WINTER WORKS IN FULL SWING

WINTER WORKS IN FULL SWING
A hectic festive and new year period
by TurfPro Editor, Laurence Gale MSC, MBPR

Firstly, what can I say…?

My article last week, A Very Special Industry, generated a lot of interest, with many people congratulating me on my career and achievements.

The idea behind writing the piece was to stimulate some debate on what we need to do to encourage the next generation of industry professionals. As I have said on many occasions, this industry is diverse and challenging, with so many skillsets required and opportunities to gain from working in any sector of our field.

On the back of this article, I have asked several of my colleagues and associates to post an article about their career in this industry, which hopefully will portray the vast range of experiences and opportunities on offer.

Starting today and continuing over the coming weeks and months we will be featuring regular TurfPro Files, with many of our well known ambassadors taking part.

Return to some normality?

As for other news, with Covid-19 vaccines now being administered, we will hopefully in the new year see more restrictions removed and a return to some sort of normality.

Professional groundstaff at most professional football clubs will no doubt be very busy during the Christmas and New Year period with a bundle of fixtures to get through, coupled with having to work through challenging weather fronts. Having read Mark Hunt’s (Headland Amenity) recent weekly weather blog he states that we may be in for another Christmas with relative mild temperatures

I always enjoy reading Mark’s weather reports. They are informative and well worth logging on to each week.

As for golf courses, their winter works programmes are in full swing, with lots of jobs being completed as seen on various media platforms. Andy Wood at Enville GC has been particularly busy especially now he has his full complement of staff back working and last week they were undertaking some extensive woodland management on the Lodge Course between the 4th & 12th holes.

I am hoping many golf courses will also be taking up the opportunity to plant more trees. Some years ago I was at Gay Hill Golf Course near Birmingham and witnessed the planting of some very large trees by the then head greenkeeper, Paul Woodham, who now works for the STRI.

He wanted to move some large specimen trees from around his course and hired in a large tree spade to undertake the work. I have used these in the past to plant some large oaks at one of the MOD bases I worked on. If you want an instant affect, they are extremely useful for planting large trees. Not a cheap exercise by any means, especially if you must buy in the trees, however most golf courses have plenty of their own they could move to improve the aesthetics of the course.

One of the other most important works to be completed on the golf course is the management of ponds and ditches. It is important to keep them clean and free flowing to prevent flooding of the course. However, you must weigh up the work required and be mindful of not destroying any important wildlife habitats.

In recent years we have seen many greenkeepers installing bird and bat boxes to help increase wildlife populations. Creating wildlife corridors within the boundaries of the course are also increasingly important with many clubs now buying into providing wild flower or long grass polices to increase biodiversity. This has being going on for a number of years especially under the stewardship of Bob Taylor of the STRI. Bob has been instrumental in setting up many successful schemes up and down the country.

Updating Events

And finally, this week I just want to remind people of the popular Amenity Forum Updatin Events that are usually run at the start of the new year.
These normally take place at venues across the UK and have been very well received. Given the current restrictions, opportunity to run these in the traditional way has been lost but the Forum are going ahead with them online.

The format will be very similar to normal, with the programme starting at 10.15 and concluding by 12.30pm. There will be opportunity for questions and all the current issues will be covered. 2021 sees the UK fully depart from the EEU bringing with its new regulations on plant protection products.

The UK is also issuing a new national action plan relating to amenity management in 2021. Just these two items present challenges and opportunities.

The events also give opportunity to catch up on new developments and innovations and what is required to meet the Amenity Standard, set to become a requirement in future.

Whilst the content of each event will be broadly the same, each will have a particular nation focus. The dates are given below, and each event is free to attend but pre-registration is required. If you would like to register or receive further information, contact admin@amenityforum.net Full programmes for each event will be available early in 2021.

Professor John Moverley OBE, Independent Chairman of the Forum, said, "As I often say, what happens in amenity management impacts upon every UK citizen every day seeking to provide safe and healthy spaces fit for purpose. The importance of this has never been more apparent in the last year. Our Updating events are always popular and relevant, but this year is set to be more than ever. There is much change around and how we address this will be vital."