When is the first day of spring? In 2021, the March equinox happens on Saturday March 20, so that date signifies the official start of the season. The first day of spring is determined by the vernal equinox, which is when the sun crosses over plane of the earth's equator, making night and day approximately equal lengths all over the world. Once the day of the equinox passes, both of Earth's hemispheres get an equal amount of sunlight.

We also associate spring with the period when we start seeing the first splash of colour and growth in our parks and gardens. Usually seen with swathes of snowdrops, crocus, daffodils, and spring flowering shrubs such as Viburnum Tinus, Mahonia and Forsythia. 

However, the extent of this spring floral display is often determined and influenced by the preceding weather fronts during January and February.  We are already being hit with a lot of wet and cold weather as mentioned in Mark Hunt’s Weather Blog and there are some further worries of flooding resulting from last week’s Storm Christoff.

The combination of recent snow and rain in many parts of the country will have further saturated ground conditions and will no doubt have found its way into the river system resulting in likely flooding in different parts of the country. 

Many sports clubs may be affected by these floods. The damage to cricket clubs is often more disruptive than winter sports pitches so much so the ECB have provided advice on what to do if your grounds gets flooded. As floodwater recedes any deposited sediment may damage your turf and reduce playability. It may also be a health & safety risk to your staff, members and the wider public. 

However, if soil and air temperatures can soon begin to rise into double figures, we will no doubt be blessed with a colourful start to what we perceive as our growing season.

Busy works calendar

From now to mid-March, the groundsman’s works calendar is only going to get busier, completing the winter sports campaigns and getting ready for the up and coming summer sports.

It will certainly be an interesting time for our cricket groundsmen who should be starting to plan and execute their pre-season rolling and pitch preparations. However, times will be difficult with the nation still in the grip of Covid-19 meaning many groundsmen may still be furloughed to the end of March. 

Plus, we are still not sure if and when domestic cricket will start? If indeed it does and if a date is set for April, then this may well pose a few agonising conundrums for the clubs to decide on what if any pre-season activities can be completed in time for the new playing season?

Generally, the process involves several tasks centred on both the square and outfield which are in the main cutting, rolling, spiking rushing, feeding and squaring up the pitches and repairing equipment and machinery for the start of the season. This pre-season work takes place over an eight-week period, with timing of the operations often being dictated by the weather. Regardless if the season starts in April or is delayed till later, there will be a need to carry out this pre-season work.

I personally do not think there are any corners to cut in regard to preparing a pitch - the end product is a result of a combination of the above works and the skills and knowledge of the groundsman, equating to many dedicated hours of work. So, it will be interesting to see how this year’s pre- season programme unfolds.

On the golf greenkeeping front many clubs will be completing their winter works and planning to start their spring renovation works.

Looking ahead
   
As for other news, it seems that two new industry shows, BIGGA's Festival of Turf a two-day event that will take place in the predominantly outdoor setting of the Warwickshire Event Centre on 8 & 9 June 2021 and the Sports and Grounds EXPO (SAGE 2021) 27th-28th July 2021 at the Three Counties, Malvern showground are still planned to take place this summer. 

No doubt both shows will attract some attention and interest, however, I personally am not sure whether the pandemic will allow them to take place as planned - we will just have to wait and see.

And finally, I just want to mention Chris Biddle’s interesting series of podcasts. Last week he featured an interview with Austin Jarrett, MD of Allett Ltd who in 2011 purchased the intellectual drawings, plant, equipment and tooling for ATCO mowers when the Stowmarket factory closed. The poddast helped celebrate the centenary of ATCO, who in 1921 made the first mass produced cylinder mower, the ATCO Standard. Listen to Inside Agri-Turf here.