Having returned from a busy BTME and evaluated the leads I made at the show, I have now several visits planned for the upcoming months.

I caught up with Ian Forshaw HG at Wigan FC; Gary Barwell at Edgbaston CCC; David Laurence, Edgebaston Priory Tennis centre; Kim Blake, HG at Fulford Heath GC; Iain Courage, Fleet Linemakers and Matt Lewis, Charlies Ground Care, Welshpool.  I am also planning to visit Simon Hutton at Fine Turf along with catching up with Chris Roberts at Sutton Coldfied GC. 

So, some interesting times ahead. As for other relevant information gleaned from the show, I picked up a copy of this year’s Turfgrass Seed Booklet 2026 - an invaluable guide to the performance of grass seed varieties. 

The development of grass varieties for amenity uses is a long-term, costly and sophisticated business. Plant breeding (crossing, selecting and conducting trials) typically takes a decade or more, before varieties are ready for release into Governmental registration and industry performance trials. 

The purpose of Turfgrass Seed is to report comprehensive results of available varieties in trials designed to test suitability for:

• Use in winter sports pitches, such as football and rugby fields, and municipal recreation areas (Sports Uses Trials).
• Use in lawns, summer sports pitches, tennis courts, turf and general landscaping (Lawns Landscaping, Summer Sports and Turf Trials).
• Use in the intensive management seen on golf and bowling greens (Greens, Close Mown Trials).

Turfgrass Seed presents the best available interpretation of correctly designed, accurately analysed and independently supervised trials to professional users of high-quality amenity grass cultivars.

With spring renovations soon upon us, the use of this booklet along with the use of DLF’s The Grass Booklet (A guide to Amenity Species, diseases and pests) will be a valuable resource for turf professionals. A copy of the booklet can be sourced by contacting DLF Turf Grasses For Sports And Landscapes.

Regarding spring renovations, February is a good time to start, plan and prepare to get your materials and products ordered in time. The widow of opportunity is often very short, in respect to the ideal weather conditions and ambient soil and air temperatures. 

We have experienced plenty of rain during this winter, with many lawns and sports fields becoming saturated and waterlogged. This spell of wet weather may also curtail the start of essential pitch preparations for many cricket clubs. 

It is now a case of being patient and waiting for the wet ground conditions to dry up. We usually do get some easterly drying winds in March, coupled with sunny spring days. 

The combination of the two will certainly help to enable turf professionals to get on with their spring renovations.  

 
 
The following activities are generally implemented during a spring renovation programme and are usually carried out in the following order:

1. Mowing the sward, preparing surfaces for renovation.
2. Weed & moss treatment
3. Scarification; removal of unwanted debris.
4. Aeration; decompaction of soil, improving air and gas exchange in soil.
5. Top dressing; restores levels and improves surface drainage.
6. Overseeding; restores grass populations.
7. Fertilising; provides nutrients for grass growth.
8. Brushing to incorporate dressings and to help the grass stand back up.
9. Watering / irrigation.
10. Weed control may be dealt with prior to the renovation. Any accumulated moss growth should be dealt with by applying an approved moss killing chemical, or lawn sand. Wait for it to die, then remove by scarification.

We now have a plethora of renovation machinery at our disposal, in the form of tractors, aerators, scarifiers and top dressers, all of which improve the efficiency of carrying out this work. 

Lawn and sports turf renovations are often a time consuming and expensive exercise. Successful renovation requires detailed planning and programming, to ensure the right materials and equipment are available and working throughout the renovation process.

Finally, I am also a judge for Green Flag and as such I would just like to mention that The Green Flag Award judging process is now open for parks and green spaces.

Nominations for the Green Flag Award's International Best of the Best awards are currently open, and the judging process takes place throughout the spring and early summer. Sites are evaluated based on eight key criteria, and the winners are announced in July. If you are interested in applying, you can find more information on the Green Flag Award website. The Green Flag Award - Green Flag Award