.6 1.4 6.0 max

19.4.05 2 6 - - - 3.0 -3.0 3.0

20.04.05 3 3 - - 2.8 -2.8 0.2

21.04.05 4 0.2 - - - 2.6 -2.6 -2.4

22.04.05 5 -2.4 15 11 - 1.5 9.5 6.0 max

23.04.05 6 6.0 - - - 2.8 -2.8 4.2

24.04.05 7 4.2 - - - 2.5 -2.5 1.7

25.04.05 8 1.7 - - - 2.3 -2.3 -0.6

Note: fc is short for field capacity - the maximum water this depth can hold against gravity.

DAVID GOODJOHN - General Manager and general dogs body at GSB Loams for the last tenyears. The biggest challenge is to keep my family happy and continue to promote the companywhilst enjoying life to the full. I have three children - one daughter, Bernie 20, and two sonsNick 18 and Don 17 who are all in full time education. As for interests outside of work, I am verycommitted to playing and watching sport. For the last twenty years or so I have regularlyplayed cricket and rugby in and around Kettering. Every year I find myself on either arugby tour or cricket tour travelling to some part of the UK. I also attend anannual cricket sabbatical to the Isle of Wight each July. My sporting prowess,or lack of it, has certainly enabled me to meet many interesting charactersand potential customers. I regularly plan my working diary to enable meto play or watch sport. As for other interests, I enjoy watching comedy,I particularly like Bill Hicks, an American comedian. As for TV, Irarely get enough time. I tend to spend evenings sorting out mydomestic matters, cooking and cleaning, and planning my nextworking days. My involvement in sport has certainly helped mepromote my business and above all has given me theopportunity to combine business and pleasure.There is nevera dull life working in the sports turf industry, especiallywhen you meet so many dedicated and interestingpeople. What more could I want out of life? I seem to begetting my cake and eating it.

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Wate2Water’s Tim Earley says “The needto install a Recycling Wash-Off system tocomply with the new GroundwaterRegulations has been well publicised inthe past and a significant number of clubshave already done so. However, theadditional benefit of continuously re-usingthe same water, which saves a massive90+ % in wash water usage, has nowcome to the fore as the impact of thedrought conservation measures becomeclear.”

The Emergency water conservationmeasures being implemented in the southeast of the country have been wellpublicised. The hosepipe and sprinklerbans recently imposed had little impact ongolf courses and sports grounds, however,the recent Drought Order approved by theEnvironment Minister, Ian Pearson, onbehalf of Sutton and East Surrey WaterCompany, now directly affects theactivities of golf courses and other sportsactivities in this area.

The Sutton & East Surrey Drought Orderprohibited, with effect from Saturday 27thMay, 2006, the use within its area ofsupply, of any water supplied by theCompany (whether by meter or not) for awide range purposes. Prohibited usesinclude watering by hosepipe or similarapparatus of public parks and gardens,

golf clubs, cricket pitches, bowling greensand other sports pitches, whether naturalor artificial. Washing of golf courseequipment & vehicles and yards byhosepipe is prohibited and mechanicaland automatic vehicle washes are alsobanned, but those with recycling facilitiesare exempt. Anyone breaking this ordermay face a fine of up to £1,000.

58 golf courses and thousands of othersports and recreational facilities aredrastically affected by the Sutton and EastSurrey Drought Order, and this willincrease at least threefold should, as looksvery likely, Southern Water and Mid KentWater also impose their recently grantedDrought Orders. Add the Drought Orderapplication recently submitted by ThamesWater, affecting 5 million of their 8 millionconsumers, and it is fair to say things aregetting serious in the south east!

The threat of the imposition of evermore essential drought restrictions hasbrought an increased urgency and focuson the need to install a Recycling Wash-OffSystem at golf courses and Local Authoritygrounds maintenance depots throughoutthe South East. Equipment cannot beproperly maintained if it cannot becleaned.

Simon Osbourne, Course Manager atCuddington Golf Club, Banstead, Surrey,

said “We received notification from Suttonand East Surrey Water that we could nolonger wash our equipment off after the27th May, and that the ban was expectedto last for at least 6 months! I advisedthem that we had recently installed aWaste2Water System and the watercompany authorised us to continuewashing-off as normal but advised us toput a prominent ‘Recycled Water’ sign upto avoid potential conflict with neighbours.This was particularly sound advice as wehave houses less then 50 metres from ourwash-off area.”

A long list of golf clubs in the south eastare able to continue washing-off as usual,following their recent installations.

Dan McGrath, Course Manager of NorthForeland Golf Club in Kent, installed aWaste2Water system in February. “We areright in the middle of the worst hit droughtregion in the UK and are certain the wash-off system will pay for itself during thecoming season. “This system has not onlyensured we comply with the newgroundwater regulations but also enablesus to carry on washing-off as normalduring the drought.”

Waste2Water Tel: 01782 373 878info@waste2water.com

Anyone breaking this order may face a fine of up to £1,000

This water shortage is serious!

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IF YOU ARE IN A DROUGHT RESTRICTED / THREATENED

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5 www.pitchcare.com/re 6 www.pitchcare.com/re

13

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For more information or to arrange a demonstrationof just how high that bar is. Contact:

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The Worst Drought for100 yearsAccording to theEnvironment Agency2006 DroughtProspects Report thesouth east of Englandis facing its worstdrought for 100 yearsafter one of the driestperiods on record. Theperiod from November2004 to January 2006has been the seconddriest since recordsbegan in 1914 and,making matters muchworse, waterconsumption hasincreased massively inthe intervening period.

The EnvironmentAgency are extremelyconcerned about theimpact of drought in

the South Eastof the country,particularlySussex andKent. Riverflows have setnew record lowflows in theseareas with theriver Medway inKent at only32%. BewlReservoir waterlevel is at only37% of average.

If anyone thinks golfcourses have been‘missed’ in thisdebate, think again. Asone leadingnewspaper recentlyhighlighted, “SouthEast England now hasless water per personthan Egypt. The major

difference though,between the southeast region of the UKand Egypt is thatSurrey, Sussex andKent have 160 golfcourses, each using upto 7 million litres ofwater a season andSurrey, for example,has 2,000 swimmingpools”.

Reading your Pitchcaremagazine from cover tocover could win you abottle of Champagne.

In some of our mainheadings we have used ‘musical’ references. Wereckon there are 5 in total. See if you can spotthem. The first correct answer received either byemail to mail@pitchcare.com or by fax to 01902824393 will be sent a bottle of bubbly.

Here are a few clues to the five we want - iif you spotany more you don’t get a bigger prize or aninvitation to join Phil Jupitus on Never Mind TheBuzzcocks, but we might be a little bit moreimpressed with your knowledge over ours.

1 A top 20 hit by an Antipodean band (song titleand artist required).

2 Protest song by American folk singer (song titleand artist).

3 First two lines of popular country song (what’s thesong and who wrote and sang it?).

4 80’s Boy Band recently reformed less onesuperstar member - eeezy peezy.

5 ‘Almost’ the title of a 60’s hit by instrumentsmashing band (Song title and artist).

GOOD LUCK

South East Englandnow has less waterper person than Egypt

The Worst Droughtfor 100 years

WIN!A bottleof bubbly

Bewl Reservoir - oonly37% of average

7 www.pitchcare.com/re

NOISET

hink of the noisyactivities you mightencounter in yourwork: mowing,tractor driving,

drilling, strimming, maybesome stone cutting, perhapseven shooting. If you or yourstaff do any of these jobsyou’ll have to think carefullyabout noise as a work hazard.

A Medical ResearchCouncil survey for 1997 to1998 suggested that over halfa million workers in the UKsuffer some level of work-related hearing damage - asurprisingly high proportionof the workforce. Yet work-related hearing damage isentirely avoidable in thisenlightened world of work.

Noise is measured indecibels, usually weighted forthe sensitivity of the humanear, abbreviated to dB(A).The faintest audible soundsare 0dB(A); loud conversationis around 60dB(A); and aroad drill delivers around100dB(A). You can find a fewother examples below.

A more useful measure ofnoise is called a noiseexposure value, whichaverages all noise levelsexperienced by a particularperson across a specified timeperiod, usually a working dayor week. Respectively, dailyand weekly exposure valuesare referred to as LEP,d orLEP,w. For brief loud noises,such as a gunshot, the peaksound pressure of the noise ismore relevant, and in thiscase the unit is dB(C).

The Control of Noise atWork Regulations 2005 setthe legal requirements for

limiting work-related noiserisks in the UK. TheRegulations came into forceon the 6th April this year,tightening up parts of theNoise at Work Regulations1989. Perhaps mostimportantly they define threenoise levels, as shown in thetable. The actions required ofthe employer at each levelwill be explained in amoment.

The Regulations also statethe actions that employersmust take to reduce the risksposed by noise. The processis actually quite simple:

Step 1: Begin with a riskassessment. List all the jobsthat are noisy and thenestimate their noise level indecibels. Ideally you wouldmeasure the noise with anoise meter, but as a lastresort you could makeestimates using the examplesgiven earlier. Be pessimisticwith your judgements ofnoise to allow a margin ofsafety. Make sure your riskassessment is contained in adocument that can be stored,either as a hardcopy or oncomputer.

Table: Typical noise levels

Equipment dB(A)

Tractor cab 80-885

Lawn Mower 88-994

Power drill 90-1100

Air Compressor 90-993

Leaf Blower 95-1105

Circular Saw 100-1104

Table: The limits imposed bythe Control of Noise at WorkRegulations 2005

Name Value

Lower 80dB(A) daily orexposure weekly exposureaction level 135dB(C)value peak sound

pressure

Measured at source

Upper 85dB(A) daily orexposure weekly exposureaction level 137dB(C) peakvalue sound pressure

Measured at source

Exposure 87dB(A) daily orlimit weekly exposurevalue level 140dB(C) peak

sound pressure

Measured inside hearingprotection

Step 2: Calculate the daily or weekly noise exposure by enteringthe noise levels and their durations into the noise exposurecalculator at the HSE web pagewww.hse.gov.uk/noise/calculator.htm - it’s very simple to use. Thecalculator takes account of the time you or your staff spend withdifferent pieces of equipment. For example, if one of your workershas a quick blast or two with a leaf blower, followed by a few hoursquietly marking-out pitches, s/he will have a fairly trivial noiseexposure value for the day. But a whole eight hours of leafblowing - perish the thought - might put the day’s exposure valueabove at least one of the exposure action values.

Step 3: Having calculated the noise exposure values, you musttake measures to reduce noise exposure if you or any of your staffare likely to exceed the action values or the limit value. TheRegulations describe clearly what you need to do. It’s useful toconsider remedial actions in terms of four main areas: hearingprotection, training, reducing noise, and health surveillance.

As for the exposure limit value, this is an area into which noiselevels must never stray - avoid it at all costs!

Step 4: Next develop a plan of action and check periodically that itis being followed. Hold onto the risk assessment and the actionplan. You might need to revisit them when work arrangementschange. For example, new equipment might be used or perhapssome of your staff will shortly work on a new site.

These steps will be the basis for managing the risks of noise atyour work place.

For more information have a look at the free HSE leaflet calledNoise at Work: Guidance for Employers on the Control of Noise atWork Regulations 2005, available atwww.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg362.pdf, and Protect your hearing orlose it!, available at www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg363.pdf. Bothleaflets are also available by post from the HSE on request.

This article was written by Sean Whittaker of InterAction of Bath,specialists in health and safety advice and assessments, includingnoise assessments. Tel: 01225 482882 - www.ergonomics.uk.net

Half a million workers in theUK suffer some level of work-related hearing damage

At or above the upper exposure action value stricter requirements apply:

Hearing protection: This is compulsory and the employer must use signs todesignate the zones where it is required.

Reducing noise: Noise must be reduced as far as reasonably practicable by (a)adopting different work methods, (b) buying quieter equipment or using noiseinsulation, (c) improving the design and layout of workplaces, (d) adoptingappropriate maintenance programmes for work equipment, the workplace andwork systems, and (e) imposing limits on the duration and intensity of noiseexposure

Training: Suitable and sufficient training must inform employees how to minimisetheir exposure to noise. Employees should be advised how to use hearing protectioneffectively.

Health surveillance: A comprehensive screening programme is necessary, includinga means for staff to report high noise levels and hearing damage, and a method ofmonitoring the hearing of staff.

The Dandelion (Taraxacumofficinale) is a widelydistributed perennial,herbaceous weed. Matureplants arise from a strong,deep taproot that exudes amilky substance when cut. RootsDandelions have deep tap rootsthat can penetrate throughmost soil profiles.FlowersDandelion flowers are yellow incolour and are formed on aflower spike, the flower turnsinto a seed head, producingthousands of air/wind borneseeds.LeavesLeaf margins are noticeablywavy, especially on olderleaves. All leaves are basal,ranging from 50-300mm inlength. Leaves are oblong inoutline, sometimes sparselyhairy, deeply indented withlobes that point toward thecentre of the rosette.Reproductive methodDandelion weeds depend onseed dispersal for reproduction.The yellow flower dies down toleave ripened seeds that areenclosed singly within fruitingbodies and are attached to along slender stalk thatterminates in a parachute-likestructure called a pappus.HabitatDandelions are able toestablish in most turf grasssituations and on most soiltypes. Dandelion populationshave become significant inrecent years , especially onlocal authority playing pitches,where little or no herbicidetreatments have been applied.Dandelions are also a verycommon site on road sideverges.Miscellaneous infoThe dandelion has long, lance-shaped leaves. The name isderived from its resemblance toa lion’s tooth -Dent-de-lion inFrench.Dandelion leavesare eaten insalads and are anexcellent sourceof vitamins andminerals. Theyare also a strongdiuretic usedtraditionally torelieve waterretention causedby heart disease.

Cultural ControlDandelions can bemechanically or physicallyremoved. Care should be takento ensure that all roots arethoroughly removed. Closemowing prevents seed headformation, whilst maintaining adense sward will deter orprevent dandelions fromestablishing. Good soil fertilityis essential, maintaining a soilpH of 6.5 to 7.Chemical ControlApply selective broadleafherbicides when plant growth isactive. There are a number ofproducts available forcontrolling broad leaf weeds inestablished turf. These chemicals are best usedwhen the weeds are activelygrowing, usually between April-October.Tritox (Contains 178g/L(16.2%w/w) MCPA54.g/L(4.9%w/w) mecoprop-pand 15g/L (1.4%w/w) dicambaand potassium salts. Scotts.Intrepid 2 (Contains 20.8g/Ldicamba,166g/L dichlorprop-pans 166.5g/L MCPA). Scotts.Greenor (Contains: 40g/Lfluroxypyr, 20g/L clopyralid and200g/L MCPA). Rigby Taylor.Bastion T (Contains: 72g/Lfluroxypyr and 300g/Lmecoprop-p ). Rigby Taylor.Dormone (Contains 465g/L2,4-D(38.1%w/w) as thediethanolamine salt). Aherbicide which can be usednear water. BayerEnvironmental Science.Supertox 30 (Contains 95g/L(8.8%w/w) mecoprop-p and93.5g/L(8.7%w/w) as thediethanolamine salts). BayerEnvironmental Science.Ensure you followmanufacturer’s directions,health & safety and productdata sheets, and comply withCOSHH regulations, when usingthese chemicals.

When noise levels equal or exceed the lower exposure action value:

Hearing protection: Employers must make hearing protection available andadvise on its effective use. It need not be worn, but it must be madeavailable.

Training: Staff should be told about (a) the risks posed by noise, (b) theaction levels and the exposure limit value, (c) the results of the noise riskassessments, (d) the availability and provision of personal hearingprotection, and (e) safe working practices to minimise exposure to noise.

Health surveillance: Staff should know about (a) how to detect and reportsigns of hearing damage and (b) their entitlement to health surveillanceand its purposes.

DandelionsDandelions(Taraxacum officinale)

WEEDOF THEMONTH

Catchdale Moss Farm, EcclestonSt Helens WA10 5QG

info@amenitycontracting.co.ukTel: 01744 885098Fax: 01744 886001Mobile: 07711 004000

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16

For many years the application ofurea buffered sulphur, or similar, tofine turf in an effort to lower the

pH of a soil was commonplace. Thereceived wisdom seemed to be cast-ironin its assertions: finer grasses thrive in aslightly acidic soil, sulphur lowers pH,ipso facto sulphur is great for fine turfareas, golf greens particularly.

It took a while but some bright sparkeventually put his hand up in class andsaid “Please Sir? Are you sure thatputting sulphuric acid onto our greens isa good idea?”

Almost immediately the genie was outof the bottle and greenkeepers aroundthe globe began to question the use ofsuch a caustic acidification programme,regardless of the benefits (or otherwise)of acidic soil, the action of applying adangerous chemical to fine turf waslooked at with a frown.

Agronomist Robert Laycock wascertainly doubtful when it came to acidprogrammes and penned the followingin Greenkeeper International; “The effectsof repeated acidification can be seen inmany of our old golf courses. Earlier thisyear I recently received soil samples fromthe greens of a well-known golf course(not a regular client). The pH valueswere between 4.4 and 4.8. The turf wasannual meadow grass, the rootzone

anaerobic and thatchy. Experience hastaught me that a factor in thedevelopment of greens like this is the useof acidifying materials. Myrecommendation was that the greensshould be limed - I do not expect for onemoment that they will be. But whatwould be the adverse effect of liminggreens like this? What could be worsethan their current condition?”

And therein lies one of the majorproblems of an acidification programme- it can be overdone very easily indeed.Soil Scientist Stuart Ashworth clarifiedthe point: “Finer grasses thrive at a pHof 5.5 to 6.5, that is a fact. However, theapplication of a corrosive, toxic chemicalto turf in order to achieve this lower pHis inadvisable. Nitric Acid or SulphuricAcid put into a golf green can easilycause problems - a pH below 5 mightwell result in unhealthy greens - this is aprecise science, not a ‘chuck it andchance it’ affair.”

Handling strong corrosive acids andsulphur treatments is, therefore, fraughtwith problems and can often lead toother problems such as plant scorch andincreased severity of black layer. So is themovement towards acidification dead?No, but it probably needs a facelift. Theword ‘acidification’ is perhaps tooemotive and creates an immediate

stumbling block: once we haveascertained that applying acid to soil isprobably not a good idea it would appearsafe to assume that acidification of thesoil is also a non-starter.

Enter confusion number two - it isactually possible to reduce pH of a soil tothe ‘optimum’ pH of 6 without resortingto harsh acids.

A new, synthetic product that hasrecently been put on the market acrossEurope - Re-Phlex - replaces productslike nitric acid and urea-bufferedsulphuric acid without the use of toxic orcorrosive harsh mineral acids. What ismore, this non-corrosive, non-fuming,100% biodegradable acid replacementsystem is a non-skin irritant and non-mutagenic to fish and wildlife.

So, several of the problems appear tohave been removed from theacidification programmes of the past,safety and environmental issues have,apparently, been addressed. Thequestion remains though, is the reducedlevel of pH on a golf green a desirablepractice?

Laycock maintained that it is not:“Many of the old greens I come acrosshave a turf consisting predominantly ofannual meadow grass on soils of pH 4 toover 7. In other words the annualmeadow grass seems to do better than

Lowering the pH of the soil profileRIGHTor WRONG?

Report by IEUAN DAFYDD

For manyyears theapplication ofurea bufferedsulphur, orsimilar, to fineturf in aneffort to lowerthe pH of asoil wascommonplace,but is ...

17

the bent and fescues at allpH levels. So, does the AcidTheory not work?

And yet Ashworth is of theopposite standpoint;“Different plants needdifferent soil properties. Tryto grow heather orrhododendrons on alkali soiland you will struggle. Fineturf grass might be more of acomplex issue but the basicfact remains, the pH of a soilcan affect the growth ofdesirable species. Ideally weneed the soil at a pH of 5.5to 6.5 and, if we can achievethis without reverting tocaustic chemicals, then it iscertainly worth a secondlook.”

Both Laycock andAshworth agree on one pointat least; regardless of pHvalues, undesirable speciessuch as the shallow-rootedpoa annua will dominate inareas of over watering. It isno surprise that the advent ofwidespread irrigation hascoincided with the increase ofmany problems in fine turf,Ashworth goes further andmakes an interestingobservation on the source ofirrigation water and thecompounded problems thatmight follow. “With theincreasing use of alkalinebore-hole water and effluentwater, more turf managersare facing the challenges thatcome from decreasing waterquality and associated highsoil pH. High bicarbonatelevels in irrigation and soilwater locks up essential plantnutrients making themunavailable for plant uptake.High soil pH can encouragepests such as casting wormsand create an environmentfor turf disease.”

The over-watering of golfcourses in times of watershortages is anathema to allof us involved in the golfindustry as is the use ofharmful chemicals in thepursuit of excellence.Therefore it would be useful

if a more efficient irrigationsystem could be coupled withimproved environmentalpractices and more beneficialconditions for fine turfgrasses. This is where themanufacturers of the Re-Phlex soil and waterconditioning system believethey score highly. Theproduct removes hardeneddeposits of lime scale thatcan reduce flow in irrigationpipes and heads without anycorrosion worries; it will notharm other valuableirrigation equipment.

With such diametricallyopposed views on a veryemotive topic, the loweringof pH values throughout thesoil profile of a golf green(not just the surface) needs tobe studied very closely andwith expert advice at allstages of the process.

Whether such products asRe-Phlex are miracle cures orsimply a useful additiveremains to be seen. It wouldbe advisable to keep an openmind at this point andinvestigate further. Certainlythe question of lower pH andfine turf grasses deservesmore than a ‘black and white’answer or a cursory glance.

Water preservation,maintenance of valuableequipment, environmentalprotection and improved turfquality are the claims of themanufacturers. If only partlytrue it represents a step inthe right direction, if entirelytrue then a big breakthroughhas been achieved.

Consulting a qualifiedagronomist would be a goodfirst step, as wouldresearching the material onthe internet; if nothing else itwould make for aninteresting and educationalprocess.

Email: info@indiflow.co.ukWeb: www.indiflow.co.uk

“more turf managersare facing thechallenges that comefrom decreasing waterquality and associatedhigh soil pH”

8 www.pitchcare.com/re

18

THE subject of the weather isalways high on the agenda ofmost groundsmen andgreenkeepers. Not a day passeswithout some reference to theweather. A dramatic change canseverely influence the conditionand performance of the playingsurfaces.

Monitoring the weather in the21st century, whilst not an exactscience, is fairly straightforward.The modern turfcare professionalhas, at his disposal, the latesttechnology and equipment topredict the weather fairlyaccurately, allowing greatercontrol of irrigation systems,fertiliser application and othertasks.

Back in the ‘old days’ thoseworking outdoors seemed to havean affinity with the weather - aasubconscious feel for it - aand couldgenerally second guess the onsetof a change. Apart from achingjoints, cows lying down orseaweed getting moist,recognising cloud formations wasthe key.

So, even in these technicallyadvanced times of satellites,computers and weather stations,just a simple glance skywards canstill provide a good indication ofwhat might be heading your way!

Cumulus of the fair weathervariety. This type of cloud isnormally associated with a gentlewesterly flow over the countryhaving picked up a small amountof moisture while passing over theocean, thermal activity(convection) causes smallCumulus type clouds with verylittle vertical extent, these cloudswill often be welcomed when theweather is hot as they offer someoccasional shade, but they arevery unlikely to build into largeCumulus or Cumulus Nimbusclouds and therefore the weatheris likely to remain dry.

Stratus. This is a veil of stratuscloud, often a feature associatedwith a warm front, in this photo,the stratus is very brightsuggesting that it is of littlevertical extent and also suggestingthat there is little other cloudabove it, therefore, although thereis possibly some rain associatedwith this cloud, it is likely to belight and in the form of drizzle.

Cumulus of the fair weathervariety, but building to someextent, possible growth andtherefore showers later in the day.

Cumulus showing some verticalextent, could grow to cause someshowery activity later.

Fair weather day, however there isa small line of Cumulus cloud inthe distance suggesting someconvective activity.

The presence of Cirrus, Alto-cumulus and Strato-cumulussuggests that a warm front is onits way, the layering of cloud isdriven by the "slope" of a warmfront, high level cloud wouldtypically be seen first, followed byprogressively lower levels of cloud.Rain, thicker cloud and more dullweather is the likely scenario inthe hours ahead of this photobeing taken.

Large Cumulus or even Cumulus-Nimbus clouds very welldeveloped and showers canclearly be seen in the distance,the dark striations beneath theclouds are rain drops. Often thesecan be seen falling beneath theclouds, but not actually reachingthe ground, this is caused byevaporation as the rain fallstowards the ground. Thesesituations are often seen either asa trough passes over, or after thepassage of a cold front.

Large Cumulus and Cumulus-Nimbus clouds and showers,however a brighter area to the leftof the picture suggests that this isthe back edge of a showery areabehind either a trough or a coldfront. Fairer weather is likely to beon its way.

Cumulus-Nimbus cloud producinga heavy downpour in the distance.

Well developed large Cumulus orsmall Cumulus-Nimbus clouds. Norain can be seen in this photo, butthese clouds are showing signs ofgrowing and showers are almostcertain to follow fairly soonafterwards.

Cumulus developing, fair weatherat the moment, but watch out forshowers in the next few hours.

Cirrus, Alto-cumulus and smallcumulus clouds are associatedwith the passage of a cold front,watch out for development of thecumulus and possible showers.

Peter HollingsworthMetra Information Limited

There’s a stormacross the valleyand clouds are rolling in ....

On a recent visit to Gloucester Igot lost, not for the first time Ihasten to add. I was on my wayto meet up with Gareth Balmer

at Gloucester Rugby Club. I pulled in ata school to get directions where I foundthe Head Groundsman working by theentrance. He very kindly put me right.

Not wanting to miss an opportunity, Iasked him a few questions about his roleat the school; Kings in Gloucester. Hetold me his name and, by coincidence,he turned out to be the uncle of Gareth,the very man I was going to see. He wasGraeme Balmer and not only was hisfather formerly the Head Groundsman atthe school but Gareth’s father, David(Graham’s brother), had also been HeadGroundsman at the rugby stadium.Confused? So was I.

Both the school and the rugby clubhave had sons following fathers into theposition of Head Groundsman. In totalGraeme and his dad have had 50 yearsat the school while David and Garethhave clocked up 14 years service at therugby club. The family connections works

very well as the two venues sharemachinery as and when required.

Faced with this unusual scenario Italked with Graham about his role at theschool.

THE King’s School is one of the sevenfamous Cathedral Schools established byHenry VIII in 1541. Whilst initially aChoir School, it has grown considerablyover the years into the leading co-educational independent school in thearea, with around five hundred pupils,aged three to eighteen.

Graeme is responsible for maintainingthe grounds and gardens at both theschool site and the Archdeacon playingfields. He has two assistants, Dave Barleyand Richard Bowman.

The Archdeacon playing fields hostboth rugby and cricket fixtures. Thereare three cricket squares at the groundoffering around 40 pitches for play.However, with cricket being played everyday during the summer term, thegrounds staff have to make each strip lastas long as they can. Surrey Gostd loam is

used on the squares and this has beenvery successful for repairs andestablishing grass.

It is an old landfill site which doescome with a few problems. Often, areashave been known to drop as much as 75mm (3”) in places, requiring cricketpitches to be relaid every now and again.

Gloucester RFC

Eventually I arrived at the rugby club tobe met by Gareth and his father, David,the Stadium Manager. They were busypreparing the pitch for a televised matchagainst Wasps. Sky TV were setting uplighting, camera rigs and studio facilities.

Gareth was mowing the pitch using aToro triple set at 35 mm, getting aheadof the company who were marking out aGuinness logo. Despite having stagedover thirty matches to date, and theprolonged cold, wintry weather, the pitchwas still in very good condition with over70% grass cover.

The weekly routine consists of pitchrepairs after the game, divoting, re-

By LAURENCE GALE MSc

Family ties in Gloucester confuse our Laurence

BalmerARMY

Left - rright Uncle Graeme, DadDavid and Nephew/Son Gareth

levelling, mowing/striping up, aeratingand marking out ready for the nextgame. Mowing (two directions) using thetriple takes about two hours; markingout about one hour.

Gareth took over from his dad, whenhe (David) was promoted to StadiumManager in 2002. David had been theHead Groundsman since 1996. They stillshare many of the hands on maintenancetasks. David makes a point of still doingthe line marking, using a wheel-to-wheeltransfer line marker. They did have ademonstration of Fleet’s new laserguided Beamrider and whilst theythought it was fantastic, the cost provedto be outside their current budget.

The height of cut remains at 35mmduring the playing season and comesdown to 25mm for the summer closeddown period. This year’s renovationprogramme will see the pitch verticutand scarified to open up and thin outthe sward, followed by some spoonaeration down to a depth of 75mm.

The pitch will then be brushed andcleared of any debris and then topdressed with 40 tonnes of 70/30 dressingand oversown with 16 bags of MM60grass seed. A pre-seeding NPK 15 5 20fertiliser will be applied followed bysome Headland slow release productswhich will feed the pitch well intoDecember.

Just prior to the new rugby season,starting in September, Gareth will againaerate the pitch, this time using theEarthquake linear aerator set at 200 mmcentres, and topdress with another 40tonnes of 70/30.

The pitch has remained fairlyunchanged since it was constructed in1891. Being soil based it has had its fairshare of drainage problems in the past,however a recent programme of localiseddrainage works has improved matters.

The club hires additional facilities atHartpury college where there are naturaland artificial grass pitches to use.

David does not have an unlimitedbudget for the pitch and has to ensurehe gets value for money when buyingand procuring services. However, withsuch a long history of Groundmanship inhis family, he is not short of a fewcontacts to help him achieve his aims.

The stadium has a crowd capacity of

12,500. To ensure the club can be viable,and move forward like other Premiershipclubs, its future will depend on how itcan develop. There are plans to build anew 20,000 seater stadium. If thathappens both David and Gareth willrelish the opportunity of being able toinfluence what facilities should be at thenew ground. Pop up watering, pitchcovers, easy access and storage facilitiesare some items that can be improvedupon.

FATHER and son are clearly verycommitted to the club, they travel to allthe away games, where they have thechance to meet up with many of theirfellow Groundsmen. The opportunity totalk shop and share ideas on how to raisestandards is too good to miss.

Graeme, his father, his brother Daveand nephew Gareth are greatambassadors for our industry. Their totalinvolvement as a family represents wellover 65 years, a commitment whichshould be applauded and recognised.There is no doubt, from myconversations with them, that they haveevery intention of ensuring the Balmerdynasty in Gloucestershire continues formany more years to come.

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GGloucester Rugby Club looking apicture for Sky TV and the Wasps.

Inset: Cricket outfield at King’s School

Gareth on the Toro Triple

Graeme Balmer (centre) with DaveBarley and Richard Bowman

9 www.pitchcare.com/re 21

BATH & North East SomersetCouncil, like many other localauthorities, have been through aperiod of change, restructuring tomeet the demands of governmentpolices on sustainability andenvironmental issues. This hasresulted in the amalgamation oftraditionally independent councildepartments such as street andrubbish collection, highway cleansingand parks and open spaces into alarger department that can bemanaged more efficiently.

In December 2004 the councilappointed Robert Standen as

Operations Manager for the Leisureand Amenity Department, whichemploys well over 100 staff, tomaintain and provide the followingcouncil services:- • Public open spaces, grass verges

and road islands.• 9 formal parks and gardens,

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• Landscape• Sport Areas• Street cleansing• Street sweeping• Graffiti• Toilets and Litterbins.

Robert has worked in localauthorities for over 30 years,beginning as an apprenticewith Birmingham in 1974.He also has the honour ofbeing a Britain in Bloom andGreen Flag judge for thesouth west region.

Robert believes theamalgamation of thedifferent departments hasallowed him to coordinatethe services more effectivelyand efficiently. Already therehas been a vast improvementin litter and street cleansingin the last twelve monthswhich has seen a 15%improvement on labourefficiencies within the district.The council is now up to 91%of the targets set by theGovernment’s Departmentfor the Environment, Foodand Rural Affairs.

A number of ward by wardsurveys were carried out tofind out what their customersexpected and wanted fromthe street cleansing and littercollection services. Thisresulted in some changes toworking practices, the staffwere encouraged to takeownership and pride in whatthey were doing in thecommunity. To increasepublic awareness of what wasexpected from these newinitiatives a series ofEnvironmental Action Dayswere staged.

In recent years Bath haswon a number of Britain in

Bloom awards. With agrowing emphasis on otherfactors such as litter, graffiti,recycling materials, educationand working withcommunities, the combinedapproach by the newdepartment will, hopefully,lead to more.

There is no doubt thepublic of Bath appreciatetheir parks and open spaces.At the time of my visit theRoyal Victoria Park, adjacentto the landmark RoyalCrescent, was busy with localsand visitors enjoying themagnificent facilities.

The park has a botanicalgarden area and nurserywhich supplies over 500,000spring and summer beddingplants for the area’s formalfloral displays. Nurserymanager Richard Collect hasa team of seven staff that, inaddition to the beddingplants, produce 1000hanging baskets and over 500tubs and troughs for variouslocations in and around thecity.

Despite the efficiencyimprovements, Robert andhis team have an ongoingstruggle to work within tightbudgets balanced againstincreased public expectationsand additional use of theirfacilities. He accepts,however, that he is not alonein this respect.

It continues to be a hardtask, justifying increases tomaintenance budgets, but, bywinning awards and raisingpublic awareness of theirwork, it is hoped that theycan secure the vital fundingneeded to sustain theirwonderful facilities for thenext generation of users.

Right: RobertStanden is ajudge for the

south westregion ofBritain in

Bloom andGreen Flag

The RoyalVictoria Parkhas a botanicalgarden and anursery (left)which suppliesover 500,000spring andsummerbedding plants

10 www.pitchcare.com/re

Sustainable golf at DELAMERE

FOREST

“Optimising the playing qualityof the golf course in harmony

with the conservation of itsnatural environment under

economically sound and sociallyresponsible management”

Report by LAURENCE GALE MSc

There has been lot ofdebate recently aboutsustainable golf. Atthis year’s Harrogate

Show there were two daysdedicated to the issue withguest speakers promoting themany benefits of sustainablegolf.

The R&A are activelypromoting the concept, theirdefinition of sustainability inrelation to golf coursedevelopment andmanagement is: ‘Optimisingthe playing quality of the golfcourse in harmony with theconservation of its naturalenvironment undereconomically sound andsocially responsiblemanagement’.

Sustainable developmentand management isfundamental to the futuresuccess of golf. However,sustainability can only beachieved through theimplementation of bestpractice and is only asflexible as the single limitingfactor in its definition which,more often than not, will beenvironmental or economicconsiderations.

Without doubt the phrase‘sustainable golf ’ seems tohave hit a chord with many

people in the industry. Backin the 1970s most courseswere managed with limitedresources and with little or nomajor inputs of water andfeeds. There were no wettingagents or micro life productsin those days. Most coursesjust about managed to keeptheir grass cut on a weeklycycle with the staff they had.

Modern technologies andthe growing expectations ofplayers have had a majorimpact on the game, with aresultant increase in inputs ofresources (material andmanpower) to produce allyear round consistentconditions.

The question is do we wantcourses to look and performthe same all year round, andbe a drain on resources?

There is one course in thecountry that has resisted thetemptation to follow moderntrends. Delamere Forest inCheshire has not changed itsmaintenance approach in its96 years of existence.Through the grapevine I hadheard some interesting claimsabout the course, inparticular that no irrigationwas in use, and hadn’t beenfor some time.

I met up with the Head

Greenkeeper, Andy Ralphs,who has worked at the clubsince 1989. Andy took overthe head greenkeeping rolenine years ago when JimAstbury retired. Many of thepractices undertaken duringJim’s 50 years at Delamereare still carried out today.

Founded in 1910, thecourse was designed andconstructed by W H Fowler(who also designed the OldCourse at Walton Heath). Hemade the most of the naturalundulating land of the area.Little has changed in almosta century, including the clubhouse and grounds.

Set in the heart of theDelamere Forest the courserolls amidst wonderfulwooded plantations andnatural heathland. Fowlerhad no qualms aboutchallenging thegolfer with anumber ofblinddrivesandtestingtheirstaminawithsomepunishinghill

climbs. The first hole sets thetone, a difficult 430 yard par4, requiring an 80 yard carryonto an uphill fairway.

Renowned for being one ofthe best inland heathlandcourses I was keen to see ifDelamere Forest was living upto its reputation.

FIRST impressions count fora lot. The greens hadexcellent colour with a densesward, overall the courselooked very tidy, well-managed fairways, semirough and rough areas wereall clean and sharp.

Andy introduced me to hisstaff, a fairly young group oflads, all very keen to furthertheir careers in greenkeepingand all attending college togain qualifications.

I asked Andy about hiswatering regimes and wassurprised to learn that thelast time he applied anywater to the course was backin 2003 when there was aprolonged spell of dryweather. They did a bit oflocalised hand watering to

Sustainable development and management isfundamental to the future success of golf

“We keep thingssimple here, wejust do the basics,the course tends tolook after itself ”

Andy Ralphs, Head Greenkeeper

27

help prevent some of thegreens from dying offcompletely

Not only is wateringavoided, feeding is rarelyundertaken either. There isan application of lawn sandon the greens at the start ofevery season and a couple ofapplications of seaweed,other than that, nothing.

The club have neversought to install anautomated watering system,they simply do not need one,they let nature takes itscourse.

For the last four yearsAndy has been workingclosely with Alistair Beggsfrom STRI to monitor and toimprove the bent/fescuedensities in his greens. Thiswork involves oversowingwith fescue grasses in thespring followed, in lateAugust, with a second sowingof bents and fescues as partof the autumn renovations.

This programme, togetherwith the non feeding andnon watering policies, hasensured the poa grasses arealways under stress. In factAndy looks forward to drysummers, as they help thebents and fescues and retardthe poa.

Alistair visits twice a year tomonitor and report on thesward composition. The tableabove gives details of thepercentage of grasses foundin the greens.

The low bent grasspopulations on a few of thegreens were brought about bysolid tinning spots, whichoften became prone toponding after rain. Andyarranged a programme oflocalised deep aeration,using a vertidrain machine,to rectify the problems.

I was amazed to hear thatthe greens had only everbeen vertidrained twicepreviously, once in the 1980’sand the other in 2006.

Andy and his team have astraightforward philosophy,“We keep things simple here,we just do the basics, thecourse tends to look afteritself ”.

THE course is built onCheshire sandy loam, all thegreens are soil pushed upand have remained the same

since they were firstconstructed. Having welldrained soil helpsenormously, the club is open365 days a year, and thegreens, tees and fairway areable to cope with the wearand tear generated by the450 full members plus 5 daymembers as well.

Andy applies wettingagents (Vitax Granular &Beaker triple) on greens andtees to aid rain waterinfiltration. The granularPrimer is applied at the startof the growing seasonfollowed up with a monthlyapplication of the Breakeruntil August.

The greens are mowed atweekends with ride-ons, ittakes one member of staffjust two hours to cut themall, during the week thegreens are cut daily usinghand mowers taking 3 staffaround 1.5 hours tocomplete.

Apart from a slightvariation of 1mm on thegreens, there is no differencebetween the winter andsummer grass cuttingregimes.

The greens are verticut to adepth of 1mm on afortnightly basis to thin out

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Delamere Forest GC Sward Assesment (visual) 15th June 2005

Green Fescue Bent POA York Fog Moss Disease Other1 70 302 60 403 15 55 28 24 45 505 10 75 106 5 45 457 5 80 158 10 70 209 10 45 45

10 15 70 1511 5 60 3512 5 60 3513 5 70 2514 5 80 10 515 10 70 2016 5 60 30 517 5 65 25 518 15 60 25PG 10 65 20 5

Mean 7.11 63.42 27.53 0.89 0.26

11 www.pitchcare.com/re

28

the sward and to stand thebents and fescues up formowing. The greens speed isvery fast especially duringdry weather, the averagestimpmeter reading is 9-10ft.The readings used to betaken by the greenkeepingstaff, but now they arerecorded by a member of thegreens committee. Keepingthe greens mean and leanhas also prevented anysignificant disease outbreaks,only suffering the occasionalodd spot of fusarium, whichis spot treated. Blanketspraying is not carried outanywhere on the course, thesprayer is only ever used forapplying wetting agents.

THE relationship betweenthe members and the greensstaff could not be better.Most of the members havebeen with the club a longtime and they all know howgood the course playscompared to many others.Andy also provides thegreens committee with adiary of maintenance so theyknow what is going on, “Theyare happy with the way wemanage things and the goodresults we achieve with the

regimes we employ.Therefore, they tend tosupport what we do.”

The rough ispredominantly natural fescuegrasses, gorse and heatherwhich provide a toughpenalty to the golfers withmany balls being lost. Thisyear, Andy is looking to carryout some scarification worksto thin out the grass and toreduce the problem of lostballs.

Tees and greens areaerated using the ToroWorkman fitted with SISISknife blades (150-200mm)every two weeks fromSeptember to March, weatherpermitting. The greens arealso solid tined on a monthly

basis during the same period,and solid tined monthly inthe growing season.

Top dressing of the greensis carried out in the springand autumn, with furtherlight dressings applied on 3-4weekly basis during thesummer. Andy used to makehis own top dressings, usingthe sand from the club's ownsand quarry and compostthey had collected, howeverthis was becoming too timeconsuming so now they buyin.

Winter works

THE staff have plenty to doin the winter months withbunker, tree and plantation

refurbishments. With 78 bunkers there is

always plenty of workrequired. One of the biggestproblems is rabbits, thecourse is full of them. Andyoperates a gassing andshooting programme to keepnumbers down and reducethe damage.

This year the staff haverefurbished a number ofbunkers refacing, returfingand topping up with sand. Atask made easier by the factthat they have a convenientsupply from their own sandquarry situated on thecourse.

Maintaining the balancefor gorse and heather isparamount on a heathlandcourse, Andy explained “Wedo not want the gorse to gettoo high and leggy, we carryout cutting and burningprogrammes to keep it undercontrol. Managing theheather is a bit moredifficult, we are trying hardto establish new plantationsbut it is not easy. We collectseed and sow in new areas,and then wait to see whatcomes of it.”

There is a lot of woodlandwork, keeping plantations

SWARD HEIGHT OF CUT

Summer Winter

Greens 4mm (cut daily) 5mm (Cut as and when )

Greens surrounds 11mm 11mm

Tees 11mm (cut weekly) 11mm (cut every 6 weeks)

Fairways 14mm (cut weekly) 14mm (As and when)

Semi rough 50 mm 50 mm

Rough Left to grow Left to grow (300-450mm) (300-450mm)

HurrellsBeverley Road

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12 www.pitchcare.com/re

29

Andy Ralphs (centre) with left to right DeputyHead Greenkeeper Andy Willinson (7yrs), RickSinker (2 yrs), Tony Dean (2yrs) and MatthewBebbington (6 weeks).

Keeping the greens mean and lean has alsoprevented any significant disease outbreaks,only suffering the occasional odd spot offusarium, which is spot treated.

Winter work - Many of the bunkers have beenrefaced, returfed and topped up with sand fromthe club’s own quarry, conveniently situated onthe course.

thinned out to allow regeneration ofheathland plants. Andy has recentlyhad meetings with the ForestryCommission to establish what hecan do to clear out some densewoodland scrub areas that runalongside the railway lines, with theaim of opening up the land to re-establish more heather and gorseplantations. In the old days whenthe steam trains ran down the line,the heat from them kept the groundclear of vegetation.

Wildlife is abundant, including ahealthy adder population, so thestaff have to be mindful of thedangers when working in roughground.

Having driven around the courseand seen the results of reducinginputs of water and feed, I feel in astronger position to support themerits of sustainable golf. However,not every course is like DelamereForest, it has the advantage of yearsof top quality consistentgreenkeeping, plus a few otherfactors:-

1.Simplified, consistentmaintenance regimes

2.Working with the weather andclimatic conditions

3.An understanding membership4.Being blessed with favourable

native sandy loam soils5.Having soil pushed up greens6.Having a committed team of

Greenkeepers7.Keeping up with and embracing

technology changesAs far as sustainability is

concerned Delamere Forest is anoutstanding example. Theirapproach, I am sure, is one that willenable them to thrive for another96 years. The key, of course, is tohave a Head Greenkeeper who isprepared to stick to old values andtried and tested methods, withoutthe need for large doses ofchemicals, feed and water.

13 www.pitchcare.com/re

NEMATODES are a largeand diverse group of non-

segmented, microscopic roundwormsthat can inhabit both the rootzone andthe turfgrass plants themselves. Thereare three main types of nematode but itis only the plant parasitic nematodes thathave the ability to cause damage ordisease to the turf.

All plant parasitic nematodes possesssome form of stylet or hollow feedingorgan in their mouth that is similar tothe stylet used by greenfly to pierceherbaceous plants. The nematodes pushthis stylet in to the plant cells, injectchemicals to assist their feeding andremove nutrients and water from theturfgrass plant. Depending on their type,nematodes feed either on or in the roots,stem or leaf of the plant but it isgenerally those that feed on or in theroots that can cause the most damage toclose-mown turf.

For many years it was believed thatplant parasitic nematodes only causeddamage to warm-season turfgrasses butover the past 6 years, I have seen asteady increase in the number of amenitysites across the UK and Ireland that havebeen affected by nematodes at some timeduring the year. Damage appears to bemost prevalent on stadia pitches, golfcourses and racecourses though allamenity grasses have the potential to

become affected.The symptoms that develop on the

sward will vary depending on thenematode population present butgenerally, damage is first seen aschlorosis of the plant and reduced turfvigour. The turf generally doesn'trespond well to application of eithernutrition or irrigation and the damageoften progresses to a yellowed sward indiscrete- or diffuse-edged patches.Affected areas will tend to show up at thesame time each year as rootzonetemperatures increases and activity of thenematodes increases. Symptoms canoften resemble those of fungal diseasebut fungicide applications fail to produceany recovery. In areas affected bynematode damage, foliar application ofnutrients can offer some recovery fromthe symptoms, allowing the plants tobypass the roots and take in nutrientsthrough the leaf. If the plants cancontinue to develop new roots tocompensate for those damaged by thefeeding nematodes, the symptoms willnot become as sever and recovery will bequicker.

Nematode populations will varythrough the year following almost acyclical pattern and if high populationscoincide with severe physical ornutritional stress of the turf, extensivedamage can occur. It will be possible to

find plant parasitic nematodes in mostrootzones and on areas where the turfappears quite healthy. As with fungaldisease, it is not merely the presence ofthe nematode that is the problem but thepopulation size and the general health ofthe turf.

Although we have recently identified acompletely new species of nematode thatis causing damage to bentgrass turf, it isbelieved that all of the nematodedamage seen in the UK and Ireland isbeing caused by native species that havedeveloped to damaging population levelsas a result of the sward compositionand/or the inherent stress that comeswith producing quality playing surfaces.

If you think that you may have aproblem with nematodes affecting yourturf, look for shallow root growth or adeformity in the root development(swellings, excessive branching, stuntedor stubby growth). You will not be able tosee the nematodes without the use of amicroscope but if you send a samplethrough, I can check it for you.

Dollar Spot

Nematodes

DOLLAR spot is a fungal disease thatappears to be increasing in occurrenceacross the UK. Historically in the UK, dollarspot has been recorded as a disease offine-leaved fescues but, over the last fiveyears, we have seen a steady rise in thenumber of outbreaks of this diseasedeveloping on Poa annua swards. InEurope and across the USA, dollar spotcan be a devastating disease on Agrostissp. turf.

The fungus responsible for this diseasehas always been called Sclerotiniahomoeocarpa even though we have knownfor many years that it is not actually aSclerotinia fungus. The reason for this isquite complex and the difficulty in namingthe fungus is evident from the fact that todate, there is no definitive name for it. Itis suggested by some researchers that thefungus is a Rutstroemia species but untilwe have a confirmed re-naming of thefungus, we can continue to call it by thename that is generally accepted.

Regardless of its name, this funguscauses rapid outbreaks of disease onturfgrasses under a range of mowingheights but on close mown turf, thesymptoms can be dramatic. Thecharacteristic small (2 cm diameter)bleached spots of infected turf candevelop so extensively that it can be

difficult to stand on an affectedarea without putting your

foot on the diseased plants. Dollar spot can develop either

during late spring/early summer orlate autumn but more severeoutbreaks appear to develop in theautumn. Drought-stressed turf isparticularly susceptible to infectionbut free water, high relativehumidity or heavy dew arenecessary for disease development.High daytime temperatures and lownighttime temperatures, whencombined with the presence ofheavy dew, are ideal conditions forthis disease. Turfgrass grown underlow nitrogen nutrition is more susceptibleto dollar spot but rootzone pH does notappear to influence susceptibility.

The disease shows as 2 to 4 cmdiameter bleached spots which do notincrease much in size but which docoalesce to form large areas of bleachedturf. In all grasses apart from Poa,individual affected leaves show acharacteristic ‘hourglass’ lesion which canbe seen as a bleached, slightly narrowedportion of the leaf bordered at each endwith a narrow, dark band. In Poa, thebleached lesion is present but the darkborders are not.

Management of this disease is basedaround cultural controls. Thorough deep,but infrequent irrigation is recommendedas a way of providing sufficient water to

the plant whilst reducing the overall periodof leaf wetness. Removal of dew isessential to minimise the chance ofinfection. Adequate nitrogen nutrition iscritical both to minimise the onset of thedisease and also to aid recovery of anaffected sward.

Several fungicides that are currentlyavailable for use on managed amenity turfhave shown efficacy against this turfdisease and, where necessary, can beused as part of an integrated programmeto manage dollar spot. Always ensure thatthe disease is correctly identified prior tothe application of any plant protectionproduct.Dr. Kate EntwistleThe Turf Disease CentreTel: 01256 880246

pestOF THEMONTH

diseaseOF THEMONTH

32

AT WOLVERHAMPTON Wanderers FC,the preparations start early in March.Discussions take place on how the pitcheshave performed and what work will beundertaken to improve them for thefollowing season.

This season the training groundpitches suffered with the cold dryweather, certainly from Christmasonwards. The fact that wedecommissioned the irrigation system inthe late Autumn, to protect the moreexposed sections, did not help our causeas the pitches didn’t receive as muchwinter rain as we would have normallyexpected. The long spell of coolertemperatures also held back any recoverythat we would also have hoped for.

At Molineux we suffered too. Up untilChristmas the pitch looked as good as itever had at that time of year. Then withconsecutive cup matches being drawn athome in January, we endured seven

games in little over a month and lostnearly 50% of the grass cover on thepitch. As the temperatures remained low,and the soil didn’t get a chance to warm,grass recovery was almost non-existent.

All that said and done, the pitch heldtogether well for games, and the earlyfears of a possible relay were allayed.

So, in discussion with the ClubSecretary, Terry and Wayne (theGroundsmen) and our consultants, PSD,a specification and schedule was drawnup for the contractual works starting inMay. Tenders were sent out and, by thebeginning of April, prices were back withthe club for consideration.

It was felt that we could undertakemuch of the work in house, leaving onepitch at the Compton training groundand the main pitch at Molineux to thesuccessful contractor.

The Molineux pitch has a history ofvarious low cost remedial works in an

effort to stave off the inevitable re-construction (sometime in the future)and it has become a difficult beast tomanage.

The pitch was moved east 40 metres in1992 at the end of the new stadiumconstruction. The existing soils wereameliorated with a quantity of sand toproduce a reasonable growing medium.

At this time an undersoil heatingsystem was also installed and the hotwater pipes were supposed to be bedded300mm below the surface. Unfortunatelysome of the pipes have either risen overtime, or were not installed correctly, andthey have been hit with aerationequipment as near as 150mm from thesurface. This, of course, makes any deepaeration impossible to undertake.Therefore the ground below 150mm hasbecome very compacted and slowdraining.

As with most clubs, Wolves work within

Cutting the clothTO FIT

For all grass sports theend of season renovationwork is of paramountimportance in preparingthe surface for therigours of the followingseason’s play

By DAVE SALTMAN

33

strict financial budgets. The stadiumpitch receives a good budget for therenovations and seasonal maintenancebut there isn’t the money at present toreconstruct the pitch properly.

Over the last 14 years, goal areas havebeen reinforced with fibre sand, and evenhand sown with Desso, small out fieldproblem areas have been excavated andrefilled with newer root zone materialand additional drains have been installedin certain areas both east to west andnorth to south across the pitch.

With the advent of machinery such asthe Koro, the vegetation has beenstripped off each May and the root zoneameliorated with further sand orrootzone. This has happened nearlyevery season for the last ten years. Theability to ‘turn over’ the upper profile,creating air space and removingcompaction certainly provides the newlysown grass with the best chance of

establishing well during the summer’sclosed season.

The problems at Molineux don’tusually arise until mid winter whenevapotranspiration is negligible andrainfall is high. At this time certain areasof the pitch are unable to cope withexcessive moisture and this, coupled witha gentle fall from the southeast to thenorthwest pitch corners, means thatwater has to travel right across thesurface when field capacity is reached.

During inclement weather there areusually a few occasions when games areclose to being called off. The club hasinvested in a rain cover system, which isworth its weight in gold but, even withthis in place, heavy rain in the hour ortwo before a match can still waterlog thesurface, very quickly bringing about apostponement.

With all of the above and more toconsider the following works were

decided upon for this 2006 renovation,with the pitch contractor Derek Craneand the Wolves Groundstaff working inconjunction for much of the work tokeep costs down to a minimum.

AT Molineux the surface vegetation wasKoroed off to a depth of 15mm and 250tonnes of 70/30 rootzone (supplied byMansfield Sands) was spread evenly to adepth of 15mm before the area waspower harrowed to a depth of 100mm.The ground was then generally levelledusing a grading bar, locally levelled andconsolidated using a massive 4 metrewide stone rake.

Once completed, 20 cubic metres ofconcentrated fibre rootzone was spreadthrough the goal areas and one or twoother areas of concern, and this wasworked into the surface with the powerharrow and then stone raked again toattain our final levels. The fibre

34

concentrate was used to providesome more strength to the root zonefor the latter stages of the seasonwhen grass cover thins out.

There was an application of325kgs of Headland 22:5:22 slowrelease fertiliser also incorporatedduring this final process, prior toadding 350kgs of 10:15:10 pre-seedfertiliser (Rigby Taylor) and 450kgsof Barenbrug Bar 7 seed.

The seed was applied using a Blecseeder before a final light roll leftthe surface requiring some water -we didn’t have to wait long beforethe heavens opened and we got yetanother deluge. Unfortunately, thethunderstorms kept coming andsome days during the followingweek, rainwater was pouring off theprepared surface like a river, takingmuch of the surface seed with it.

Fortunately the Blec seeder hadplanted plenty of seed well below theimmediate surface and this has comeup very well. We just needed to thinout clumped areas left by the heavyrain.

THE work at the training groundcommenced a week or so earlierthan at the main ground. We hadbeen in negotiation with the localschool to renovate their four pitcheswhile we did our own in-house. Dueto us hiring the machinery locallyand purchasing the materials directlyourselves, we were able to offer acouple of very reasonable and costeffective proposals. The schooldecided on the best works scheduleand we set about scarifying andvertidraining the fields.

In total there were eight full sizeand academy pitches to renovate atthe training ground. The full sizeyouth team pitch had a similar remitto the Molineux pitch that weworked on with Derek Crane. Withthe exception of this pitch, the restwere scarified, seeded, fertilised andtop-dressed.

The club have been working arotational renovation at the trainingground for a good few years. Theaim is to strip off and turn over atleast one of the three main surfacesat the end of each season, doing asubstantial renovation on the othersin the meantime. This policy allowsthe removal of excess Poa and thebuild up of thatch at least everythree years, providing a fresh profileand surface for the heavy trainingand match schedule that’s playedover a ten and a half month season.

From a financial point of view welook to trim costs where we can, this

year we had planned to Koro off twoof the training ground pitches andturn them over, but decided that wecould get one of the pitches throughanother season without too manyissues and that money couldtherefore be saved.

The players are back for trainingin the last week of June, so it wasvital that all of the work could becompleted as quickly as possible.

We had booked renovationmachinery from a local dealer well inadvance of the start date, howeverwhen the day came the machinerydidn’t. A succession of phone callsdidn’t resolve the issue with thedealer and we were left high and dry.Fortunately for us, because of theheavy rain and the inability to startrenovations on other local fields, alocal contractor was able to hire outhis machinery to us for a few days.

Terry, Wayne, Ken and I workedfrom day break until dusk to scarifyand clean the surfaces, sow about1500kgs of seed, apply over 2000kgs of fertiliser and dolomiticlimestone, and spread 520 tonnes ofapproved drainage sand on all thepitches. We also hollow cored the 1stteam and reserve pitches.

Although the rain hindered ourprogress to some degree, wemanaged to complete the trainingground in just over a week. Thecontinuing unsettled weather meantthat the irrigation system, that wehad now recommissioned, remainedunused.

Usually by May, soil temperaturesare increasing sufficiently to see theseed chit and break the surface inabout five days. However, the air andsoil temperatures remained cool andwe waited about nine days before theseedlings finally emerged.

As the days have passed by, thebetter weather has arrived and theirrigation (despite a few teethingproblems) is in full swing now.

The new seedlings are establishingnicely and, by the time this article ispublished, the players will no doubtbe back in training.

The maintenance regime startedwith a couple of light rolls and thena cut with Honda Pro rotary mowersonce the seedlings had grown toabout 35mm (nearly three weeks onfrom seeding!). Regular mowing withthe Dennis mowers was thencontinued for a week, before it wasfelt that the mowing could continuewith our John Deere five-gangfairway mower.

Training ground overseeded

Recommissioned irrigation system

Reseeded areas .... and a goodnumber of pigeons!

School playing field afterrenovation work

I wandered lonely as a cloud

“Rainwater was pouring offthe prepared surface like ariver, taking much of thesurface seed with it”

35

TWO members of thePitchcare team had a franticstart to the month of Junepreparing to welcomevisitors to their workplacesas part of the NationalGardens Scheme.

The scheme has beenopening fine gardens to thepublic to raise money forcharity for more than 75years. From large estates tosmall cottage gardens, theevents raise a substantialamount of money for goodcauses.

For the fourth yearrunning, visitors were givena rare opportunity to take aguided tour of the groundsat the famous HurlinghamClub in Fulham, WestLondon. Highlights of thetour included a river walk,

shrubberies, herbaceousborders and formal beddingas well as the immaculatecroquet lawns, grass tenniscourts and bowling greens.

Grounds Manager PeterCraig said it had been abusy time for his team:“There has been a lot ofextra work for thegardening staff but theevent raises money forcharity and we enjoy

preparing the grounds forour visitors to enjoy. We’revery proud of our work hereand it’s nice for us to beable to show the gardens offto an audience whichwouldn’t normally see them.

Later the same week,former Harlequins HeadGroundsman, Chris Parry,welcomed visitors to theprivate estate of publisherFelix Dennis in thechocolate-box village ofDorsington, Warwickshire.Several properties in thevillage took part on aglorious summer’s day.

Chris and two other staffmaintain approximately tenacres of garden whichinclude croquet lawns,formal gardens, a Japanesegarden, a bronze sculpture‘Avenue of Heroes’, a mazeand a sunken water gardenas well as an arboretumcontaining several hundredtrees from around the world.

During the spring, hereturfed a substantial part ofthe lawns on the estate usingturf supplied by Fineturf.

“I sometimes miss thebuzz of a matchday andseeing my pitch lookinggood on Sky TV, but my newjob has its own rewards. It’sbeen nice to talk tointerested members of thepublic about my work andall the staff receivedcompliments on theappearance of the gardens.On top of that, the villageraised more than £11,000for charity, which is afantastic achievement.”

Following the open day,Chris will lift the remaining4,000sqm of turf with a Koroto begin installing a fullyautomated irrigation system.

Pitchcare duo showcasegardens for charity

14 www.pitchcare.com/re

HERE we go again-as soon as thefootball season finishes, theconcert season starts!

Following 6 corporate gamesand an all day 7-a-sidetournament, the first phase ofrenovation work was carried out inmid May. We raked the pitchourselves with a Sisis grass rake infour directions, removing thedebris with our Parker trailedsweeper, this thinned out thesward considerably along with thegames and the reduced height ofcut-16mm.

We then had the pitch scarifiedheavily with the Koro, removingfar more vegetation than inprevious years, which can onlybe a good thing. This work wascarried out by the contractor,Mallinsons. After two passes werecompleted, followed by twofurther passes with the rake, thepitch was cleaned up with theTM5 powered sweeper.

Once Mallinsons hadfinished, werenovated theverges ourselvesusing differentBarenbrugseed mixtureswhich we arecurrently

trialling - no seeding was carriedout on the pitch itself due to theimpending concert schedule.

Last year’s concerts broughtproblems with debris falling offthe flooring and into the pitchduring the removal of the Rolatracand Supatrac. This year, to combatthe problem, the club invested afive figure sum and bought us ourown set of Tildenetgermination/frost sheets to go

under the flooring andact as a secondary

pitch cover. These sheets

will also doubleup in thewinter for useas frost coverson the reservepitch next door.

Following solidtining to a

depth of75mm

What do you do at the endof the Premiership season?Take a well deservedholiday? Not if you are Lee Jackson, Deputy HeadGroundsman at the City ofManchester stadium!

Pitch cleaned up using aTurfMech TM5 Sweeper

Germination/frost sheets from Tildenethave provided valuable protection

TakeThat!

36

Heavy scarification usingthe Koro Field Topmaker

with 16mm tines, and anapplication of Heritagefungicide, we covered theentire grass surface - all 9,400square metres of it - inreadiness for the concert setup. So, far from sitting withour feet up recently, we havebeen more than a little bitbusy!

The set up started with thealuminium trackway beingput down before the Rolatracguys could start.

All the pitch was sooncovered and we saw the pitcharea for the last time forthree weeks. We decided itwould be best to leave theflooring down between showsas we weren’t concernedabout losing the little bit ofgrass cover on the pitch itselfas it is going to be Koro’dagain after the last concert. Italso reduces the traffic onand off the pitch betweenshows. The concert wasplayed to a crowd of almost60,000 Bon Jovi fans. Whatwas pleasing for us was thatfrom where we were in thedirectors box, we could seethere wasn’t the jumping upand down of the crowd asthere had been in the fiveconcerts last year. Hopefully,

this will keep the overallground pressure to aminimum at the end of theconcert period.

The Rolatrac guys came inthe following morning andexposed the verges aroundthe pitch to give these newlysown areas some recoverytime before the set up for twosell out nights of Take Thaton the 17th and 18th June.As we folded the sheets back,it was soon apparent that theTildenet sheets were a goodinvestment with the debrisleft on them.

These areas haven’testablished particularly wellso far at all due to the coldand wet weather we have hadup here but, once the lastremains of the concerts havegone and our renovationwork can be completed, wewill have six weeks before thefirst game. Last year we hadless than four but benefitedfrom a good summer andautumn, resulting in a goodseason for the pitch. Thisagain will be crucial to us thisyear but, as we all know, wecan’t control the weather - Ijust wish we could!

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60,000 Bon Jovi fans enjoy the concertwhile Lee Jackson is ‘Living on a Prayer’!

3715 www.pitchcare.com/re

DAVID MEHARG, MD of Synergy Products Ltd: Responsible for the design and developmentof the popular range of Groundsman aerators and turf cutting machines. I suppose I am very

lucky in that my office is based at home, near Seend in Wiltshire, so when I manage to takesome time off I spend it relaxing in our large walled garden. I am a very keen gardener

enjoying the challenge of growing a variety of vegetables and flowers. My wife, Sue, and Iparticularly enjoy growing herbs and spices that we use constantly in our cooking recipes, with both

traditional and Indian cuisine being our favourite food. I also have a grass tennis court, which Ienjoy. I set myself a challenge to produce the best playing surface with the hope of playing some

decent tennis during my days off. I have always been a keen sportsman having played anumber of sports in the past. I keep a watch on the Irish clubs, especially Ballymena

RFC who I played for in the early 1970’s, having the pleasure of playingregularly with Willie John McBride, the famous British Lions captain of theformidable 1974 Lions Team. In recent years my role with Synergy haskept me in touch with so many sports, particularly golf; I still try and playa few occasional rounds to maintain my handicap of 16.

... or what Pitchcare readers getup to out of office hoursDays OFF!

Mower mechanics, and particularlyengineers, who can strip down and maketheir own parts are becoming a rare breed.The combination of a throwaway society andthe development of more technicallyadvanced mowers has led to a drop in thedemand for their services.

Most domestic mowers now tend to bestyled and designed on the rotary orstrimming technologies, offering cheap,disposable mowers that are used until theybreak down and are then dumped.

On the professional side of sportsturfmaintenance major technologicaldevelopments have led to more sophisticatedpedestrian and ride on mowers. However,these mowers come at a price (between £3-30K) and often require specialist equipmentto keep them maintained and serviced.

With such a high investment it is generallythe case that repairs and maintenance arecarried out by a specialist dealer.

The above factors have, not surprisingly,led to the demise of the proper, oldfashioned mower mechanic, but there is stillthe odd one or two knocking about if youlook hard enough.

During a recent visit to the NottinghamCCC Groundmen’s AGM I heard about onesuch engineer still plying his trade in andaround the Derbyshire area, with areputation for helping out local bowling andcricket clubs. So, off I went to meet him athis lock up behind a flower wholesalers onan industrial estate in Derby city centre.

His name is Edwin Roberts and hiscompany, Classic Mowers, has been inexistence since 1999 specialising inmaintaining older pedestrian mowers andsports ground equipment such as SISISaerators and scarifiers.

Edwin mainly deals with mowers andoutfield machinery from between 1950-1980, many of which are still used bybowling and cricket clubs, and most of whichhave been purchased from the second handsales market.

He recognises that many of the bowlingand cricket clubs have very little funding tobuy new machinery and have to make dowith what they have, so it is essential theymaintain these machines properly and haveaccess to someone who can obtain ormanufacture spare parts.

EDWIN began his career way back in the late1960’s having first experienced the joys ofengineering whilst watching his father

working on steamtrains.

After

leaving school he took on a number ofengineering jobs with local companies andlocal authorities where he was able to learnand develop his trade.

Over the years Edwin got to know many ofthe local groundsmen and realised there wasa market to service their needs so, in 1999,he set up Classic Mowers. He now looks afterover 30 cricket and bowling clubs in thelocality along with a number of domesticcustomers. The company also hires and sellsmachinery.

Edwin gives the machines a completeoverhaul with new bearings, bushes andseals etc. and, if required, makes or adaptsthe necessary replacement parts. In fact themachines go out almost as good as new andwill generally last the club another 20 yearsif maintained regularly.

However, problems with the machines dostill occur and Edwin cites the following asthe main factors:

• Lack of lubrication• Dirty fuel and dirty air filters• Poorly adjusted mowing blades, brushes

or tines• Lack of cleaning and maintenance• Lack of lubrication.

“It is essential that the engine oil ischecked prior to use” says Edwin. “A newengine can cost anything from £250, a halflitre of SAE 50 motor grade oil costs lessthan £3. For the sake of a few quid and a bitof time you can prolong the life of yourengine.”

“Likewise chains and drives require oil orgrease to prevent wear. Regular inspection ofmoving parts and bearings, and the use of agrease gun will again prolong the life andwearing of key moving parts.”

“In the case of the Ransomes Auto Certes,rear rollers tend to cease up due to the lackof lubrication, even though there are twoaccessible greasing points set in the rearroller.”

“It is important to inspect and check alldrives and moving parts of scarifiers andaerators” says Edwin. “Vibration is high onthese machines, so it is important to checkall bolts and screws, ensuring they remaintight and fixed. Most damage is caused byoperators asking the machine to do theimpossible, or using it when the soilconditions are too hard or dry. And alwaysinspect your machines before and after use.”

“Dirty fuel and poorly set carburettorsoften prevent the engines from running oreven starting. Fuel from garages is clean, theproblem usually stems from decanting fuel

from dirty containers.”“Poorly adjusted blades, tines and brushes

will result in poor standard of workmanship,whilst at the same time putting additionalstrain on moving parts and the performanceof the engine. Badly worn rollers could affectthe cutting height by as much as 1mm,which on fine turf facilities is quiteconsiderable.”

“It is essential to keep machinery clean,particularly after use; a build up of dirt, grimeand dust will play havoc with moving parts.Ideally, you need to wash or blow-dry yourmachine after use. Do not use a powerwasher, as this may lead to water ingress toparts of the machine and could bedetrimental to its performance. It only takesbetween 5-10 minutes to clean off after use.It is always easier to set-up a clean machinerather than one caked in debris and dirt.”

“It is also important to check all movingparts and change bushes and bearings at thefirst sign of wear. If you can see gapsbetween the bearings or feel excessive wearyou will need to replace them.”

“The life expectancy of these machines willbe greater if looked after, plus the machinewill perform well when it is set up andmaintained properly. Nine times out of tenthe reason the machine breaks down, ordoes not perform, is due to the lack ofmaintenance and annual servicing. In mostcases this is down to laziness or lack ofknowledge on the part of the operator.”

In the coming months Edwin will beproviding a series of articles on the servicingand maintenance of a number of well-knownpedestrian machines.

Edwin’s helping hands

Keep your turf in optimum healthby putting pest and diseasecontrol at the top of your listWith the top products together with our total service package thatincludes technical advice, free disease identification, soil and wateranalysis and much more we really do have the total solution.

So for a convenient way to maintain the health and qualityof your turf – and maximise your profits – turn to Scotts, the total solution provider.

Scotts UK Professional, Paper Mill Lane, Bramford, Ipswich, Suffolk IP8 4BZTel: 0871 220 5353 Fax: 01473 830386 email: prof.sales@scotts.com www.scottsprofessional.co.uk

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IF the current membership mix of TheBritish and International GolfGreenkeepers Association (BIGGA) isany gauge, few women are making theturf industry their preferred career.

The statistics appear damning - of7000 members, only 50 are women.

Gemma Lee of the Association’smembership department says that this

degree of imbalance does not look setto change at present: “The numbers of

women have not been increasing,” sheconfirms. “The ladies do tend to

renew and keep their membershipup but the number remains

fairly constant.”But why the

inequality and whatcan be done to

swell the ranksof women in

theindustry?

Pitchcare talked to three turfprofessionals, based in the UK andabroad, about their roles in the industryand how more women can beencouraged to follow suit.

KAREN Carter, Grounds Manager atEdgbaston Priory Club, has foundsuccess and a long career in an industrythat she believes is very muchdominated by men. “There are notenough women in the industry. Thereare a few ground workers about, but notmany heads. It is looked at as a man’sjob. Having said that, there are otherfemale employees at Edgbaston. Weemploy quite a few students and themajority of these are women.”

Karen goes on: “I’ve been at the clubfor 16 years and I’ve been manager heresince 1996. I fell into it by accident; Iwas actually in pharmaceuticals before,but I wanted a change. I started doing abit of gardening first and then saw thisjob.”

“I thought, ‘That sounds like the easylife’ - it’s not! They actually gave me aninterview because they thought it wouldbe sexist if they didn’t. I got the jobover some more experienced guys.”

With no formal qualifications in thefield, Karen explains that she landed thejob because of her enthusiasm: “Theythought, ‘Oh we like her, we’ll give her achance’.”

WOMEN in TURFCARE?

Although statistics may suggest otherwise, rewardingjobs and ambitious career paths await women in the

professional sports turf industry buthow can they be persuaded to join up?

Report by HOLLY WILD

Can the grass be greener for

Karen Carter

41

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Any industry scepticspointing the finger atwomen as failing to matchmen in the physicaldemands of the job wouldsoon be put straight byKaren. “I am just as handson as the others. We have alarge club with few staff.”The club was recentlyimmersed in the springpreparations and had alead-up tennis tournamentto Wimbledon, starting on10 June, to handle.

There are perks toworking at a private club,Karen explains. “We get touse all the facilities. It’salso a very friendlyenvironment, which addsto the level of jobsatisfaction.”

“We work long, hardhours, but we’re lookedafter and it’s worth it.”

Her length of service atEdgbaston is surelytestament alone to Karen’senjoyment of her rolethere. But on a broaderscale, she believes that thestatus of her job is rising.

“It is becoming morerecognised that being agroundsman is aprofession and that we areprofessional people. Thereare increasingly morecourses and moreopportunities for people tomove into the industry forboth men and women.”

Karen’s advice forwomen seeking to pursue acareer in groundskeepingis to gain both formalqualifications and practicalexperience. “Hands-onexperience is sometimesbetter than books” shenotes. As for opportunitiesfor career progression,“The clubs have a budgetfor sending people oncourses to get them betterqualifications.”

A GREENKEEPER at thebeginning of her career isElizabeth Crowley. LikeKaren Carter, she is anadvocate of both educationand experience for thosewanting to make their

mark.In her mid-20s,

Elizabeth traces the originsof her career aspirationsback to her childhood inIreland. “I’ve beenworking on golf coursessince I was 13 or 14. Agroup of about 15 of uswould go down to OldHead Golf Links, whichwas being created, andhelp by preparingfairways. I went back thereyear after year.” Currentlyworking on the historicNew Course at St Andrews,laid out by legendarygreenkeeper Old TomMorris in 1895, her routeto her present position atthe Home of Golf hastaken in formalqualifications and plentifulhands-on work as well asan industry ‘first’.

“I was the first female totake a CertifiedGreenkeeper course inIreland,” she statesproudly, “then went on theTurf Science and GolfCourse Managementcourse at MyerscoughCollege in Preston.”

However, being a womanin a male dominatedindustry doesn’t faze her;“I’m a bit of a tomboy, Igrew up with two olderbrothers so it’s nothingdifferent to me really.”

Following thiseducational grounding,Elizabeth joined the OhioState Turf Programme inthe USA, which has takenher to a variety of world-class courses includingAugusta National,Pinehurst Resort andMerion.

“Back in October, I hadthe position of SecondAssistant at LedgerockGolf Club in Pennsylvania.I’ve come to St Andrews togain more experiencebefore returning to theStates.

However, Elizabethrelates an all too familiarstory when she says “I’vecome across one or twoother women working in

“What can bedone to swell theranks of womenin the industry?”

16 www.pitchcare.com/re

The eight strong team at Ohio State University withPam Sherratt (sitting in passenger seat of Gator) - Toro,Deere and Jacobsen - no favouritism being shown then!

the industry but not very often”.The mix of tasks and a largely

outdoor work schedule offers jobappeal, she says. “Our days are verystructured. We come in at 5.15am andall our jobs are up on a board, spreadevenly among the squad. We can getanything, any morning; mowing thegreen, raking the bunkers or setting upthe course. Head greenkeeper GordonMcKie ensures there’s lots of varietyand I love working outside. The job ischallenging and interesting - I nevercome in and do the same thing everyday.”

So what’s her next rung on thecareer ladder? “I’m very motivatedand am always looking foropportunities. I’m looking to achievesuperintendent status in five or tenyears.”

Does she have any guidance forother young people wanting to comeinto the industry? “Gain youreducation first, then try to enrole onthe Ohio State Turf Programme.”

IN addition to its extensive internshipprogramme, Ohio State Universityruns an entire department dedicated tohorticulture and crop science. Workingwithin this department is sports turfspecialist Pam Sherratt and a furthereight female colleagues - surely a stateof affairs almost unheard of in UKgroundskeeping and turf maintenance.

For Pam too, there’s never a dullmoment but in a different sphere ofindustry activity, as she explains; “Themajority of my work is in ‘Extension’ -this is the English equivalent ofconsultancy but the client does not pay(land-grant universities such as Ohiooffer this to state residents).

“I conduct about 30 in-state visits ayear to sports stadiums and makerecommendations. I also write for

many scientific publications andmagazines, manage a website and teacha BSc class each year in Sports TurfManagement.”

Pam’s career is testament to thegreater opportunities the US industryoffers beyond the more traditionalroles at club level. She’s not about tostop with what she’s got either.

“I’ve just started my PhD so I hopeto get a faculty position here at OSU orat another university in the States.”Pam’s level of dedication to her role asa sports turf specialist, she believes,stems from her deep enjoyment of thesector. “I get to go out into theindustry a lot and meet people. Everysingle day is different and I have thebenefit of managing my own time. Mytravels around the US include takingin five or six national talks a year. Sofar I have been to 25 states but I stillhave plenty more I want to see.”

GIVEN such high levels ofenthusiasm for, and commitment to,the turfgrass profession, why aremore women not becoming involvedin a sector that clearly presents themwith a stimulating and rewardingenvironment?

Pam Sherratt, who also believeswomen are not sufficientlyrepresented in the industry at present,can answer that question. “I think itstems right from school. Women arenot encouraged or even made aware ofthe opportunities in turfmanagement.”

“There may be some women thatare frightened off by the possibility ofusing heavy equipment or doinghard physical labour but thesame could be said formany men!”

But her finalreason is perhaps

most telling of all: “We need to do abetter job of educating careersadvisors.” Furthermore, Pam suggeststhat women should assume a higherprofile in the industry. “We need goodrole models,” she believes. “I knowthree women in my region of the USAalone that are head groundskeepers atlarge stadiums - Abby McNeal at theChicago Fire MLS Stadium, HeatherNabozny at the Detroit Tigers MLBStadium and Amy Fouty at MichiganState.”

The enthusiasm for their jobs andcareers that Karen Carter, ElizabethCrawley and Pam Sherratt so clearlydemonstrate should surely act as theinspirational force for other womenconsidering a move into the industry.

Perhaps in thissense, they

themselvesare therolemodels.

Elizabeth Crowley

IT’S not just greatcultural institutions likethe Steel Forge River,immortalised by A.AMilne as the place whereWinnie the Pooh and hisfriends played poohsticks, that are comingunder threat from what isbeen billed as the worstdrought in the UK since1976. With rivers andgroundwater suppliesseverely depleted in theSouth of England andhosepipe and sprinklerbans hitting millions ofhomes, Britain’s turfindustry is preparingitself for big losses. Andthey’re also warning thatmany of Britain’s topparks and leisureattractions could facegrave consequences as aresult.

Stephen Edwards is aworried man. Thechairman of the TurfgrassGrowers’ Association andjoint managing directorof Inturf says that in thelast few weeks they havenoticed a marginalslowdown on turf sales.But if the droughtcontinues he feels thiscould get much worse. “Ihad a big turf ordercancelled last week and I

think this was a decisionbased on hosepipe bans,”he explains. “We haven’tseen the real effect of thisdirectly yet because amajor part of turfbusiness is done bydistributors so we’re onlyfeeling it marginally atthe moment. But there’scause for concern and wecould end up with lots ofturf going very cheap atthe back end of the year,which will be incrediblydamaging to thebusiness.”

The threat of droughthas been hanging overthe industry for sometime, he admits, which iswhy earlier this year theTGA put a crisismanagement documenttogether and sent lettersout to all the watercompanies imposinghosepipe bans asking forspecial 28-day exemption.“Our reasoning was thatrather than let water runoff hard standing areaslike tarmac into drainsour water use isdifferent,” he says. “Ittakes about 28 days forthe roots to take hold andthe real advert of havingturf over concrete is thatthe turf areas will filter

out more efficientlythrough to the aquafersand go back into thewater system.”

The response, heconcedes, has beenmixed. “They haven’tgiven us an exemptionbut they’re going to lookat us sympathetically. Wehave to do a lot morework to get an exemptionbut it would be a lotbetter all round if wecould channel waterwastage from brokenpipes, then we might notneed a hosepipe ban.Ultimately this couldhave a very commerciallydamaging effect on allthe green industries fromgarden centres, nurseries,sports pitches, parks andvast areas of the leisuresector. People aren’tgoing to want to sit onthe grass in Hyde Park ifit’s dusty and dead arethey? And they’re notgoing to be on playingfields if they’re brown andcrumbling either.”

Furthermore, he saysthere are realenvironmentaladvantages that need tobe taken into accountwhen considering grass asa priority need for water.

Drought v Turf

“The threatof drought

has beenhanging overthe industry

for sometime”

STEPHEN EDWARDS,Chairman, TGA

According to the experts the worst drought since 1976 isheading our way. How will this affect turf growers?

Report by MATTHEW BAKER

43

1 Plan ahead to prevent the turfdrying out: don’t have more turfdelivered in a day than you can lay.

2 Only buy your turf from a TGAgrower or a stockist supplied by one:that way you’ll know the turf is freshwhen you buy it.

3 Buy the right grade of turf for thejob in hand. Your TGA approvedgrower or stockist will have theknowledge to help you.

4 When your turf is delivered to sitestack it in a shady place with the aimof laying all that is delivered in thecourse of the day.

5 Prepare and wet the groundimmediately before laying andincorporate a water-retaining soilconditioner to keep the soil moist.

6 To conserve water usage, lay andwater-in no more than 20% of thedelivery at a time. This means thefirst turf laid won’t have totally driedout when you reach the end.

7 In the days following, water onlyeither in the early morning or in theearly evening so the sun doesn’t burnoff the water you’ve added.

8 Give the turf a light rolling to ensuregood contact with the soilunderneath.

9 Hold back on the mowing: theblades of grass should be at least oneinch in height.

10 As the lawn establishes over thefirst month water less and lessfrequently.

After a month the turf should be wellestablished and ready for your clientto enjoy

TGA on the web - www.turfgrass.co.uk

Coping withDROUGHTTen tips for theprofessionallandscaperworking with turf

“Grass is soenvironmentally friendly,it’s one of the bestconverters of CO2 tooxygen there is. At the2012 Olympics there aretargets that all the stadiashould be CO2 friendly,but if there’s hospepipebans how can we greenthe games if there’s nograss?”

Across the industry, thefeedback from customerssuggests that as long asthe hosepipe banscontinue buyers are likelyto have strongreservations about buyingturf.

“Sales of our turf hadnot suffered until thebeginning of this week,when demand has slowedin reaction to the forecastfor a hot, dry spell,” saysTim Fell from Tillers Turf.“The domestic market willbe affected first. We havecalls every day now fromhomeowners asking foradvice about laying turfunder the present waterrestrictions. Except forthe three water areas inthe south east of Englandwhere drought ordershave been approved,other areas with hosepipebans can still use wateringcans to water their newlylaid turf. However, exceptfor quite small lawns it’snot practical to water witha watering can, so we areadvising people to delayturfing until later in theyear.”

The longer the droughtgoes on, he adds, thelikelihood of aconfrontation between theturf industry and watercompanies will soon beinevitable.

“Many professionallandscapers are stillturfing on the grounds

that they feel the watercompanies aresympathetic whenlivelihoods are at stake,”he explains. “However, ifthe drought gets moresevere during thesummer, the watercompanies may be forcedinto taking a hard line.”

Despite these problemson the immediate horizonhe says that strong sales todate this year will enablehis company to withstanda lean summer salesperiod. “It’s not this yearthat concerns me,” hestresses. “If the south eastgets a third dry winter ina row then I think nextyear will be much moredifficult. Drought ordersput in place now couldwell be extended into nextspring and beyond.Traditional turf buyersmay well start looking foralternatives. That’s why itis very important that theTGA continues lobbyingthe water companies foran exemption for newlylaid turf. Theenvironment gains hugelythrough the activities ofturf suppliers because ofturf ’s ability to convertCO2 emissions intooxygen. Turf is also thebest surface for absorbingwinter rainfall andrecharging theunderground aquifers.God help us if artificiallawns become the norm.”

To fight off suchthreats, he adds, many inthe turf industry arelooking to introduce moreresilient turf that is betterequipped to deal withdrought. “We were thefirst turf growers inEurope to recognise thebenefits of rhizomatoustall fescue (RTF) intolerating drought, and

we sold our first crop in2003. We have doubledour acreage each yearsince then as demandgrows. RTF is unique inhow it grows. It producesa really nice dense hard-wearing sward, and at thesame time sends roots1.5m deep into the soil. Itproduces three times asmuch root as perennialryegrass, so you can seewhy it might withstanddrought better. It staysgreener than othergrasses during dry spells,and has the ability torecover completely withthe first rains. Species likethis will go a long waytoward improving turfquality during thesummer.”

That may be the case,but according to othersuppliers increasingpressure may be forcedupon them to do morebusiness in autumn andwinter.

“Sales of turf areundoubtedly suffering asa result of the droughtorders,” admits StephenFell from Lindum Turf.“The wet May was only atemporary respite, andthe hot dry spell thatfollowed has reinforcedthe fact that you cannotrisk laying turf at all ifyou cannot water it.Thankfully Lindum Turf

TIM FELL, Tillers Turf

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is not totally reliant on salesof turf to the South East, andin other areas, sales are notaffected. However, ourdistributors in the affectedareas have been hit hard.”

“The outlook in thoseareas is bad until the autumnwhen you can rely on moresuitable conditions for turflaying without reliance onhosepipe water. This situationis likely to be a continuingfeature for future years untilwater companies sort outchronic storage shortage.This will put big pressure tocompress the turf layingseason into autumn andwinter. As a supplier I don’thave a problem with thatalthough housingdevelopment companieswould be faced with sellinghouses in the summer withthe promise of a lawn later.”

For many though, the

prospect of a long continuingdrought could signal the endof the British lawn as weknow it.

“I do think that thetraditional English lawn willchange in the future,” saysChris Carr from Q Lawns. “Ithink we’ll see fewer fine-leaved grasses and more ofthe robust, disease resistantvarieties. We will be lessinclined towards really closemowing, instead going for aslightly longer, lusher swardthat doesn’t need suchintensive care and keeps itscolour better and for longer.There will never be a truereplacement for the lawnthough. Gravel, decking,paving etc, just doesn’t havethe same charm and cannever be an adequatesubstitute for the relaxingatmosphere created by asward of healthy green

grass.” However, it won’t bejust lawns that are affected.Sports pitches, playingpitches and other green areasfor leisure use will be forcedto have a re-think anddevelop varieties that arebetter at coping with stressfulsituations and are more waterefficient in the short term.

“I do think that as newvarieties are developed thebuyer will have more choice,”he adds. “Years ago, onecould buy turf. That’s it, justturf, an indeterminatemixture of herbage that hadbeen subjected to littlemanagement or qualitycontrol, but today there aredozens of seedmixes tochoose from and thanks tothe STRI and the TGA it’spossible to make informedchoices. STRI can tell theybuyer how a variety behavesin terms of disease resistance,

summer and winter colour,wear tolerance, reaction toclose mowing etc and theTGA Standard will ensurethat the buyer receives whathe is expecting. With all thatinformation and choice, thebuyer can then make his owndecisions on whether tochoose fineness of leaf overdrought tolerance.”

So that’s the message fromthe industry. A collision withthe water companies isinevitable, sales are likely tobe hit hard but turfmanufacturers will need toadapt, and adapt quickly, ifthey and the great Britishlawn are to have a future.

“The water companiesmust sort out chronic

storage shortage”STEPHEN FELL, Lindum Turf

17 www.pitchcare.com/re

EVERY club has assets, it is a good start tosit down and have a brainstorm andinformal discussion about the club'soptions, facilities, and possible supportbefore deciding to fundraise. Assets canbe land, members & families, celebrityconnections, equipment, supportive localbusinesses etc. Discuss these ideas withother people, and form a “fundraisingcommittee”. This can be made up ofmembers, patrons, parents, groundsmenand officials. Ideally it should include atleast one of the Officers of theorganisation - i.e. the Chair/ President,Treasurer or Secretary.

The following questions should then beaddressed• What are we fundraising for?

• Is it a one off project or ongoing?

• How much do we need to raise?

• Is it going to cost us any money?

• Where, when and how are we going todo it?

• Who can we work in partnership with?

• Are we competing with anyone else?

These questions must be fully answeredand understood for the fundraising effortto be a success. The answers will providethe basis of a Fundraising Plan. Plans cancomprise a simple page outline or adetailed report dependent on the level andcomplexity of the funding required. Theplan must include an appropriate budgetof the total costs of the fundraising effortand an accurate indication of the level offunds being sought.

Fundraising, in whatever form, can be aresource intensive activity. As most clubsand societies are small and have limitednumbers of people it is important tospread the workload amongst the

membership and volunteers wherepossible. Often a good way to involve newmembers in the activities of the club orsociety is through participation in thefundraising efforts. For larger clubs andsocieties with sufficient numbers ofmembers, it is sensible to form aFundraising Sub-Committee of the mainManagement Committee. This committeeis then delegated to lead on thefundraising efforts of the organisation. Thesize of this sub-committee is largelydependent on the nature of thefundraising activities. It is also importantto remember that the work of the sub-committee is directed and controlled bythe Management Committee, as they arethe body that is ultimately responsible forthe appropriate governance of theorganisation.

Fundraising Hints

• Brainstorm a list of ideas and options

• Use the skills and talents of the peopleon the committee and in the club

• Spread the workload

• Budget for expenses as well as revenue

• Set goals and adhere to timescales

• Carefully estimate the amount ofplanning, labour time and people thatwill be involved

• List the resources needed, and checkthem against the resources available -people, equipment, transport, facilities,and money

• Design fund raising methods that relateto your organisation and what you wantto achieve

• Check all health, safety and legal

responsibilities for any events e.g. safecordon area for bonfire and fireworkdisplay

• Get cracking, and make sure it is fun

There are three main types of fundraisingaside from government and sports bodygrants, these are internal fees,sponsorship, and organised events.

Internal FeesClubs have the option to implementjoining fees, annual membership andcharge obligatory financial contributionsfrom members i.e a match fee charge.Organisations can differentiate feesaccording to their member’sdemographics i.e. age, ability, locality orthe ability of the member to pay. Themembership fee may be lower for somemembers such as students or pensioners.Imposing fines for breaches of the club’scode of conduct can also potentiallyprovide additional income.

SponsorshipSponsorship is a club to businessrelationship of mutual benefit to bothparties. Sponsorship gives businesses theopportunity to raise their profile and imagewithin a community, whilst also offeringpotentially lucrative revenues for clubs. Itis important to target local businesseswho have previously offered support orwho may have an affinity with your club.One of your members’ companies may bea potential sponsor.

Club newsletters, events andinformation from informal chats, totelephone calls or emails can be effectivein achieving sponsorship.

Liasing with the business is important to

Fundraising

You would be hardpushed to find a sportsclub that would notbenefit from an extracash injection formachinery, equipment,and projects. So, whenthe grants have beenspent and the kitty is leftbare what options arethere for clubs to raisefurther funding?

Identify the purpose of the fundraising

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Enables pesticide application to beachieved in a consistent and

uniform manner.

Reduces the risk of missed areasor overlapping, which can lead to

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Temporary colourant, washesoff in rainfall / irrigation anddegrades in strong sunlight.

formulate a project, event,activity that meets the needsof the sponsor's and fits withwhat your club is set-up todo. It is your club’sresponsibility to followthrough and deliver what youhave promised. While moneyis the most obvious benefitof a sponsorship, clubs andsocieties can also gain muchin the form of gifts in-kindsuch as gym membership,admin processing, transportand equipment, space foroffices, payment for publicity,and volunteer work paid forby companies wherecorporate volunteeringprogrammes are in place.

When undertaking asponsored event it isimportant to:

• Make contact with thesponsor in advance to findout what they most value

• Check to see if they haveto take on a particular

image they want to project

• Where necessary, preparea proposal outlining yourideas and that clearlystates the way the sponsorwill deliver cash, or “inkind” sponsorship benefit

• Ensure that your sponsorfeels involved in youractivities and invite themto events. Sponsors expectto be able to advertisetheir wares at your eventand to have a high profile.Therefore, it is importantto think about how you canachieve this. You could putthe sponsor’s name onclothing, on promotionalmaterial e.g. posters andtickets. You could alsoadvertise the sponsor’swares/activity inprogrammes and clubnewsletters. You could alsogive the sponsor theopportunity to marketproducts at the venue or tothe participants. Ensure

sponsors have theiradvertising at your venueand use photos of eventsfor their own promotions.

Organised Events andsocial activitiesEvents and social activitiesare one of the most popularforms of fundraising. Manyclubs do possess land,providing the opportunity forconvenient, cost effectiveand easy to organise eventssuch as a fete, car boot sale,or BBQ, an effectivefundraising tool. Althoughthey can require rather moreorganisation, social nightsare a good way to raise theprofile of the club or society,raise funds and ensuremembers enjoy themselves.The key to a successful socialevent is plenty of targetedadvertising in advance andchoosing a location andtiming that is convenient toall.

Popular fundraisingareas to consider• Joining fees• Membership categories-

i.e. family, student,patrons, junior fees etc.

• Sale of promotionalmaterials - i.e. badges;buttons; car stickers;calendars

• Concerts and othermusic events

• Quiz night• Sponsored activities - i.e.

walk, silence, sportingday i.e. lads v dads,environmental cleaningprojects

• Corporate sponsorship• Contests and

competitions• Talent quests• Seasonal events i.e.

bonfire night, Christmaspanto

• Socials and dances• BBQ’s• Dinners and other

formal social events• Karaoke• Auctions• Car boot sale • Treasure hunt

Ensure your sponsor feelsinvolved in your events

18 www.pitchcare.com/re

LIKE many other tennis and cricketgroundsmen I was waiting a long timefor some decent warm weather to helpme prepare our facilities for the newseason. We had an awful winter, it wasso wet we could not get on the courtsfor ten weeks.

May was tough, we were trying toplay catch up, with me and my staffputting in well over 60 hours a weekto get the courts up to speed. Wespent hours covering and uncoveringthe courts to optimise themaintenance regimes.

Nottingham tennis centre has ninechampionship standard grass courtsand 27 plexipave hard courts. Westage a number of competitionsleading up to Wimbledon so, as bestas possible, we try to replicate thesame playing characteristics.

Our grass courts are constructedwith exactly the same loam materialand grass species that are used atWimbledon, a 22% Surrey loam andAberImp and AberElf ryegrassspecies.

The success of our season is verymuch dependent on the success ofour previous autumn renovations.Last year we managed to get on thecourts early in September with somedeep scarification down to 6mm usingour Huxley scarifier, we then spiked,top-dressed and overseeded.

During autumn renovations, to helpreduce the poa, we apply a dose ofethofumesate. It has been verysuccessful, we are now seeing less than5% poa in our courts compared to the50% level we had to deal with whenwe first started the programme in

2002.That was when I joined the club

and I had no alternative but to Korothe courts, it was the only way toremove the poa. We have not had touse the Koro since, so the use of theethofumesate has saved the club asubstantial amount of maintenancemoney.

From September to February weaerate on a monthly basis using ourCore Master, the rest of the year weuse the Hydrajet.

During the breaks in the weatherthis spring we also carried out a lighttop dressing of loam followed byanother reseed. Our fertiliser regimesare based around the regular soil testswe undertake in the spring andautumn. Once we know our soil Phand nutrient status we can then feedaccordingly.

A Scotts spring and summergranular fertiliser was applied in Mayto take us up to our first competitionin mid June. Dependent on theweather and soil conditions we mayalso apply a liquid feed, but not toonear the competition as we do notwant a flush of growth during thematches.

The courts are cut on a daily basisusing Saxon pedestrian nine bladedmowers. The grass is maintained at9mm for most of the summer andbrought down to 8mm forcompetitions. Early in the year, due tothe poor conditions, our mowingregimes were severely hampered, thusthe sward was not as dense as itshould have been. Some warmerweather in the weeks leading up to

“We had anawful winter,it was so wetwe could notget on thecourts forten weeks”

Dave Lawrence, Head Groundsman

NOTTINGAMSherriff of

By DAVE LAWRENCEHead Groundsman at the

Nottingham Tennis Centre

Dave Lawrence (centre) with his team on Centre Court

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49

the competition did aidrecovery.

We verti-cut fortnightly tokeep the sward standing up.Marking out a court can takeup to an hour, we always usestring lines, using the 50mmtransfer wheel marker for thetramlines and the 100mm onefor the base lines. We haverecently changed paints to aPitchmarker B plus, it’sexcellent, not only is itbrighter than anything wehave used before but is alsorain fast.

In addition to the grasscourts the team look after 27Plexipave (8 indoor, 19outdoor) non-porous courts.It is important to keep themclean and free from algae andmoss problems. We powerwash them usually twice ayear, with a regular daily, or asrequired, brushing to removesurface debris.

We are very happy with theway things are going.However, on my wish list, Iwould like to get moreinflatable court covers to addto the three we already have.They have been a godsend,once they are up we cancontinue with our regularmaintenance regimesunderneath them. With flatsheets we are constantlyhaving to put them up anddown, and they encourageturf grass diseases when lefton too long.

I have three full time staffto help me, Dan Dixon, whohas been at the club for aboutfifteen months now andpreviously worked with me atNottingham University, RyanMiddleton and Clive Holmeswho have each been at theclub for around ten years.

They are a great team ofdedicated groundstaff whowork long hours to producethe quality playing surfacesthat the players are nowacknowledging as the bestthey have played on for manyyears.

I firmly believe it isimportant to have a goodrapport with the end users,i.e. the players. We need tofind out how the courts areperforming and what theyexpect from them. We carryout a number of tests, ballbounce, Clegg hammer andalso have the STRI in tomonitor the performance andcondition of our courts.

It is very rewarding when allthe hard work and endeavouris recognised by the users,and that the courts look andperform well.

“Greens are constructed using exactly thesame loam and grass as Wimbledon”

Toro irrigation system at workDan Dixon with the GreenMech VertiCutter

19 www.pitchcare.com/re

LAW

WHAT’SREQUIRED OFYOU TO COMPLYWITH LEGALAND HEALTH &SAFETY LEGISLATION

“Does your greenkeeping orgrounds maintenancedepartment comply with allthe latest legislation?

The differences between what is law andwhat are recommendations are confusing.The following, covering topical items, mayprove of help;

• The Control of Pollution (Oil Storage)(England) Regulations 2001. Require thatif you store more than 200 litres of oilabove ground you must comply. Thedeadline for compliance was Sept 1st 2005.‘Oil’ means not just lubricating andhydraulic oils but diesel fuel and petrol too.

To comply you must ‘bund’ all oilstorage; bunded diesel tanks; bundedpetrol storage, and all barrels and otheroils standing on Sump Pallets.

See: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/water/quality/oilstore/pdf/oil_store.pdf

• The Groundwater Regulations 1998.Came into effect on 2nd December 1998and demanded immediate compliance.These regulations state that causingpollution with mineral oils andhydrocarbons is an offence punishable withfines up to £20,000. To comply, wash-offareas should be designed to preventpollution. Washings should leave the padand enter a suitable treatment / recyclingplant or an interceptor. (Interceptors, whilstaccepted by most EA inspectors at present,are not deemed ‘future-proof ’). The safestoption is to install a biological waterrecycling system. A number are availablewith most installed above ground with theexception of the ClearWater undergroundsystem from Course Care. Contrary torecent scare mongering, there are no plans

to introducelegislation for aboveground effluenttanks. The safestplace for all suchstorage remainsfirmly underground.It is difficult toimagine allinterceptors, foulwater and septictanks, sewage plantsand the like beingdug up and placedabove ground,vulnerable todamage andvandalism. Such apreposterous ideacan be dismissed, asto implement itwould lead to fargreater pollutionand be totallyunworkable! Whencontacted, seniorofficials from theEnvironment Agencytold us that they arenot aware of anysuch proposals andto issue statementssuggesting suchchanges tolegislation would beseen as misleading!

• The HazardousWaste Regulations Already covered indepth in ourApril/May issue, thenew regulationsreplaced The SpecialWaste Regulationsand have beensubject to recentchange affectingeveryone in ourbusiness.

See:http://www.defra.gov.uk/Environment/waste/special/index.htm)

• The Carriage and Storage of Petrol.It is not permitted to carry more than 2 x 5litre plastic containers of petrol in a normalvehicle. As there are three pieces oflegislation relating to portable petrolcontainers, dating back to 1928, it isdifficult to understand the law and much isleft to interpretation by local officials. TheHSE, however, in their Carriage ofDangerous Goods Manual, under SmallLoad Exemptions, states that; a typical casewould be the carriage of two or three jerrycans in a van. Many groundsmen andgreenkeepers are, often unwittingly,collecting and carrying far more than thiseither in their own or company vehicles.This, apart from being a dangerouspractice, will most probably negateinsurance cover flouting Health and Safetyrules. (a golf club secretary informed usthat his insurance company had confirmedthat they would not cover the club and thatother arrangements should be madeimmediately!) An inexpensive solution is touse a Transit Box, specially designed tocarry 4 x 20 litre jerrycans. This can becarried on the back of a trailer or a pickuplegally and also be used for storage. Abetter answer, saving frequent visits to afilling station, is to purchase a bunded,fully compliant petrol station, like the oneoffered by Course Care.

• Environment Agency PPG. One of thePollution Prevention Guidelines issued bythe EA and considered best practice. PPG2covers above ground oil storage tanks anddescribes how tanks should be bunded.Copies are available from the at:http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/444251/444731/ppg/ It should benoted that, although gravity dispensing,bottom outlet tanks are ‘legal’, thepreferred option is for top fill - top offtakebunded tanks. Bottom offtake tanks areconsidered a possible cause of pollution. Itdoes seem pointless purchasing a bundedtank with a bottom offtake in theknowledge that simply opening a valvecould discharge the whole contents or, asoften happens, vandals or thieves actuallybreak the valve off! You have no defence ifprosecuted, as it would be deemed that youhad not taken reasonable precautions toprevent pollution.

• Environment Agency PPG26. Thiscovers the storage and handling of drums(see previous weblink). Essentially theseguidelines emphasise the need to use SumpPallets, Drip Trays and Spill Kits. Spill Kitsshould be placed next to each oil store, i.e.sump pallet, diesel tank, petrol station. Allof these items should be available from youfuel tank or oil supplier.

With thanks to David Mears, JointManaging Director, Course Care Lowcall number: 0845 600 3572Website: www.course-care.co.uk

Legislation & Environmental Update

20 www.pitchcare.com/re

UK Standards for Goalposts for a variety of sportsare set by either the Comitéde Européan Normalisationor the BSI. The most recentstandard that affects ourindustry is BS 8462:2005.Set by the BSI, itspecifically covers junior,mini, small sided footballand Futsal.

As the leading UK SportsEquipment manufacturer,Harrod UK are very muchinvolved in the committeesthat set these standards andthey have issued a GoalPost Standard informationsheet which isdownloadable.

The new standard wasfast tracked by the FootballAssociation under the Chairof Steve Williams, theNational Facilities Manager,and replaces the PAS Standardthat previously covered thesegoal sizes.

Whilst the BS8462 standardcovers specifications, anotherstandard was launchedsimultaneously that is a Code ofPractice for the procurement,installation, maintenance,

storage and inspection of goals.BS8461:2005 is football specificbut is now widely accepted asbest practice for our industry.Harrod UK have madeinformation about theseguidelines available in the PlayIt Safe information leaflet whichis also downloadable.

www.harrod.uk.com

BADGERS and their setts areprotected under theProtection of Badgers Act1992, which makes it illegal tokill, injure or take badgers orto interfere with a badger sett.Interference with a settincludes blocking tunnels ordamaging the sett in any way..

There is, however, provisionwithin the legislation to allowaction to be taken under alicence from the DEFRA if theproblem cannot be resolved byalternative means.

The Wildlife AdministrationUnit administers licenceapplications for the followingpurposes:

• the purpose of preventingserious damage to land,crops, poultry or any otherform of property, to kill ortake badgers, or to interferewith a badger sett;

• the purpose of anyagricultural or forestryoperation, to interfere witha badger sett;

• the purpose of anyoperation (whether by virtueof the Land Drainage Act1991 or otherwise) tomaintain or improve anyexisting watercourse ordrainage works, or to

construct new worksrequired for the drainage ofany land, including worksfor the purpose of defenceagainst sea water or tidalwater, to interfere with abadger sett.

If the purpose of proposedaction is to prevent the spreadof disease, contact should bemade with your local DEFRAAnimal Health Office.

It should be noted thatlicences to kill or take badgersare only issued in exceptionalcircumstances. It is consideredby DEFRA that the majority ofproblems posed by badgerscan be resolved non-lethally,normally by the partial orcomplete closure of the sett of

the badger(s) causing theproblem.

Recommended remedies toreduce the problem:

• Remove the food source -the badger is afterinvertebrates, chafer grubsetc., in the soil.

• Heavy duty fencing -provides a solid barrier ontothe property.

• Electric fencing - conditionsthe badger to avoid the site.

For further information onhow to deal with badgerdamage, and how to apply fora licence, can be found onwww.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside

Latest goal post standardsand safety informationnow available.

You can haveeach and everycopy ofPitchcare - TheMagazinedelivereddirect to yourdoor for just£30 a year(Overseas £50).To subscribe to Pitchcare - TheMagazinelog on to pitchcare.comIf you’d prefer to read anonline version, you can havethe magazine emailed to youin PDF format for just £15.Subscribe to both hard copyand PDF versions for £40 ayear (£60 Overseas) andmake a saving of £5 on thecombined price.

21 www.pitchcare.com/re

Badger Damage - What can be done?

LEE JACKSON, Deputy Head Groundsman at the City of Manchester stadium: Days off, like mostgroundsmen out there, are a rarity! I can usually be found in front of the TV, trying to avoid

looking after my two kids - Callum (3) and Ellie (12 weeks), whilst my girlfriend,Samantha, is doing her garden - the same garden I condemned when she boughtwhat looked like dead turf from B&Q. Being the experiencedgroundsman I am, I told her it was no good and shewas wasting her time with it! She ignored myprofessional advice and treated it with lashings ofBabyBio ... and won the local garden competition!My contribution to the garden this year is to usesome marking paint to put a St George’s flag on thelawn for the World Cup. Aside from this I can usuallybe found perusing dodgy websites on the internet,you know the ones - Pitchcare etc!

... or what Pitchcare readers getup to out of office hours

IN the search for faster greens, some objective rather thansubjective measure was needed, and the Stimpmeter wasadopted. This simple tool was invented in 1935 by the USgolfer E.G. Stimpson, to achieve "accurate, objective,statistically valid measurements", but it was not introduced intothe UK until the 1980s.

The following standard measurements have now beenadopted for regular and tournament play.

Without taking these measurements as “set in stone”, it ispossible to use them to assess the speed of each green on thecourse, and work towards a consistent standard.

The Stimpmeter is an extruded aluminum bar, 875mm long,with a V-shaped groove extending along its entire length. It hasa precisely milled ball-release notch 750mm from the taperedend (the end that rests on the ground). The underside of thetapered end is milled away to reduce bounce as a rolling ballmakes contact with the green.

How to Use - Place a measuring tape on the green (choosethe flattest part), place the stimpmeter on the green with thetapered end at the end of the tape. Place a golf ball in the ball-release notch and gradually raise this end of the stimpmeteruntil the ball releases and rolls down the stimpmeter on to thegreen (see photo).Measure the distance the golf ball rolls.Repeat the test four times, changing the direction of the ballroll, to get an average reading of your green.

The stimpmeter can be purchased online from the PitchcareStore, www.pitchcare.com/shop or, alternatively, ring 01902824392.

Tools Of the TradeTHE STIMPMETER

SPEED REGULAR PLAY TOURNAMENT PLAY

Fast 8 feet 6 inches 10 feet 6 inches

Medium Fast 7 feet 6 inches 9 feet 6 inches

Medium 6 feet 6 inches 8 feet 6 inches

Medium Slow 5 feet 6 inches 7 feet 6 inches

Slow 4 feet 6 inches 6 feet 6 inches

USB Memory Stick / USBFlash Memory

In each issue I will bring to your attention a useful device thatmay help you with your computing at home or work.

In this issue we’ll have a look at the USB memory stick, asmall piece of plastic and metal with a computer chip inside.The only external connector is a USB plug, which you canconnect into any USB socket on your computer. If you’re usingWindows XP or most other modern operating systems, whenyou plug it in, it is automatically detected and shown in ‘My

Computer’ as a new storage device.Just like a hard disk it stores your pictures,

music, presentations or in fact anycomputer file that you may need tocarry about with you. Perhaps youwork from home one day and create a

presentation that you will give the nextday. You can’t email it because it is bigger than your work’semail system will allow, you’ve run out of CDs to burn it so youhave no way of transferring the presentation from home towork. In steps the memory stick, swiftly copying the file whererequired.

The memory stick is solid state memory, meaning there areno moving parts inside. As such, they are very durable andtravel easily, especially as they are so small, usually no biggerthan a finger.

Available in a range of sizes from 64Mb upto 2Gb and from acost of £10 upwards, the USB Memory Stick is one tool that Iwould not be without.

Linkswww.last.fm - The social music revolution. Type in a band or artist youlike, discover your musical 'neighbours' and use their software incombination with your music player to chart your most played.www.youtube.com - Instantly find and watch thousands of faststreaming videos, upload video files of your own, easily share yourvideo files family, friends, and co-workers.www.imdb.com - Lots of information about every film you have everheard of - a complete database of film trivia. Includes user submittedgoofs, for example in Mission Impossible III “the railway wagons in theyard at the factory in Berlin have American-style couplings notEuropean ones.”

ShortcutsSave your wrist, use the mouse less by taking advantage of these handykeyboard shortcuts.In Internet Explorer and Firefox:Home: Takes you to the top of a webpage

End: Takes you to the bottom of a webpageF5: Refreshes the current page

F11: Makes the page fullscreen

ComputerTOOLSPitchcare’s web monkey,Alastair, looks at the toolsof the IT age.

Days OFF!

The public have oftenquestioned whether sports-turf irrigation can bejustified given theincreasing pressure onwater resources, risingdemands and longer-termthreat of climate change.The current drought in thesouth east has highlightedthe limitations (and risks)associated with relying onmains water for sports turfirrigation, but it representsonly the tip of a growingconflict between so-called'essential' (i.e. domestic)and non-essential (i.e.sports-turf) use.

So is irrigation reallynecessary, particularlyunder conditions ofincreasing water scarcity, oris it just a luxury use byturf managers to improveaesthetics. The answer ofcourse, is that irrigation isan essential tool in themaintenance and

management of all modernsports-turf surfaces. Itserves to control growthand quality, to maximiseplayability and deal withthe vagaries of UKweather. For golf, irrigationalso helps alleviatecompaction, maximiseaeration and controldrainage. In other sports,such as horse racing, whilstthe objectives are different,the purpose is equallyimportant, serving topromote sward growth andhelping to softencompacted racing surfaces,a common cause of trackrelated injury. It isapparent that much PR isstill required to reinforcethe importance and valueof water for sports-turf.

How much water doessports-turf use?

Golf course irrigation isa very visible activity andone that can be difficult to

justify when hose-pipe bansand restrictions are inforce. However, the totalvolumes of water used ingolf and sports-turf ingeneral are very small. Asense of perspective isrequired (see Table 1).

The data illustrates thatcompared to agriculture,which itself accounts foronly 1% of total water use,sports turf irrigationconstitutes a very minorabstraction. It is, however,a predominantlyconsumptive use (turftranspiration is a net lossto the environment),peaking in the driest yearsand in the driest months,when water resources arescarcest. As withagriculture, it is theconsumptive nature of useand timing of demand thataccentuates the watersupply-demand imbalance.

In England and Wales,

Passing anEnvironmentalMOT

Water resources for sports turf:

Changes in the way theEnvironment Agencyassess time-llimited

licenses will impact on allsports facilities dependant

on direct abstraction forirrigation. It seemsinevitable that golf

courses, race courses andstadia will be required tocollect additional data to

justify their levels ofabstraction.

DR. JERRY KNOX fromCranfield University

describes the importanceof irrigation for sports-tturf,

the proposed tests forlicence renewal and howone might prepare for an

‘Environmental MOT’

Is sports turf irrigation necessary?

approximately 40% of golfcourses have an abstractionlicence for irrigation; forracecourses the figure isslightly higher (63%). Theremainder either do notirrigate or rely on mainswater. The irony is that manysports facilities opted formains water for irrigationbecause of its greaterreliability, but under droughtconditions this source hasbeen shown to be equallysusceptible to restriction atshort notice. Sports facilitiesneed to think morestrategically on how to adaptto changing water availability,and preferably to have morethan one source on which todepend. Those currentlyimpacted by drought ordersmight consider switching toan abstraction licence, buteven here the rules ofengagement are changing…

Tests for licencerenewal

New water regulationrequires all abstractions forirrigation above the deminimis threshold (currentlydefined as 20m3 per day) tohave a licence from theEnvironment Agency (EA).All licenses issued since theWater Act (2003) came intoforce, and many issuedpreviously, are time-limited.Using both carrot and stick,government policy is toencourage other licenceholders to convert to time-limited status. These will be

renewed on a roughly 12 yearcycle, although some licencesmay have different durationsdepending on localcatchment conditions. Theobjective is to bring alllicences within eachcatchment abstractionmanagement strategy(CAMS) into line, by defininga common end date (CED).

The EA have stated thatthere will be a presumptionof renewal for a time-limitedlicence so long as three testsare satisfied (See Table 2).These constitute an‘Environmental MOT’.

Test 1 will be largelyundertaken by the EAthrough their CAMS process.However, the responsibilityfor satisfying Tests 2 and 3will rest with the individual.This will require them tosubmit a well-structured casefor licence renewal,addressing a range of factorsthat impact on theirrequirement for irrigation(justifying 'reasonable' need),whilst demonstrating thatthey are also adopting bestmanagement practices toensure wise (efficient) use ofthe volumes abstracted.

Demonstrating continuedjustification of need (Test 2)is likely to require aretrospective analysis of wateruse, including an evaluationof historical abstractions, theseasonal timing of demand, acomparison of authorisedlicensed and abstractedquantities, an assessment ofthe impacts of climatic

variation on irrigationdemand, and possibly someform of water audit. The EAare well aware of the impactsthat climatic variation canhave on annual turfirrigation needs, but it isimportant that abstractorscan demonstrate a linkbetween fluctuations in theirwater abstraction with theirlicensed volume.

Some golf courses haveunderstandably beenconcerned that their licensedvolume might be adjusteddownwards, particularly iftheir abstractions (as aproportion of licensedvolume) in recent years havebeen small (due for example,to a spate of relatively wetsummers). It is critical thatthese differences can bejustified; clearly this is amuch easier exercise to

undertake if appropriate datahave been collected on aregular basis over a sequenceof wet and dry years as partof the management regime.Relying on memory or adhoc information on which todevelop a robust case forlicence renewal will place abusiness at risk and is notrecommended.

One area where there isscope to improve is datacollection, relating to theclimatic drivers that influenceturf irrigation, namelyrainfall andevapotranspiration (ET).Most golf courses recordrainfall, but only a fewmeasure ET, because it iscomplex, requiring theintegration of temperature,humidity, solar radiation andwind-speed data.Traditionally this hasrequired a weather station(£1500-£2000) but muchcheaper alternatives (£300)such as the ETgage (seeFigure1) are now availablethat can provide a sufficientdegree of accuracy forirrigation managementpurposes.

In the UK turf irrigation issupplemental to rainfall, andthis balance between rainfalland ET can vary significantly,with impacts on irrigationneed. In a ‘typical’ yearirrigation is usually requiredon sports surfaces betweenApril and September whenET exceeds P, but as Figure 2shows the pattern of rainfalland ET during a wet year(1998) and very dry year(2003) can be very different.

Clearly, in the context ofjustifying ‘reasonable’ need,sports facilities that are awareof and responding to theseclimatic drivers, andmodifying their irrigationpractices accordingly, wouldcertainly demonstrate a highlevel of irrigationmanagement proficiency.

Most golf courses also keepregular records of the totalvolume of water appliedthrough a season, but only asmall proportion actuallyrecord the timing andvolume applied on each partof the course. If thisinformation were collected, itcould be usefully related backto the volume pumped at thepoint of abstraction. Fromthis it would be possible tocompare metered waterabstractions with theestimated volumes of waterapplied to each part of acourse Any differences couldthen be investigated to

Table 1. Total number of abstraction licences, total licensed and abstracted volumes for sports turf(golf courses and race courses) compared against agriculture. Data relates to 2003.

Test Objective Definition Responsibility

Continued To assess whether the continued abstraction can Environment1 environmental be sustained without significant impact on water Agency through

sustainability resources, other water users or the environment CAMS

2 Continued To assess whether the abstraction is still required,justification based on the 'reasonable need ' of the licence Individualof need holder, and to check that the maximum levels of abstractor

abstraction are still reasonable

3 Efficient use To assess whether the right amount of water is Individual of water being used in the right place at the right time abstractor

Table 2. Environment Agency tests for abstraction licence renewal.

54

Sector Total number of Total licensed Total abstractedabstraction licences volume (m3) volume(m3)

Irrigated agriculture 11560 341000000 115000000

Sports-turf:(a) golf courses 840 10200000 4320000(b) race courses 35 854000 521000

Figure 1. An ETgage used forplanning irrigation applicationson a golf course.

55

improve efficiency. Thisprocess, known as waterauditing has been widelypromoted as a tool forcombining information onclimate, irrigated areas andvolumes applied to assess'reasonable' need. The key towater auditing, however, is tokeep it simple.

Finally, an inter-relatedissue that turf managers needto consider is demonstrating'efficient use' of water (Test3). For this, they mightconsider providing acomprehensive review theiroperational (agronomic,management and irrigationsystem equipment) aspects ofwater management on theirsite. This can then be used tojudge the extent to which thecurrent irrigation practicesdemonstrate efficient use ofwater. Attendance atworkshops and technicalmeetings for staff to raiseawareness of the key issueswould also help addcredibility.

The way forward

Given the current restrictionson water use for sports turf inthe south east, the prospect

of further regulation onirrigation abstraction,government demand forgreater environmentalprotection and climatechange; it would be easy toconclude that water resourcesfor sports-turf irrigation areunder threat. But there areopportunities to respond andadapt in a positive way.Improving one'sunderstanding of watermanagement, identifyingalternate water sources,considering water recyclingand water harvesting are allfeasible options, and likely tobecome main-stream as thecompetition and costs forwater inevitably rise. Turfmanagers can and must riseto the challenge of watermanagement.

Dr Jerry Knox is a PrincipalResearch Fellow in theInstitute of Water andEnvironment at CranfieldUniversity and HonorarySecretary of the UK IrrigationAssociation. He can becontacted on 01525 863156or by emailj.knox@cranfield.ac.uk

Figure 2. Monthly rainfall and ET at Silsoe (Bedford) in (a) wet year(1998) and (b) dry year (2003).

AGRIPOWERSPECIALISTS IN ALL ASPECTS OF

SPORTSTURF CONSTRUCTIONNATURAL AND SYNTHETIC

SURFACESDRAINAGE AND MAINTENANCE

TEL: 01494 866776FAX: 01494 866779

www.agripower.co.uksales@agripower.co.uk

TOP DRESSINGOVER SEEDINGDE-COMPACTIONVERTIDRAININGGROUND BREAKINGLANDSCAPING

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56

The Adams and Stewart soilbinding test (ASSB) or Mottytest as it is commonly knownis still a very good methodfor measuring soil strength.Particularly in that it can besimply done at home withoutthe need to use specialistequipment.

Soil strength is veryimportant when selectingclay loam dressings forcricket pitches. The potentialsuccess of the wicket isdirectly related to thepercentage of clay contentfound in the soil profile ofthe cricket pitch

There are a number of clayloam suppliers in the UKwho specialise in blendingand mixing loam soils for usein the turf grass industry.The clay content in theseproducts can vary immenselyranging anything between22-32%.

The larger the percentageof clay content in your soil,the stronger the bindingstrength will be, however,having the highest claycontent is not always thecriteria to base yourrequirements on.

You need to look at the ageof the users and the standardof cricket you are cateringfor. Using higher clay contentsoils also require a greaterinput of resources. High claycontent loams tend to shrinkand swell more readily, thusyou need to control the rateof drying by the use of coversand sheets. Not all clubs havethese resources available,therefore, it may be moredesirable to use lower claycontent loams which areeasier to manage.

The performance of yourwicket is dependant on anumber of factors:• The choice of clay loam

being used• Type of square construction• Preparation and

maintenance procedures• Machinery, equipment and

resources available• Knowledge of the

GroundsmanThe combination of thesefactors will dictate thecondition of your square andthe performance of yourpitches, however, the endresult will be influenced

entirely by the type of clayloam you manage and thepercentage of clay materialthere is in the soil profile.

As a groundsman it isimportant to accuratelyidentify your soilclassification. Ideally, youshould take a number of soilsamples from your square ata depth between 20-100mm.

These samples should belabeled with the date andlocation taken and sent to alaboratory for classification,measuring for Particle SizeDistribution (PSD). This willgive you a breakdown of theclay, silt and sandpercentages in your soil.Once identified you will be ina better position to manageyour square.

Once you know your claycontent percentage, you canthen decide on what clayloams are desirable for you.This is where the ABBS/Motty test becomes an aid tochoosing a compatible loam.

The concept behind theMotty test is to determine thestrength of the sample takenon your square and compareit with other loam samples,

thus finding a compatible soilfor use on your facility.

The process begins withthe taking of some soilextracted from your square,obtaining enough material toproduce several Motties,remember you need enoughsoil to create a ballapproximately 20mm (3/4")in diameter for this test.

Procedure:(a) Crumble the loam downinto a workable size (less than2 mm). Remove all fibrousmatter from the sample (i.e.living roots, grass plantleaves, dead and decayingmatter and thatch, any smallstones). Transfer half a cupfulto a clean plate.

(b) Moisten the sample withdistilled water if available(otherwise with tap water)until it can be moulded byhand. Water must be addedslowly to ensure that the soildoes not become too wet tomould.

(c) Mould vigorously by handover a period of 5 minutes todestroy all aggregation. Addmore water if necessary.

Second in our new series where we pick up on a website thread andinvestigate further on your behalf.

TheFullMOTTY

Remove all fibrous matter Crumble the loam into a workable size Moisten with distilled water

Wellyou

asked!

Apart from a slightly bungling BBC football commentator, what is a Motty? Dave Goodjohn ofGSB Loams gives an A-Z guide (well A-K actually) on just how to go about it. Malteser anyone?

(d) Roll the soil into aball and place it on aclean plate. Cover the soilwith a wet cloth (wrungout by hand) and leavestanding for 2 hours.

(e) Re-mould the soil byhand, making sure that itis plastic but not sloppy.It should have theconsistency of putty andhave little tendency tostick to the hands. Itshould also readily mouldinto a ball withoutforming cracks.

(f) Roll into a sausageshape approximately 12.5mm (0.5 inch) indiameter and cut intosections 25 mm (1 inch)long.

(g) Carefully mould eachsection into a ball andthen roll between thepalms of the hands.

(h) Place the Motty ballsonto clean plates andallow to air dry in acupboard for 7-10 days.

(i) Place each dried ballin turn on a bathroomscale and slowly exertpressure (with a piece ofwood) until the ball

breaks. Make a note ofthe reading when the ballbreaks.

(j) Discount the lowestvalue in each set andobtain the mean value ofthe rest.

(k) Readings between 45and 90kg (100 to 200lbs)have been shown to beoptimum for British soils.

The table below detailsclassification of claycontent and breakingstrength (ASSB) values (VI Stewart 1994)

Apart from localmaterials, there areseveral recognised loamsuppliers in the UK: GSB,Binder, Surrey, Ongar,Mendip, Kaloam,Boughton. Use of Marl isnot encouraged nowadaysas it can cause layering

A simple modificationto the motty test wasproposed and endorsedby Professor W A Adamswho recognized thepotential to assess loamcompatibility, particularlywhen top dressing.

The modificationinvolves joining two half

motties of different loamstogether along theflattened face of eachhemisphere. It isimportant not to trap anyair along the joiningsurfaces, as this mayaffect results.

If there is excessivedifferential shrinkagebetween the two halves ondrying the Motty will dulyseparate, thus the soilsare not compatible. Ifboth loam types remainstrongly bonded and onlybreak after pressure,these two loams are likelyto be compatible.

The Motty test is asimple reliable field testthat can play animportant part indetermining the selectionof clay loams for cricket.Groundsmen should bemade aware of thistechnique and readily tryit out to assess their soilstrengths.Having a betterunderstanding of soils isparamount in themanagement of naturalgrass pitch facilities.

And Seaman, just like a falling oak,manages to change direction.

Brazil - they’re so good it’s like they arerunning round the pitch playing withthemselves.

For those of you watching in black andwhite, Spurs are in the all yellow strip.

I think this could be our best victory overGermany since the war.

It looks like a one man show here,although there are two men involved.

It’s Arsenal 0 - Everton 1, and the longer itstays like that the more you’ve got to fancyEverton.

Nearly all the Brazilian supporters arewearing yellow shirts - it’s a fabulouskaleidoscope of colour.

Northern Ireland were in white, which wasquite appropriate because three inches ofsnow had to be cleared from the pitchbefore kick off.

Not the first half you might have expected,even though the score might suggest thatit was.

That shot might not have been as good asit might have been.

That’s an old Ipswich move - O'Callaghancrossing for Mariner to drive over the bar.

The goals made such a difference to theway this game went.

The match has become quiteunpredictable, but it still looks as thoughArsenal will win the cup.

There is still nothing on the proverbialscoreboard.

Illustration courtesy of George Williams.Copyright retained.

Visit www.caricatures-uk.com

TThe BBC’s John Motson, the manwho brought you “The World Cup isa truly International event”. Forsome he’s a legend; for others heruins a game of football. Whateveryour view, his commentary can bepriceless... and we couldn’t missthe opportunity!

ASSB / MOTTY VALUE EQUIVALENT CLAY CONTENT STRENGTH CATEGORYFOR WELL MADE MOTTIES

113KG (250LB) AND OVER OVER 55% EXCEPTIONALLY STRONG

91-113KG (200-250LB) 44-55% VERY STRONG

68-91KG (150-200LB) 33-44% STRONG

45-68KG (100-150LB) 22-33% MODERATELY STRONG

23-45KG (50-100LB) 11-22% WEAK

9-23KG 20-50LB) 4-11% VERY WEAK

UNDER 9KG BELOW 4% NON-BINDING

• Soils which disintegrate at pressure of up to 45 kg are not suitable for use on a cricket pitch.• Soils which disintegrate between 45kg and 70kg are suitable for club pitch use.• Soils which disintegrate between 70kg and 90kg are suitable for county and international pitch use.• Soils which disintegrate at pressures greater than 90kg tend to be too strong for cricket pitch use.

Does all this look slightly illegal?

Roll into a sausage Place on bathroom scales

The OtherMOTTY

SEED companies invest agreat deal of time andmoney into the developmentof new varieties. It takesbetween 12-15 years tobreed, select, trial andmarket a particular grassvariety. In addition there is aneed to sustain and managea distribution network thatcan serve its customer base.

One such company is DLFTrifolium which breeds,manufactures and sells grassseed to both the amenityand agricultural marketsthroughout Europe.

The parent company, DLFTrifolium A/S, is based inRoskilde, Denmark and iscollectively owned by 5,500seed growers. With twelveproduction sites operating inDemark, DLF has thecapability to produce wellover 80,000 hectares of seedwhich is exported aroundthe world. The companycurrently produces 46% ofthe grass seed consumedwithin the EU.

DLF Trifolium UK wasborn out of theamalgamation of a numberof companies in 2001. DLFis Britain’s largest, andfastest growing, grass seedcompany with an annualturnover of approximately£25m, employing over 120staff on a number of sites.

Leith and Lincoln are thedesignated sites supplying

seed for the agriculturalmarkets, with Inkberrow asthe main site that dealspredominantly with theamenity and lawn seedsupply. Despite beinglocated in a small village inthe heart of theWorcestershire countryside,Inkberrow is theheadquarters for all ofDLF’s UK operations.

A number of farmbuildings, set in 90 acres ofland, have been renovatedand modified to provideover 60,000 square feet ofoffice, warehousing, mixingand bagging up areas. Thereare plans to create a further10,000 square feet ofstorage. The site alsoprovides land for seed trialsfor grass and wild flowerspecies, and a small quantityof forage crops.

The company's mainAmenity ranges are: -• Johnson’s Sport and

Amenity range: promotedas the company’s premiumseed and marketedthrough a distributornetwork.

• Techni Turf range whichis marketed exclusively bySherriff Amenity.

• The Pro Range whichoffers a choice of 37mixes for a variety ofpurposes e.g. landscaping,lawns, sport andreclamation.

ON the day I visitedInkberrow I was greeted byMiranda Chambers, PR andMarketing officer for DLFUK, who explained the finerpoints of the business andwhat the company wasaiming to achieve in thecoming years. Sheemphasized the company’songoing strategy to sustainand expand the existingcustomer base by payingattention to, andmonitoring, the customer’sneeds and requirements.

One of the key issues wasto ensure the companyemployed appropriate,qualified, staff with thedesire, drive and ambition totake the business forward. Inrecent years DLF has takenon several new staff whohave all contributed to thesuccess of the company’sportfolio.

Inkberrow is primarily aprocessing plant where theymix the seeds to specificproduct requirements. Theseed generally arrives inbags or one cubic metrecontainers from Denmark orHolland. The seed istransported and tipped intothe mixing chambers, whereseveral grass species can bemixed together to produce aparticular product.

Once mixed the materialis then bagged andtransported to the storage

Many end users onlyever see a finished

product andprobably don’t give

a second thought tohow it all began. The

complicatedprocesses

undertaken tofinally arrive at a

25 kg bag of grassseed is one such

example.

Miranda Chamberstakes Pitchcare’s

Laurence Gale MScon a guided tour of

DLF TrifoliumDLF Trifolium

59

bays ready for dispatch to thecustomer. The whole processcan be completed in a day,depending on the amountrequired. Over a year around6,000 tonnes of seed arebagged and dispatched.

DLF monitor the seedmarket closely, and often buythe rights to various seedproductions, as is the case ofYorktown III, a perennialryegrass species developedand grown in the USA.

The market is everchanging. For instance thereis an increased demand for

wild flower seed mixtures andDLF now offers twelvedifferent mixtures for varioussoil conditions.

The trial plots take up themost of the site. All the mainamenity grass species werebeing trialled, bents, fescues,perennial ryegrasses etc.Currently, they are allmaintained at the samecutting height of 20mm,however, DLF are planning aseries of trials that willmonitor grass performanceunder different mowingregimes and feedingprogrammes.

The wild flower plots aremonitored for colour, vigourand consistency. The plotsare sown in the spring, keptmown at 100mm in the firstgrowing season and then, insubsequent years, managedas wild meadows i.e. mowedin the spring, left to flower,and cut and collected in lateAugust.

One particularly interestingtrial underway involves microclover. It is tolerant to closemowing, remains greener indry periods, does not requirehigh doses of feed and ismore disease resistant. Thismixture is particularlysuitable for local authorities,who have to manage withlittle in the way ofmaintenance budgets butwant to achieve an attractivegrass colour and aestheticappearance.

On the plots the cloverclearly stood out, andcompared favourably to someof the finer, more expensiveand more difficult toestablish grasses such asbents. It could well becomean attractive alternative formany Groundsman andGreenkeepers.

The sports turf industry aredemanding more resilientnatural swards that can alsocope with less and less input.The challenge is the ongoingsearch to find better andmore adaptable seed varietiesthat perform, look good andcan be managed easily atlower costs.

Only seed companies withthe commitment, skills andresources such as those inevidence at DLF will be ableto take this on.

The sports turf industryare demanding moreresilient natural swards

Micro clover being trialled

Mowing the grass plots

A further 10,000 sq ft of storagewill be added

22 www.pitchcare.com/re

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60

Agood idea is a good ideawherever it crops up and,oftentimes, it takes a while beforethe intended beneficiary of a

good idea gets to accept it. One suchconcept was highlighted in the last issueof Pitchcare; that of deep aeration.

As proved over the years there is aneed for such treatment but, to date, ithas been a small niche market forparticular problems and not a wholesalesolution to compaction and drainageprojects across golf courses or othersports grounds. The trouble has beenthat the compressed air deep aerator issimply too slow to be used in a morewidespread fashion in the manner of aVerti-Drain or other shallow but fasteraerator.

But the arrival of the patented Gwazaedeep aerator from New Zealand couldchange the game. The Gwazae hammersits compressed air into the soil atanything between 20 and 150 psi. Witheither a single probe or double probedmachine available the opportunity forcontinuous deep ground aeration atspeeds in excess of 2000 metres per hourfor model GPA102 and 4000 metres perhour for model GPA202 are easilyachieved.

Being imported into Europe by KeithKensett of Kensett Sports (the GradenMan for many of us), the Gwazaemachine is being viewed as a contractor’stool first and foremost but theopportunities for sports facilities to owntheir own machine are also beinginstigated.

“I don’t think this machine will replacethe Verti-Drain” said Keith, “but thereare many greenkeepers and groundsmenwho are recognising the value of deepaeration without any surface

disturbance.” The PC Message board andthe subsequent article in the magazinehave demonstrated there is definiteagronomic advantage to the technique.”

“The easiest way for me to describe thespeed of it” said Keith “is in terms of afootball pitch. With the single-probemachine we can aerate down to amaximum of 28 inches and complete thejob in around three to four hours. Thedouble-probe could, obviously, do the jobeven quicker. A day for 18 golf greens,about a fortnight for the entire golfcourse, four days for a racecourse; evenless with a double probe machine.”

Technical stuff:

The Gwazae ground probe aeratordelivers large volumes of air into theground, not just the top layers. Overtime the air permeates back up throughthe soil delivering essential oxygen to thesoil and enriching the turf root system.The Gwazae ground probe aerator is aone-person, fully self-contained,operation.

The velocity of the air greatly enhancesthe fracturing effect on compacted soils.The operator can easily adjust airpressure during the operation if varyingsoil conditions are encountered. Theaerators’ advanced hydraulic system hasbeen designed to accommodate theprobe hitting obstacles below the turfsurface. In the event of encountering anobstacle, the probe penetrationinterrupts automatically and the aeratingcycle restarts without the tractor needingto stop. While most aeration is carriedout in a straight line, the Gwazae isdesigned to allow moderate turningwhile operating.

Compressor: The Ground Probe Aeratoruses an industrial, high performance,rotary screw air compressor thatincorporates an advanced system thatensures that the air it delivers is cleanand environmentally friendly. TheGPA101 compressor is powered by amodern industrial quality electric starttwo cylinder diesel engine. Thecompressed air supply valving systemallows for very fast and precise deliveryof air to the ground probe. The GroundProbe Aerator cycle is controlled by thetractor driver using a small control boxpositioned next to the driver.Adjustments to the blast time andinterval are quickly made at the maincontrol box. Adjustments to air blastpressure are made at the display paneldirectly behind the driver. The rest of theaeration process is automatic and startsand stops using the drivers control box.

Tractor Requirements: The GPA101model - Most 30-40 hp tractors, eitherhydrostatic or conventional, are suitableto use with the Ground Probe Aerator. APTO drive is required for the hydraulicpump. Attachment to the aerator is byconventional two-point linkage.

For the model GPA202 an 80 hp PTOequipped tractor is required to run thismodel. Attachment is by conventionaltwo point linkage.

Hydraulics: Hydraulics are used to drivethe probe into the turf. The GroundProbe Aerator uses a patented fastresponse control system to automaticallyinterrupt the probe cycle when obstaclesare encountered below the turf surface.Hydraulic power is supplied by anonboard tractor PTO driven pump.

Has the ‘Gradenman’ done it again?

PRODUCTUpdate

Deep groundaeration at speeds in excess of 2000metres per hour

A look at some of the new stuff hitting the market

61

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FOR decades, the idea of laser-guidedline-marking has been considered thestuff of science fiction but an Anglo-Swisscompany has now developed the firstlaser guided system to help groundsmenmark out perfect straight lines and exact90 degree angles with the minimum oftime and effort. Inspired by the Britishpassion for high quality sports surfaces,and manufactured with Swiss precision,the new BeamRider laser system allowssports fields to be marked out topreviously undreamt of standards in afraction of the time needed fortraditional methods.

We generally do not give a secondthought to the lines we see on sportspitches on TV. We assume that thegroundsman will ensure that the lines arestraight and that pitches are rectangular.But are they? BeamRider Ltd, the Anglo-Swiss developers of the new laser system,carried out a thorough survey of pitchesthroughout the UK, and the results werevery surprising: even on the best-maintained pitches.

How straight is straight?

Sports governing bodies specify pitchdimensions, but often with no indication

of what accuracy isacceptable. Theadvent of laser-guidedmarking is setting newstandards, andgoverning bodies suchas FIFA and the FAwill need to updatetheir requirements tospecify tolerances ofline-straightness.

Right Angles andWrong Angles

The Football Association’s rules state that“the field of play must be rectangular”,but they do not mention an acceptableangle tolerance. Again, the new laserguided system will force a rethink, andtolerances will need to be specified; thereare right-angles and there are not-so-right angles.

If a soccer pitch is not square, this willcreate disadvantages and advantageswhich can affect the outcome of a gamejust as much as a sloping pitch, or havingone goal smaller than the other. Manypitches across the UK were surveyed,including major Premiership grounds,and not a single one was truly square.

The closest to a right-anglefound was 88 degrees. Theworst was over 3 metres out inone corner and 4 metres out in

another. In most cases, the error wasmeasurable in metres. And if theperimeter of the pitch is not square, thenall other markings must also be out.

All Change

The new BeamRider laser-guided line-marking system will revolutionise thestandards of accuracy which stadiumsand sports authorities expect from theirgrounds staff. BeamRider allows skilledgroundsmen to achieve far higherstandards than they could ever haveachieved with traditional methods, andin a fraction of the time.

www.beamrider.org

The Future is HereSportsfield line-mmarking makes a quantum leapinto the future with the introduction of the world’sfirst laser-gguided marking system.

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THE England & Wales Cricket Boardhave selected the Climate Cover Systemby Total Turf Solutions Ltd as theirpreferred covering system for theNational Cricket Centre, LoughboroughUniversity.

“Following great feedback from thecounty Head Groundsmen who havebeen using the system, the productseemed perfect for the net area.

The new natural nets at LoughboroughUniversity have been built on what wasthree artificial tennis courts andtherefore space is tight. The ClimateCover System provides a lightweight flatsheet waterproof cover, which allows thesurfaces to be prepared to the higheststandard.

The covers are light enough that onemember of staff can use them safely,keeping labour costs to a minimum andmaking preparation of the surfaceseasier.

The use of raised mobile covers on thepractice area would have been verydifficult but with the breathable qualitiesto diminish the problem of ‘sweating’and the fact that the covers allowsunlight to reach the grass plant, raised

mobile covers were not needed.Chris Wood. ECB Pitches Consultant,

said “My brief from the ECB at theoutset of the concept of the NationalCricket Centre was quite simply to design‘the best outdoor net practice facility inthe country’ to complement theconstruction of the most advancedindoor cricket school in the world on theadjacent ground.”

“Because we have in place the mostcomprehensive net system available inthe UK, I required a highly efficientcovering system that maximised the fullpotential of the playing area at minimaldemands to the groundstaff ’s manpowerand resources.”

“I believe that the Climate Cover, forall the above reasons, fully meets thedemands and am delighted that theLoughborough Head Groundsman andhis staff are in complete agreement thatthe best choice will assist in developmentof the best England players for thefuture."

The Climate Cover System can bedesigned and manufactured to suit anyground.

www.totalturfsolutions.co.uk

ECB National CricketCentre uses the Climate Cover System

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TurfWorkson a rollTHE TurfWorks fine turf greensmaintenance system is the brainchild ofSimon Gumbrill and John Coleman.Following extensive design, manufacture,testing and evaluation, the system is nowfinding favour with greenkeepers. Butwhere did it all begin?

Simon and John both have aconsiderable knowledge of the fineturfcare industry and recognised anumber of areas where they couldimprove the greenkeepers lot.

The idea was simple enough; a seriesof interchangeable cassettes, able toperform a variety of tasks, that could fitall popular greens triplex machines. Thetwo recognised that quality of bothmanufacture and end results were to beof paramount importance.

So they approached Jack Copeland ofSheffield based Advanced EngineeringTechniques with their initial designs.AET specialise in manufacturing instainless steel and work closely with theengineering and design facility atHallam University in the city.

With Jack’s assistance, a number ofprototypes were produced to test in themarketplace. A new manufacturingcompany was formed - Advanced TurfTechnology - and, after successful trials,the TurfWorks name was born.

Simon said “ We set out to produce thebest turfcare maintenance system in theworld. The quality had to be right. Wecould not afford to have any glitchesonce the product was launched onto themarket. AET and the University teamcertainly helped us to achieve our firstobjective.”

“We talked to a number ofgreenkeepers to find out exactly whatthey needed. We also looked at ways ofmaking the product unique.”

THE TurfWorks system comprises of apatented modular chassis which, asstated earlier, will fit all mainline greenstriplex power units. Into this chassis fits

a range ofinterchangeable cassettesable to carry out a varietyof tasks. • The removal of thatchfrom golf greens and teeswith the Thatchmasterverticutting cassettes• Ironing of golf greenswith the Vibro Rollercassettes.• Deep scarification withthe Scarifier cassettes, fine surface‘grooming’ • Poa management with the UltraGrooma. Each cassettes has ninety bladesat 5mm centres, and each individualblade has five tips. • Sarel Roller cassettes to prevent surfacesealing with minimal surface disruption.• Star Spiker cassettes are ideal for thosewho prefer an elongated form asopposed to a circular pattern.• Green surface sweeping with theRotary Spiral Brush cassettes.• Brushing in top dressings with theStatic Brush cassettes, • Vibrating and brushing in the sameoperations with the Vibro Brushattachment for use in the Vibro Rollercassettes.

Simon explained “One of the patent’spending features of the system is theability to accept the Vibro Rollercassettes into the same chassis. Thismeans that no separate system isrequired for these cassettes. The VibroRoller transfers the high frequencyvibration rate through two 60mm rollersinstead of one. This is the mostinnovative approach to the use of rollersto help maintain golf greens in recentyears; the design of the systemincorporates the vibration mechanism ina cassette which, in turn, transfers thevibration through the systems rollers.

The vibration is transmitted equallythrough the rear and front rollers.”

“In tests the TurfWorks systemconsistently beats the competition atincreasing green speeds because of thedual effect of the high frequency,coupled with the twin rollers, to give aprecise ironing effect.”

Another patent pending feature is theWrenchless Height Adjuster - a simple‘Turn & Click’ adjuster with heightguides which can be altered inincrements of 0.2mm (1/64”). It meansthat a setting bar is no longer requiredto alter the height to the preferred depthof operation which, in turn, means that itcan be altered on the course.

The TurfWorks system is already in usein various countries around the world. Itis proving popular in America, where itwas shown at the Golf Industry Show2006. “The response fromSuperintendents and Dealers wasphenomenal” said Simon. “The bigselling point is the Vibro Roller cassettes.They all seem to like the fact that theycan have one system that accomplishesall the operations that they require. Theyalso like the simplicity of the ‘Turn andClick’ adjuster. And the fact the system ismade from stainless steel means that itlooks the part on the course.”

The TurfWorks system is already in useat many prestigious golf clubs, includingthe Royal Liverpool Golf Club atHoylake for this year’s Open, and TheBelfry Golf Club for the British Masters.

New cassette system is proving popular

Alternative surfaces used for footballhave been around for at least forty years.The first surfaces were little more than acarpet consisting of a plastic based pileand backing layer. From these crudedesigns, a slightly more successful lineof products followed with better qualitymaterials and an infill layer of sand,known as the second generation.

Most of us can remember certainprofessional football clubs using thesecond type, or generation, surfaceduring the late eighties, unsuccessfully.There were many problems with theplayability of these sand filled pitchtypes mostly related to surfacehardness, grazing, traction/grip anderratic ball bounce behaviour.Subsequently, the clubs that chose to

use the artificial surfaces at professionallevel quickly removed them and returnedto natural turf.

Since then, natural turf has dominatedthe game and little has been heard ofartificial football surfaces in aprofessional light until now. Recently, anew design of artificial surface emerged(third generation) with an altogether newconstruction specifically designed atreplicating the playing performancequalities of natural turf. The designconsists of more durable polymermaterials, longer pile fibres, a softabsorbent infill material and shock pads.Suppliers have made promises of low tonon-eexistent maintenance needs andsubsequent major maintenance costsavings.

The new design is certainly muchcloser to natural turf in terms of itsappearance and to a certain degree itsperformance. The longer pile lengths andpolymer-bbased infill has improved ball-tto-surface interactions, increasedtraction/grip and helped to enhancecushioning. It will still have a long way togo before a true comparison can bemade, if at all, between that of itself andnatural turf. Maintenance managers arebeginning to realise that the true cost tomaintain these third generationsurfaces, if the best playability andlongevity is to be gained from them, isactually comparable to that of basicnatural pitches (£7-110,000/annum).

Talkin’ about

THIRD GENERATIONartificial football surfacesMaintenance understandings revealed By John Lockyer MSc, Turfgrass Agronomist, STRI

65

This article has been written to addressissues related to the maintenance of thethird generation long-pile surfaces. Indoing so it is hoped that users, ownersand those responsible for theirmaintenance will be able to develop agreater understanding of theirrequirements. However, before we look atmaintenance issues, we need to examinestructural differences between naturaland artificial pitches.

It would be fair to say that theexpectation on artificial surfaces is one ofhigh wear tolerance. To a certain degreethis statement is true. Because a high-grade polymer based plastic is used toform the basis for the fibre element,structurally it is much stronger than thesoft organic tissue within a grass leaf.There is a key difference here though -grass has the ability to recuperate butplastic polymer does not. In the short-term, this key difference is negligible, inthe long-term however it becomessignificant.

Natural turf, given the necessary timeand conditions to do so, will repair playand maintenance damage. Artificial turfcannot. So, resistance to wear, on the sideof the artificial surface, is on a slidingscale from construction, whereas that ofnatural turf is ongoing given favourableconditions. Unfortunately, we cannotapply any preservative products to theartificial surface that will help to extendits working life e.g. polymer wearresistant coatings or Uva Uvbprotectants. Until such products areavailable, the goal is to tailor efforts toextend the useful life of the artificialtypes as far into the future as possiblethrough basic maintenance and usagecontrol.

One major similarity between the twotypes of surface is the need to have ahigh construction quality from the start.Artificial surfaces rely on the quality ofmaterials and the installation process tomaximise their useful life. Polymer type,amount of contaminates absorbed duringmanufacture, backing materials, methodof securement, infill selection, presenceof shock pad, amount and type ofmaintenance together with usageenvironment all collectively contribute tothe actual working life of an artificialsurface.

Independent feasibility analysis, usingreputable suppliers/contractors, sitesupervision and materials testing willhelp to minimise any problems whilstmaximising the potential for the artificialsurface. It is then up to the initial andongoing maintenance routines to furtherreinforce the progress.

Once the pitch is constructed andinstalled, the maintenance approach issplit into five main areas:

• Fibre management• Infill management• Pitch surrounds management• Wear management• Performance testing• Resource management

Fibre management

In order to produce the desired ball-surface and player-surface interactions,the fibre pile must be regularly treated.All those performance quality aspects i.e.ball; roll, bounce, slip, player; traction,grip are directly proportionate to fibreposition and support. Flattened fibres donot maintain the ball and will affect both

pace, roll direction and bouncebehaviour adversely (not to mentionexposing a greater fibre surface area toUva/Uvb damage). This is normallyaddressed by brushing with a drag brushin several directions; raising fibreuniformity levels to the intendedposition.

Conversely, too much brushing, and inparticular, too high brush filamentstrength, will cause the fibres to wearprematurely. Fibre “memory” is partlyresponsible for the return to its originalposition after load is exerted upon thepolymer filament. Excessive brushingreduces this memory and causes the pilefibres to return to the flattened statemuch sooner. It can also cause seamfailure. Brushing and/or decompactingacross the seam lines may lead towardseam stress and eventualsplitting/separation. Following thedirection of seam lines when brushingwill help to preserve their integrity. Agood way to assess a brush for suitabilityis by feel. If you rate it based uponfirmness from one to five and consider abrush made for laminate flooring as aone, and a brush made for yard areas afive, the desired level is somewhere inbetween. It is much more logical toreplace the brush more frequently thanthe surface.

Infill management

The infill layer provides: support for thefibre layer, resilience for ball bounce, fallcushioning and together with fibrecondition forms the basis for tractionand grip potentials. The depth of infillmaterial as well as its orientation ordistribution is the most important pointof concern.

The choice seems to be between usingeither pure rubber crumb (EPDM, or re-cycled tyres) or a rubber crumb/sandmix. Both options have relative meritsand drawbacks but both primarilydepend on even depth and distributionfor optimum performance. It isimportant to recognise that this infillmaterial will need to be completelyreplaced at least twice over the workinglife (assuming a ten year life period isachieved). The resilience produced bythe rubber crumb particles diminishesover time requiring replacement materialto be added. If left, the polymer-basedfill will eventually break down leading tocompaction and infiltration problems.There is also evidence to support thatthe infill itself reacts, at diffident levels,with the fibre filaments leading toamplified wearing rates.

Brushing will help to regulate the fibreuniformity but will not remove finerparticles or contaminates from theinfill/fibre profile. An appropriatevacuum sweeper should be used regularlyso that infill is agitated (decreasingproblems with moss, weed grassgermination etc) and all types of debrisremoved. Finer particle build-ups will

Given time, natural turf will repairdamage - artificial turf cannot!

Flattened third generation pile

Over full infill layer witha high splash potential

Weed invasion

66

result in reduced drainage rates,problems with ball and player-surfaceinteractions and may invalidatemanufacturer guarantees. Decompactionof the infill is needed on a regular basisalthough there is a range of methodsused to do so. A rake like attachmentcommonly found on dedicated machine-drawn brushes can be used. Care must betaken to avoid damage to the fibre pilewith this technique.

The correct selection of maintenancematerials is an essential part of pitchmanagement. Choosing the wrong infillmaterials, maintenance machineryand/or implements together with anychemical products for cleaning or weedremoval will reduce the surface workinglife. Acidic selective and non-selectiveherbicides for example can react with thepolymers and cause premature aging ofall pitch constituents.

It is imperative that a full maintenanceguide be asked for when reviewing pitchspecifications. It is the responsibility ofthe manufacturer and supplier to informtheir clients exactly how their productsshould be managed. Any materials notrecommended for use should be avoidedso that warranty coverage will remainintact.

Pitch surroundsmanagement

It is vital that surrounding areas bethought of with regard to maintenanceissues. Fine particle contamination,general litter, vandalism and excesstraffic will all help to degrade theworking life of these surfaces quickly. An

accurate section within the feasibilitystudy should point out all potentialthreats in detail and makerecommendations as to their control.Options such as security fencing, litterbins and surround area cleaning willminimise associated problems. An entryarea with footwear cleaning facilitiesshould be used to intercept debris beforeusers come into contact with the surface.In addition, grass banking, car parkareas and open soils should also becontrolled; preventing dust and seedmigration as much as possible.

Wear management

The ability to spread wear over thesurface area should be regarded a highpriority. Where possible, alternateplaying directions should be enforced toprevent wear damage concentrationsoccurring in goalmouth and centre lines(especially important to non-multisportfacilities). Vehicular traffic, either frommaintenance or exceptional uses, mustbe regulated evenly. Alternating thedirection of travel together with usingmultiple entrances will help reducedamage. In exceptional use situations i.e.temporary car parks, protection in theform of boarding must be used to protectconstruction integrity.

Performance testing and monitoring

Normally, a newly installed artificialsurface is performance tested after onemonth in place. The goal is to measurethe performance characteristics so that

they are benchmarked as close to designspecifications as possible. After thatinsufficient consideration may be givento ongoing performance testing. Onemust assume that together with a naturalreduction in physical structure over time,the playing performance will alsodiminish. Setting initial benchmarks andconducting progressive tests throughoutthe pitch lifetime define maintenanceneeds. Provision should also be made fora monitoring programme so that manyfactors can be assessed related to pitchperformance and care. The STRI canprovide site-monitoring visits wherepitch condition, playing performanceand the effectiveness of maintenanceoperations are measured. A fullmaintenance plan can be produced andfurther visits agreed. This service isespecially important for facility providerswho wish to be protected againstlitigation if an accident occurs.

Resource management

Artificial surfaces are not maintenancefree! Perhaps a little obvious now, butmany of these surfaces have been soldbased on this untrue statement. Alifetime maintenance cost must be drawnat the project planning stage so that theintegrity and playability of the surface ismaintained well into the future. Thecost/benefit ratio of surface ownership isdependent upon longevity, quality andcost of service in these cases. Ideally, thepitch owner should provide for a fullmaintenance programme and theeventual carpet replacement by payinginto a sinking fund from the outset.Typically, the life expectancy of an

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artificial surface is quoted tobe between ten and fifteenyears; although there are noexamples of third generationones getting close to this ageas yet. It is essential thatmaintenance practitionersfollow the exact maintenanceguidelines supplied with theirspecific artificial surface (ifsuch recommendations exist).It also important to keep inregular communication withsuppliers as theirrecommendations have beenknown to change, frequently.In doing so, the warranty ofthe surface in questionremains valid.

Conclusions

The maintenance of thirdgeneration artificial footballpitches is a key factor relatedto their surface playabilitycharacteristics and effectiveworking lifetimes. They arenot maintenance free andalthough they are capable oftaking high amounts of play,their resistance to its negativeeffects are on a diminishingsliding scale. Without theability to physically recoverfrom surface wear, it isimportant to understand thatthe aim of maintenance thenfocuses solely on preservationrather than recuperation; asopposed to natural turf.

www.sweepfast.comArtificial Turf Maintenance Specialist

Artificial Turf Maintenance

U.K. importers & Manufacturers of the Triple Greensweep

U.K. importers of the Cleansweep

Artificial Turf Restoration

Before Restoration

Moss Control also available

For friendly advice or a site visit ring

01675 470770

After Restoration

GORDON MCKILLOP was appointed CEO of the Sports TurfResearch Institute (STRI) in 2000 and for the last six years hasbeen working hard to promote the services of his organisationwhilst at the same time promoting the sports turf industry. Hebegan his career in ADAS as an advisory entomologist andthen moved on to undertake research into wildlife behaviour,ecology and management, ultimately as part of the CentralScience Laboratory (CSL) at York. He has a PhD fromReading University in applied zoology and, more recently,obtained a Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA)from Henley Management College. His days off are spentrelaxing at home or with his children, however it invariablyinvolves playing or watching sport. Gordon is a keen golferwho doesn’t worry about his handicap score these days as long

as he keeps beating his son Douglas (which isnow relatively infrequently). He also

plays table tennis and representedGlasgow schools at badminton in

the distant past, althoughmore recently he won a

veterans’ tournaments inHarrogate. He plays thesesports against both of his sons(Neil and Douglas) and againall that really matters is thathe beats them (which is stillfrequent). As for watching

sport he regularly watchesLeeds Tykes, the rugby union

side that unfortunately this yeargot relegated, with a group of

friends and colleagues fromwork. However, to keep

things in balance,Gordon also

manages tofind time togoshoppingwith histeenagedaughterKirsty that,surprisingly,he findsquiterelaxing!

... or what Pitchcare readers get up to out of office hours

Days OFF!

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1: KNOW YOUR CODE‘Prevention is (particularly)better than cure’, in matters ofdiscipline in the workplace. Itmay sound silly but manypeople find it hard to doprevention because they cannoteven remember where theirorganisation’s Discipline Codeis kept. They can rememberseeing it once, or being toldabout it, but many have notseen it for years and now theyare dreading having to use it(reactively) in a disciplinesituation that is developingfast.

Nowadays most organisationsgive a copy of their DisciplineCode to new employees at theinduction stage or with theircontract of employment. Theywill even require the newemployee to read it from coverto cover and sign a documentsaying s/he has read it and fullyunderstands it. It may seem abit heavy handed to do this ontheir very first day at work butit is an excellent preventionstrategy.

If you work for a small firmand you are not sure whetheryour organisation even has itsown Discipline Code then youmight like to get onto ACAS viatheir website: www.acas.org.uk .This website is one of the bestof its kind in terms of givingboth bosses and staff the advicethey need.

Click on the ‘OurPublications’ link and when thepage appears you will find agreat range of free guides andleaflets that you can downloadand then perhaps use as thebasis of your own Code if youdo not have one.

If you do already have aDiscipline Code you will beaware that the laws that affectdiscipline issues at work,particularly people’s rights, arechanging all the time and youmight wish to use thedownloads to revise your out-of-date code.

2: REMEMBER THEEMPERORArmed with an up-to-dateDiscipline Code you can

familiarise yourself with itscontents and face difficultsituations at work with moreconfidence. It is at this stagewhen it might be worth takinga moment to consider yourpersonal approach.

In their groundbreakingbook ‘The One MinuteManager’ (ISBN: 000-710-7927) Kenneth Blanchard andSpencer Johnson tell the storyof an Emperor and a PrimeMinister who between them rana small country.

To paraphrase the story inmy own words - the Emperor,over time, had grown a littleenvious of the Prime Ministerbecause when the PM wantedthings done, things were donepromptly. When the Emperorwanted things done they weredone … eventually.

Now the Prime Minister wasin charge of the police and thejudiciary and the Emperor hadall the social and ceremonialduties e.g. royal visits, prizegivings and the like and he wasthe PM’s boss

The Emperor announcedone day that he wanted to swapareas of responsibility with thePrime Minister whilst retaininghis status as head of state. Hefigured if he had the PM’spowers people would treat himwith more respect. Perhaps nowwhen he wanted things donethey would get done … pronto.

The Prime Minister was nofool and he readily agreed tothe swap. Within six weeks thePM was the new head of stateand the Emperor had fled thecountry.

Why? Well the people hadalways liked the Emperor andhad always been afraid of thePrime Minister. One day whentheir patience with the PM wasat breaking point he suddenlychanged his ways, startedgiving out prizes and beingnice. They began to think thatperhaps the Prime Ministerhad been a nice guy all along.This good news was short livedbecause it unfortunatelycoincided with the revelationthat the Emperor had changedhis ways as well. The Emperorhad apparently stopped beingnice and was now bossing

people around.Confused but determined

the people staged a coup,chased the Emperor out of thecountry and promptly madethe nice Prime Minister thenew Emperor. End of story.

The moral of the tale is thatit is easier to start out ‘tough’with people in order tomaintain discipline and thenbecome softer, when standardsare maintained. For manypeople it is far harder to startout ‘soft’ and then try to betougher later on if disciplinebreaks down.

3: AGREE THE METHODSIt is vital to have a method orway of working with disciplinein the workplace. It must notbe undiscussable. Sadly manybosses find it hard to raise thetopic and put up with a certainlevel of indiscipline becausethey fear that they will not beable to motivate or replace theperson causing difficulties inthe work team.

The need for a method isparticularly acute if you havequite a cosy relationship withyour staff and you are worriedthat it will be hard to be toughwith them when the occasiondemands. If that is the casehere’s an approach I used tohelp to maintain discipline inmy work team at a time of skillsshortages, i.e. at a time when Icould not afford to lose people.

One day I listened to acolleague bad-mouthing ourboss on the way the boss hadhandled a discipline issue. Mycolleague had been ‘ticked-off ’and to comfort himself (andget some sympathy) he wastelling people how badly hehad been treated (in his view). Ireflected that I would not wantone of my team members tobad-mouth me and possibly de-motivate my whole team aftersuch an incident.

I further reflected on the wayI had been treated when I hadmade mistakes or infringed thedisciplinary code. I had toadmit that I had been treatedvery unprofessionally by mymanagers in the past but that Ihad always kept quiet about

such matters. What I did dothough, almost immediately,was to start looking for anotherjob.

At the time I would be veryangry with my boss and despitebeing pretty good at my workand, in every other respect,happy with the job I was quiteprepared to get a new boss bygetting a new job.

With this is mind I realised Ineeded a way of makingdiscipline discussable. I quicklyscheduled one-to-one privateinterviews with each of mystaff. My question to them wassimple: ‘If you ever make a badmistake or break thedisciplinary code, how do youwant me, as your boss, tohandle it?’

Now the five people in myteam all gave quite differentanswers. One wanted notice ofthe question; one wanted tohave a preliminary discussionabout any serious mistake totake place well away from thepremises, preferably ‘down thepub’. Another wanted a ‘praisesandwich’, i.e. some praise,then some criticism orreprimand followed by morepraise, one person said theywould only ever believecriticism, so I was not to botherwith any praise at all and,finally one said he could take it‘on the chin’ meaning I shouldget on with it and get it overwith.

Following some clarificationand a little more discussion Iagreed a strategy for eachindividual in my team andmoved onto my next questionwhich was: ‘If you ever feelthat, as your boss, I have madea bad mistake or let you down,how do you want to handle it?’My motive in asking thisquestion was to alert them tothe fact that I sometimes had alot of things going on in mymind and I might not evennotice that I had said or donesomething that was, in theirview, unprofessional.

This innocent little questionhad a much bigger impact thanI had imagined with all of theteam wanting notice of it andsome time to think!

These were probably the68

Regular contributor FRANK NEWBERRY explores the evergreenproblem of maintaining discipline in the work place. Getting it justright has always been a challenge for individuals and organisations inboth the public and private sector. In the first of a two part articleFrank considers four prevention strategies.

Top Tips for greatDISCIPLINEAT WORK

EACH issue wecatch up witha leadingturfgrassprofessionaland ask himor her what’sgoing on in ...

Who Are you? Clive NottinghamMD of Lloyds & Co Letchworth

Status? Single

How long have you been workingfor Lloyds? I have been with thecompany for 30 years and wasappointed MD in 1999. Thecompany is one of the oldestmower manufacturers in the UKand has been producing mowerssince 1878. In 2007 we celebratethe 50th year of the production ofthe Leda gang mowers.

What changes have you seen inthe industry in recent years? Ithas definitely become morecompetitive with many othermower manufacturers competingfor business. To survivecompanies have to be dynamicand prepared to diversify to meetcustomers needs.

It is important to retain a goodsolid customer base. This will onlybe achieved if you have a qualityproduct and quality after salesservice. There is a lot of mileagein the saying ‘you get what youpay for’.

And, by the same token, you alsohave to listen to the customersneeds and be prepared to developand produce new products tomeet the demands of the everchanging turf grass industry.

The market place has altered, theworld seems to be gettingsmaller. Many BritishGroundsmen and Greenkeepersare now working abroad, whichhelps as they tend to take withthem their favoured choice ofmachinery. Many British firmsnow see a greater marketingopportunity in Europe in thecoming years.

What do you enjoy about yourjob? Meeting so many interestingpeople, and the challenge ofmeeting the diverse needs ofGroundsmen and Greenkeepers.

Hobbies and interests? Days offare very few, however, I do likegoing to the theatre, cinema and

travelling. The travelling generallycomes with my job, I particularlyenjoy going to the States, such agreat country to visit, with somuch of interest, even in onestate.

Favourite music? I enjoy listeningto all types of music, with bluesand rock music being mypreferred style. In fact I am goingto Twickenham to see the Eaglesin the summer.

My favourite female singer isLinda Ronstad

Favourite Comedians? I enjoywatching Peter Kay and JasperCarrot.

Favourite TV programmes?Factual drama and watchingsport.

Favourite film? I enjoy any goodfilm and recently attended thepremier of the Da Vinci Code

Memorable sporting event? Myjob enables me to see plenty oflive sport; I regularly turn up atTwickenham, Lord's and variousother football and cricket groundson my travels. However, for methe one sporting moment I willcherish was to witness StevenHendry's maximum 147 break atthe World SnookerChampionships at the Crucible inSheffield. The atmosphere waselectric, a truly great sportingmoment for me.

What car do you drive? I currentlydrive a Ford Galaxy, its serves mewell and provides a comfortableride.

What challenges do you face inthe coming years? Setting updealerships that can serve ourneeds in the ever growingEuropean markets. Facing theever-increasing needs to meetenvironmental targets. Reducingwaste and recycling will be highon the agenda in the comingyears along with the on goingH&S legislation regarding noiseand pollution.

LivesREADERS

most important questions Ihad asked theseindividuals. They hadnever been asked eitherquestion before by anyonebut it led to me having ateam of individuals whotook personal ownership oftheir behaviour and inparticular their mistakes.

An example of takingpersonal responsibilityoccurred following aperiod of exemplaryconduct by all my teammembers when I wasalerted to the fact that oneof them had used a fourletter swear-word (the onebeginning with ‘f ’) to agroup of customers at ameeting. In his view hehad been provoked butother people from my teamhad witnessed the incidentand, in notifying me of it,there was consistency intheir stories that he hadover-reacted in a workingenvironment where peoplenever used such language.

When I was asked what Iwas going to do about theproblem I was quick topoint out that I did not liketo talk behind people’sbacks and that I needed tohear the alleged offender’sside of the story.

Now this individual wasthe one who said he couldtake any correction orreprimand straight ‘on thechin’ so I gave it to himstraight. I met himprivately, face to face, andpointed out that, althoughthis was a first offence, itwas a grave one because wewould almost certainly losesubstantial business fromthis customer which infinancial terms could runto 20% of our income inthe short term. Because ofhis level of remorse Iissued only an informalreprimand. He volunteeredto apologise in person butthat I would need to bepresent to indicate howimportant the customerwas to our organisation.This duly happened andwe got back on speakingterms with the customer.

We then reviewed whathad been done. Hisfeedback to me was that hewould like to review the ‘onthe chin’ method ofdealing with poorperformance and that hewould welcome moresupport at other times aswell.

From this moment onthis individual’s careerwent from strength tostrength. His work over thenext few years receivedmany commendations andhis skills were mentionedby people at the highestlevel in the organisation.He later went on to have asuccessful career as afreelance consultant.

4:ANTICIPATEPROBLEMSIt is also vital, as far aspossible, to anticipatediscipline problems so thatthey can either beprevented altogether, or atleast dealt with effectivelywhen they occur. The latteris easier to do and witheither we can involveeveryone in theanticipation process.

Anticipation is relativelystraightforward with themost common disciplineproblems because mostteams or organisationshave a history, almost atradition, of repetitivediscipline problems.

For example, mostorganisations are likely tohave occasional (or regular)punctuality problems withyounger staff failing tomeet early start times. Wecan anticipate and reducethe problem by checkingout their preparedness andtheir tardiness potential indepth at the recruitmentinterview and then again atthe induction interview.The organisation’s policieson punctuality (fines, earlydisciplinary action etc.) canalso be outlined (and madediscussable) at theinduction interview.

The same approach willwork if your organisationhas a history of one ormore people taking moresick days off than is theindustry norm. We cananticipate and reduce theproblem by checking outtheir previous absences attheir school or college orwith past employers.

Their ability to meet ourexpectations can be probedin depth at the recruitmentinterview and promisesshould be sought andmade in a business-like andprofessional manner. Theirworking hours, other termsand conditions, and theorganisation’s policies onabsenteeism (followthrough, the involvementof health professionals,rewards or earlydisciplinary action etc) canalso be outlined at theinduction interview.

So, until part two of thispiece when we move from‘preventing’ to ‘takingcorrective action’ at work,good luck with yourdisciplinary problems andremember to make time toanticipate problems and befully prepared with an up-to-date disciplinary code.

Trainer and Conference SpeakerFrank Newberry has been invitedto include ‘Discipline at Work’ onthe next course he runs forPitchcare later in the year. Datesand venues will be announcedshortly. In the meantime you cancontact Frank through Pitchcare orvia his personal websitewww.franknewberry.com

PHILIP DIXONSPORTSTURF DRAINAGE

Golf Course • SportsfieldDrainage • Construction • Renovation

Sand Slitting • Gravel BandingBLEC Groundbreaker • Sand Master

Vertidraining • OverseedingTop Dressing • Spraying

Tel: 01772 877289Fax: 01772 877479

Preston, Lancswww.philipdixoncontractor.co.uk

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www.pitchcare.com

ClassifiedsTo advertise in the classified section of Pitchcare contact

Peter Britton on 01747 855335 email: peter@pitchcare.com

AERATION

DRAINAGE

DRAINAGE GOLF COURSE FURNITURE

Miles Drainage LimitedQuality Land Drainage Systems for SportsPitches, Golf Courses and other Amenity

Areas•Advice, design and installation•Piped systems •Sand Slitting

•Gravel BandingTel: 01359 259424 Fax: 01359 258073

Web: www.milesdrainage.co.ukEmail: trenchers@milesdrainage.co.uk

Sportsturf Drainage Specialists

Piped Drainage SystemsSand Slitting • VertidrainingTopdressing • Overseeding

Design • Installation • Maintenance

Appley Bridge, Wigan, Lancashire WN6 9DT

t: 01257 255321f: 01257 255327

e: office@duncanrosslanddrainage.co.uk

w: www.duncanrosslanddrainage.co.uk

Trimax PegasusS2Tractor not included ...

... but everything youneed for years of

superb mowing is!

Tel: 01933 652235info@trimaxmowers.co.uk

www.trimaxmowers.com

Golf Tee Signs.co.uk

The Natural Choice

GROUNDSMANAERATORS

Hollow, solid and micro tine withtractor or pedestrian aerators

from GroundsmanHIRE AND SALES

Contact Dave on 01380 828337Mobile: 07971 843802

email: sales@synergyproducts.ltd.ukwww.synergyproducts.ltd.uk

A self-propelled, laser-guided, reel-typemower capable of creating a multitude of geometric patterns on turf . . . without an operator being present.

Park Farm,Stancombe,DursleyGloucestershireGL11 6AT.

Tel: 01453 544135www.mcmurtryltd.co.uk

SPEEDCUTCONTRACTORS LTD

SPORTSTURFConstruction

DrainageRenovation

SandslittingContact Kevin Smith

OXFORD 01865 331479

Get more for your money WITH

HYDROJECT AERATIONGROUNDBREAKER DECOMPACTIONGOLF COURSE & BOWLING GREEN

RENOVATION & MAINTENANCEPEDESTRIAN & TRACTOR EQUIPMENT

SPECIALIST EQUIPMENT HIRETEL: 01952 511000

www.oakleysgroundcare.comE.mail phil@oakleysgroundcare.co.uk

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GRASS CUTTING MACHINERY

J&R ALKERSPORTSGROUND CONSTRUCTION LTD

Specialists in full construction,drainage, sand slitting, verti-draining, top dressing.

Tel/Fax: 01695 622983Mobile: 07974 462465

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3641

A.F.T. TRENCHERS LTD16/17 Addison Road, Chilton Industrial Estate,

Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2YWTel: 01787 311811 Fax: 01787 310888

E-mail: info@trenchers.co.uk • www.trenchers.co.uk

COST EFFECTIVE TRENCHINGWITH AFT 45

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CYLINDER GRINDERS

CYLINDER GRINDERS

F.T. MACHINESNEW - USED - RECONDITIONEDMOWER SHARPENING MACHINES

SPARES - GRINDING WHEELSianfearftm@aol.com

07774 258052www.foleyunited.comwww.nearytec.com

Tel: 01207 270 316email: admin@huntergrinders.com

www.huntergrinders.com

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ClassifiedsTo advertise in the classified section of Pitchcare contact

Peter Britton on 01747 855335 email: peter@pitchcare.com

TYM tractors for Hire

23-70hp all fitted with turftyres. Competitive rates

for long term or contract hire

Used CharterhouseVerti-drains

for sale1.5m greens machines,

2m and 2.4 fairwaymachines

Greens aeration withcore collection

Fairway aeration work withspecial winter rates.

Greens dressing, seeding andgroundbreaker hire

ProvidingTURF-CARE CONTRACTINGTURF-CARE EQUIPMENT SALESTURF-CARE PRODUCTS & LOAMS

Central Area 01283 704664South East 01895 834411

For more details contact Julian on 07774 746083or email for pictures - jsimpson@boughton-loam.co.uk

Boughton TurfManagementPart of Boughton Loam Limited

SOIL SCREENERS

OVERSEEDINGIRRIGATION

MACHINERY SALES & HIRE

Golf Course Irrigation Controllers & Decoders Programme Testers

Lightning protection modulesUser Friendly Controllers

Comprehensive Field Wiring Kits The world’s widest range of replacement

decodersNEW - Golf Course Mapping

Tel: 01269 832325info@tonick.co.uk • www.tonick.co.uk

You can respond to advertising in this issue

by logging on to www.pitchcare.com/re

Clicking on to the relevant response number

will take you direct to the advertisers website

Or emailpeter@pitchcare.com

SOIL SCREENERSProduce high quality topsoil from

your own recycled materialsHIRE AND SALES

Contact Dave on 01380 828337Mobile: 07971 843802

email: sales@synergyproducts.ltd.ukwww.synergyproducts.ltd.uk

NEED TO OVERSEED?

Moore Uni-Drill is the provenmachine for accurate seed place-ment on flat or undulating areas

Contact Dave on 01380 828337Mobile: 07971 843802

email: sales@synergyproducts.ltd.ukwww.synergyproducts.ltd.uk

NOW IN OVER 2000 GOLF COURSES

AGRIPOWER

TOP DRESSINGOVER SEEDINGDE-COMPACTIONVERTIDRAININGGROUND BREAKINGLANDSCAPING

SPECIALISTS IN ALL ASPECTS OFSPORTSTURF CONSTRUCTIONDRAINAGE & MAINTENANCE

TEL: 01494 866776FAX: 01494 866779

www.agripower.co.uk

Lane Ends Cottage, Highfield Gate Lane, Balderstone, Blackburn BB2 7LJ

You have the grass, we have the machine

Sales & hire of used commercial mowers

Northwest main dealer forBenye compact tractors

We stock all types ofgrass cutting equipmentfrom 4ft to 50ft cut

www.stuarttaylors.co.uk

tel: 01254 813175 mobile: 07810 650007

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Call Lely: 01480 226858 or email: toro.info@lely.co.uk

www.toro.comwww.toro.com

Call Lely: 01480 226858 or email: toro.info@lely.co.uk

IrrigationIrrigation

NO NEED TOSPLASH OUTNO NEED TOSPLASH OUT

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SEED SUPPLIERS

Sportsground Mixtures • Next day delivery• Technical advice

• STILL in 25kg bagsTel: 01522 868714 Fax: 01522 868095

seeds@bshlincoln.co.ukwww.britishseedhouses.com

Possibly the largest stockist ofamenity grass and wild flowers

seed in northern England

Hurrells Specialist Seeds, Beverley RoadCranswick Driffield East Yorkshire YO25 9PF

Tel: 01377 271400 Fax: 01377 271500

Email: nick@hurrells.fsbusiness.co.uk

www.hmseeds.co.uk

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At BENSON we have long understood the problems of Stress inplants and have concentrated upon the effects and alleviation.

Half a century of development and understanding of plant hormoneproduction has resulted in the manufacture of specialised premiumproducts facilitating healthy root growth, disease resistance andmost importantly, protection against Stress.

GOT A PROBLEM? Contact Paul Benson on 07733 233333email: paul@bensonplantnutrients.com www.bensonplantnutrients.com

You can buy our products on-line at www.pitchcare.com

BENSON PLANT NUTRIENTSBENSON PLANT NUTRIENTS

Consolidate

Consolidate Plus

Renascent

Strength against StressStrength against StressStrength against Stress

PLANT NUTRIENTS

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SILICA SANDS

Get more for your money WITH

SPORTS TURF RENOVATION & CONSTRUCTION

EXPERT ADVICE &AGRONOMY SERVICES

FINE TURF MAINTENANCE WORKSPECIALIST EQUIPMENT HIRE

TEL: 01952 511000www.oakleysgroundcare.com

E.mail phil@oakleysgroundcare.co.uk

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ClassifiedsTo advertise in the classified section of Pitchcare contact

Peter Britton on 01747 855335 email: peter@pitchcare.com

Vertidraining, Hollow Coring, Overseeding, Draining, Gravel Banding, Field Top Maker, Deep Scarifying &

all types of Sports Turf Maintenance

Mobile: 07860 259692 Tel: 01284 735241Fax 01284 735105

Email: peter@buryturfcare.com www.buryturfcare.com

SPECIALIST SPORTSTURF CONSTRUCTION& DRAINAGE CONTRACTORS

• Gravel Banding • Sand Slitting• Top Dressing • Renovation • Irrigation

Unit 7, Brailes Industrial Estate, Winderton Lane, Lower BrailesBanbury, Oxfordshire OX15 5JW

Tel: 01608 685800 Fax: 01608 685801email: jim@dwclarkdrainageltd.co.uk Web: www.dwclarkdrainageltd.co.uk

D W ClarkDRAINAGE LTD

SPORTS TURF CONTRACTORS

SPORTS TURF CONTRACTORSSPORTS TURF CONTRACTORSROLLERS

ROLLERSNEW AND USED

Tel: 01822 832608 www.poweroll.com

POWEROLL

CH GROUNDSMAINTENANCE LTD

CHESHAM, BUCKSTel: 01494 758208

www.chgrounds.come-mail: info@chgrounds.com

ConstructionRenovation

Verti-DrainingSanding

Seeding & SprayingKoro Field Topmaker

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Avonmore Associates

sportsfield construction

25 year of experience in bowling greens, fine turf

management, pitch design,sportsfield construction

and irrigation

Tel: 01789 293439email: info@avonmore-associates.co.uk

www.avonmore-associates.co.uk

D CRANESPORTSTURF

EST. 1984

CONSTRUCTIONGolf Courses and Sports Fields

DRAINAGESand Slitting, Gravel Banding, Piped Drainage

RENOVATIONVerti Draining, Scarifying, Hollow Coring,

Koro Top Dressing, Overseeding, Sand Spreading

SPRAYINGFungicide, Pesticide, Herbicide

For further details & consultation contact07860 458822 or 07921 29098569

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SPARE PARTS

SPARE PARTS

for turf maintenance machinery

Tel: (0044) 0114 251 3344 Email: sales@tines.co.uk

Fax: (0044) 0114 251 3000

www.tines.co.uk

INTERNATIONAL LTD

Tines

THE UK’s PREMIER SUPPLIER FOR ALL YOUR GOLF AND TURF

MACHINERY SPARES

SlittersScarifiers

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nology...

ades, brushctions and grease discount prices.

VERTI-DRAINWEIDENMANNOHN DEEREYANHATCHAWAYOROll aerators catered for2006 Tines polished

d Cross Tines machinefor a smoother,

aner operation

0800 083 02160800 083 0216 Call now for a NEW catalogue66

Why not visit our on-line classifieds at

www.pitchcare.com •

Or visit the Pitchcare Shop for great savings on a

host of quality products

J&R ALKERSPORTSGROUND CONSTRUCTION LTD

Specialists in full construction,drainage, sand slitting, verti-draining, top dressing.

Tel/Fax: 01695 622983Mobile: 07974 462465

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To subscribe to pitchcare magazinelog on to www.pitchcare.comor telephone01902 824392

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ClassifiedsTo advertise in the classified section of Pitchcare contact

Peter Britton on 01747 855335 email: peter@pitchcare.com

Sportsturf Contractors• Construction• Drainage• Renovation

Oasby Mill, Oasby, Grantham, Lincs NG32 3AQ

Tel: 01529 455757 Fax: 01529 455775

email: steve@stevenpask.co.uk

SPORTSFIELD CONSTRUCTION,FENCING, DRAINAGE AND

LANDSCAPINGOur extensive experience over a wide

range of contracts ensures that we can offer proven solutions for

almost all situations.

01773 872362 01773 874763

info@pugh-lewis.co.uk

01773 872362 01773 874763

info@pugh-lewis.co.uk

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TOP DRESSING

TURF SUPPLIERS

“For landscaping, for sports, for amenity ...”

Tel: 01724 855000Fax: 01724 282777

email: andyfraser@countyturf.co.ukwww.countyturf.co.uk

Tel: 01724 855000Fax: 01724 282777

email: andyfraser@countyturf.co.ukwww.countyturf.co.uk

Growers of natural & rootzone sports turfusing the very best STRI cultivarsTop quality dressings

Kaloam & Ongar Loam • FertilisersSpecialist grass seeds, machinery & tools

Contact: Alan Ford - Tel:0870 242 1090Alan.ford@monrogoundrey.co.ukwww.monrogoundrey.co.uk

Contact: Philip Furner - Tel:01277 890246sales@binderloams.co.uk

www.binderloams.co.uk

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The tts culture is based on its independence.

tts embodies a new generation of turf consultants combining experiencedand practical groundsmen with in-depth technical knowledge.

For more information on how tts can improve your playing surfaces andcontribute effective resource management to your organisation, don’thesitate to call.

Total Turf SolutionsOne resource for all your turf care needs

Telephone: 01604 750555 Mobile: 07973 885 775Website: www.totalturfsolutions.co.uk email: enquiry@totalturfsolutions.co.uk

SPORTS TURF CONTRACTORS SPORTS TURF CONSULTANTS

Sports TurfConsultancyAssociates Ltd

A multidisciplinary Turf Consultancy Servicefor all Golf and Sports Clubs and Turf Managers

www.stca-ltd.comDirector: George Attwood-Harris Phone: 01782 515679Mobile: 07712 779473

Email: enquiries@stca-ltd.com

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FineturfDedicated to Growing

Quality SportsturfCustom Grown Root Zone Turf

Install ‘n’ Playball Turf Tiles

Tel: 01400 250796Fax: 01400 251606www.fineturf.net

The Fastest Growing Name in Turf

Growers of Quality Turf Full Range AvailableNationwide Delivery

Call for Free Brochure

tel: 01427 890797fax: 01427 891785

www.proturf.co.ukemail: info@proturf.co.uk

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WORTH DRAINING

25 years experience in sports turf aeration

Verti draining Blec Groundbreaker

Overseeding - Sanding Top DressingHollow Coring

Tel/Fax 01476 550266Mobile: 07855 431119/20email: bloodworth@onetel.comwww.worth-ddraining.com

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www.pitchcare.com

www.pitchcare.com

Consultancy, Management & Renovationof Sports Surfaces

Cricket & Bowling Green Renovation Specialist

Graden Linear AeratorWinter Pitch packagesMidlands & North Wales

Mobile: 07779 333010Tel: 01889 567449

www.vitalturfmanagement.co.ukEmail: lee@vitalturfmanagement.co.uk

SWEEPERS

We offer the largest and most comprehensive range of pedestrian hydraulic propelled equipment and sweeping attachments

SALES • SERVICE • PARTS

KERSTEN SWEEPERS

Kersten (UK) Ltd. Reading RG7 3AH

Tel 0118 9834337Fax 0118 9834512info@kersten-machines.com

www.kersten-machines.com

FTS

Unit 5, Beenham Industrial EstateReading, Berkshire RG7 5PP

Tel: 0118 9714420Mob: 07768 696291Fax: 0118 9714522

www.fts-sportsturf.co.uk

Sportsground & AmenityContractors

Cricket PitchSpecialists

FineturfSPECIALISTS IN CONSTRUCTION

AND RENOVATION OF SPORTSTURF SURFACES

Tel: 01400 250796Fax: 01400 251606www.fineturf.net

The Fastest Growing Name in Turf

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TURF SUPPLIERS

Contact: Sales on Tel: 01904 448675Fax: 01904 448713

Web: www.turf.co.uk

We are

specialist turf

growers who go to

great LENGTHS

to please our

customers ...

GROWERS OFQUALITY TURF

Telephone:01842 828266

Website:www.qlawns.co.uk

Email:sales@qlawns.co.uk

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TREE CARE

WEED CONTROL

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NO MORE DOWNTIME - 100% RECYCLABLEWHEELBARROWS TO GOLFCARS

PSI RATED TYRES KIND TO YOUR TURFCALL 01564 824343

FOR PRICE AND TYRE AVAILABILITYWWW.HANCOX.CO.UK

TYRES

USED MACHINERY

Always a huge selection of used machinery available

•Commercial MowersPedestrian Mowers

TractorsUtility Vehicles

Attachments•

Machines wanted•

Tel: 07917 434345 Fax: 02392 585724

sales@pilimited.co.ukwww.pilimited.co.uk

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ClassifiedsTo advertise in the classified section of Pitchcare contact

Peter Britton on 01747 855335 email: peter@pitchcare.com

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PitchcareMagazine

SUBSCRIBENOW!You can have each andevery copy of Pitchcare -The Magazine delivereddirect to your door for just£30 a year (Overseas£50).The independent, comprehensive, bi-monthly magazine foreveryone involved in working with turf. Go to www.pitchcare.comto subscribe on-lline ortelephone 01902824392 fo further details

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Home of the Spraying Mantis

One of the leadingcontract sprayingorganisations in theProfessional SportsTurf Industry

Golf courses, racecourses, sportsclubs, local authorities, football andrugby clubs, schools and universities

Email: spraying@weedfree.co.ukFree Call 0800 068 08 78

www.weedfree.co.uk

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We can send out individual copies of Pitchcare -The Magazine on request for just £5.95 each,this includes p&p. Here is a brief summary ofsome of the main items in each issue:-

Issue 1 - Preparing Test wickets for theAshes; Headingley Stadium; St Andrews host-ing the Open; Cheltenham croquet Club;Grass seed selection; Leicester racecourse;Soil fundamentals and Soil nutrients;Swansea's new stadium; Warton cricket club.

Issue 2 - Magnificent Madejskistadium; Where’s golf going?; Bowls Autumnrenovation; Organising the workshop;Cowdray Park polo club; The potential ofoverseeding; Oakham School; ReturfingJuventus; Wetting agents; Fescue on golfgreens; Woodbury Park.

Issue 3 - Funding for Sports clubs; Review ofthe robot mowers; Leatherjackets; Watermanagement; St Anne’s cricket club;Autumn maitenance of artificial surfaces;Cultivation techniques; Bournemouth’s bowling greens; the Millennium's modularsystem; Aeration.

Issue 4 - Coventry’s Ricoh Arena; Wastewater and golf; Tain golf club; Frozen surfaces; Evapotranspiration explained;Reaseheath College; Carne Links golfcourse; Calculating the distribution uniformi-ty of irrigated areas; Forest Green Rovers;Grass seed mixtures for golf courses.

Issue 5 - Aintree preparing for the GrandNational; Potato patch pitches; TelstraDome’s drop in wickets; Pesticides;Wolverhampton racecourse; ShrewsburySports Village; Kings Norton golf course;Dryject; England's playing fields; Nematodes;Walter Woods. *Issue Sold Out*.

Issue 6 - Which tractor report; Fast greens;Drought; Loams testing at Tonbridge; Jerseymaintenance; Golf in the Hebrides; Municipalmaestros at Heaton Park; WellingtonCollege; Merits of deep aeration;Sunderland’s Stadium of Light; Monitoringthe health of your turf.

REMEMBER, BY SUBSCRIBING TO THE MAGAZINE, YOUHELP US TO PROVIDE PITCHCARE ONLINE FOR FREE.SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? IF YOU LIKE THEWEBSITE, BUY THE MAGAZINE

The end is nigh! Just two pages to go and you will have read thelatest Pitchcare magazine from cover to cover.We hope you enjoyed its informative content.Back issues are available by emailingmail@pitchcare.com or tel: 01902 824392

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The not so serious side of the industry

You CANNOT be serious!

Class of ’66I’M a bit of a fan of the beeb’s Top Gear, and the somewhatbigoted Mr. Clarkson. Not that I could afford any of the carsthey test drive, perhaps with the exception of a Kia Picanto!One of my favourite quotes from JC (spooky) is “Annoyingramblers should be a national sport”.

So I was (sadly) sat in bed the other night reading the latestTop Gear magazine when I stumbled upon the list of Editors,contributors and production staff that put the magazinetogether. Trust me it’s bigger than the cast of the Lord of theRings trilogy - all of them put together! So, just so you know,here’s Pitchcare magazine’s team sheet.

Editor Laurence GaleDeputy Editor Laurence Gale

Assistant Editor Laurence GaleConsultant Editor Laurence Gale

Staff Writer Laurence GaleChief Sub Editor Laurence Gale

Assistant Chief Sub Editor Laurence GaleAce Photographer Laurence Gale

Creative Director Peter BrittonArt Director Peter Britton

Special Projects Art Director Peter BrittonArt Assistant Peter Britton

Production Manager Peter BrittonAssistant Production Manager Peter BrittonDisplay Advertising Manager Peter Britton

Classified Advertising Manager Peter BrittonPrint Production Controller Peter Britton

Operations Director John RichardsAssistant Operations Director John Richards

Finance Manager John RichardsAssistant Finance Manager John Richards

Circulations Director John RichardsDatabase Manager John Richards

General Dog’s Body John Richards

Managing Director Dave SaltmanAssistant to the MD Dave Saltman

Publishing Editor Dave SaltmanAssistant Publishing Editor Dave Saltman

International Director Dave SaltmanBright Ideas Dave Saltman

Even more Bright Ideas Dave SaltmanContributing Editor Dave Saltman

You’ll gather from the above that we are a small team! It’s notmeant as a critiscism to the Top Gear team; it’s a fine publicationbut I reckon there must be a lot of ‘Solitaire’ played during quietperiods.

Of course we’ve not mentioned Ellie Tait (Marketing), AlastairBattrick (Web Monkey - but he looks after the website), DanHughes (Shop) or Sharon Taylor (Accounts) but I think you getthe picture!

Top Gear v Pitchcare

GOOD to see that 1966World Cup legendsNobby Stiles, GordonBanks and Alan Ball arestill showing their classby reading theindustry’s favouritemagazine, Pitchcare.Err, Nobby, should havegone to Specsavers!

Also spotted enjoyinga bit of PC is formerIndian wicketkeepingmaestro and Sky TVcommentator, FarokhEngineer.

If ever a picture summed up the weather thisspring, this is it... I think it’s about to rain!

Another bumper month ...

JULY

26th June to 9th July - Wimbledon, The AllEngland Tennis Club (www.wimbledon.org)5th - Reaseheath Sportsturf MachineryShow (www.reaseheath.ac.uk)9th - FIFA World Cup Final, Berlin(www.fifaworldcup.com)13th to 17th - England v Pakistan - 1stnpower Test, Lord's (www.cricketworld.com)20th to 23rd - The Open Championship,Hoylake (www.royal-liverpool-golf.com)27th to 31st - England v Pakistan, 2ndnpower Test, Old Trafford(www.cricketworld.com)AUGUST

4th to 8th - England v Pakistan - 3rdnpower Test, Headingley(www.cricketworld.com)17th to 21st - England v Pakistan - 4thnpower Test, The Oval(www.cricketworld.com)26th - C&G Trophy Final, Lords(www.lords.org/fixtures/matches)28th - England v Pakistan, Twenty20International, Bristol(www.gloscricket.co.uk)SEPTEMBER

5th to 7th - IOG SALTEX, Windsor(www.iogsaltex.co.uk)17th to 19th - GLEE, NEC Birmingham(www.gleebirmingham.com)22nd to 24th - Ryder Cup, Kildare Golf &Country Club, Ireland(www.europeantour.com)29th Sept to 1st Oct - Fairway, Munich(www.fairway.de)To add your event to Forward Thinking please emaildetails to ellie@pitchcare.com and don’t forget that youcan add it to Pitchcare’s online calendar yourself! Simplylog on to www.pitchcare.com, select the yellow ‘calendar’button on the left hand side of the screen and click on“Add event’ at the top of the page.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

We are now faced with bright sunny drying winds.Many groundsmen will be hopping for

some warmer sunnier weather.I’ve got 25 baseball caps, one forevery day of the week.Also adder snakes are in abundance.Using an Hand help granularapplicator.

I think we could catch a largemackerel if we play our cards

right.

ForwardTHINKING

RECENTLY retired England Ladiescricket captain, Clare Connor, hasbecome the first woman to play for theAll Star Lashings team.

Lashings, whose players includeRichie Richardson, Chris Cairns,Jimmy Adams, Courtney Walsh, JontyRhodes and Aravinda Da Silva, playcrowd drawing exhibition gamesagainst club sides in the UK to helpraise funds for the clubs.

Clare, who retired after leading herteam to an Ashes win said that she wasabout to return to teaching when shegot the call from Lashings Chairman,David Folb, to join the team. “Whenyou see international stars runningonto the pitch, the last thing youexpect to see is a woman runningalongside them” said Clare. “But if theattention in turn leads to raisinggreater awareness about women’scricket, and to conversations where Ican discuss opportunities for girlswithin the game, then fantastic, DavidFolb has been visionary for the profileof the women’s game.”

“ I now have the incredible chanceto play alongside some of internationalcricket’s greats.”

“So far, I have taken a couple ofwickets at each match. The predictablebanter of ‘getting out to a girl’ as theoutgoing batsman trudges back to thepavilion, head-down, has made mechuckle.”

“It’s going to be the most wonderfulsummer and I thank David for theopportunity.”

“As for the changing rooms... I willleave that to your imaginations. Butlet’s just say, it’s fun playing with theboys!”

www.lashings.co.uk to find out whereLashings XI are playing this summer.

DON’T suffer this on my home coursein North Dorset. We get the occasionaldeer running across the fairway, abadger rooting around at dusk, andbuzzards circling around overhead (noreferences to my game being deadplease!).

These three fellah’s were walking upto their balls on a course in NorthAmerica when a fully grown malegrizzly bear thundered out of therough straight towards them. Notsurprisingly, they hot-footed away fromthe rampaging animal. It’s notrecorded whether they returned totheir balls but my guess is that theyheaded straight for the 19th hole for afew shots of bourbon!

IT’S been another bumper month in Loz’s brain with his furious fingers gettingahead of the thought process - on too many occasions for our liking. But, onceagain, we can’t keep these gems to ourselves so here, as we affectionately call them,are the latest batch of Laurencisms. Eat your heart out David Coleman.

“

”

Lashings of goodfortune for Clare