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EDITOR'S BLOG

SPRING INTO ACTION
Busy time for turf professionals
by TurfPro Editor, Laurence Gale MSC, MBPR

With the grass growing, renovation works will be underway, Green Flag judging is commencing and professionals have had the opportunity to attend manufacturers' roadshows.

Spring is defiantly upon us. There’s a glorious display of spring flowers everywhere you look, with daffodils taking centre stage. Hedgerows are also now coming into leaf, all encouraged by the recent spell of warm fine weather.

I took full advantage of the warm weather and took it upon myself to get my mower out of the garage and start mowing and renovating a few of my customers’ lawns.

With soil and air temperatures now into double figures, these favourable temperatures will promote some much-needed grass growth. April is a good time to carry out any relevant spring renovation work to your lawns. This usually sees an application of moss killer, a light scarification of the lawn in two or three directions to remove any dead moss and clean out the base of the grass plant in order to be able to re populate the lawn with some new grass seed. Also, if required, you could aerate the lawn and finish off with applying a granular spring 9.7.7 NPK ratio or similar fertiliser product. Within a couple of weeks you should start to see a vast improvement to the appearance of your lawn.

This favourable weather will have encouraged and helped the hundreds of cricket grounds professionals and volunteers to complete their pre-season rolling programmes as well as their wicket preparations for the start of the playing season - usually beginning in April.

Green Flag Awards

Last week I was also given notice of the start of the Green Flag awards programme where us judges are given a list of parks and public open spaces to assess. Every year I, along with some 400 other judges, are enlisted to help examine over 2000 parks and public open spaces in the UK.

The Green Flag Award scheme say they recognise and reward well managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

The purpose and aim of the scheme is to ensure that everybody has access to quality green and other open spaces, irrespective of where they live and ensure that these spaces are appropriately managed and meet the needs of the communities that they serve.

I have been judging parks for well over ten years now and find it very rewarding to see that considering all the government cutbacks, many local authorities are still trying to deliver decent standards of maintenance and retain the many skills required to look after these very diverse public spaces.

The awards started in 1997, when the first Green Flags were awarded. The green space sector in the United Kingdom was in a parlous state. Decades of underfunding had left many once proud and beautiful historic city centre parks derelict, dangerous, no-go areas, and many other green spaces were neglected or barely maintained.

Experts with a shared interest in promoting natural spaces from a range of backgrounds came together in response to this decline. The Scheme was directed by a Steering Group made up of individuals and representatives of larger organisations, led by Mark Davis of the Pesticides Action Network UK.

Their intention was to establish agreed standards of good management, to help to justify and evaluate funding, and to bring people back into the parks. And it worked. As the Standard became established, other green spaces began to apply for the Award, and now Green Flags fly over parks, cemeteries and crematoria, recreation grounds, canals, reservoirs, educational campuses, hospital grounds, housing estates, nature reserves and allotments. There is no limit on the size of the site; they currently range from less than one hectare to thousands of hectares. So I am looking forward to meeting the many people who are responsible for maintaining and managing these nominated parks.

STIHL roadshow

And finally, I was recently invited to one of recent Fully Charged Cordless Roadshow events at Harper Adams University, one of eleven held throughout the month of March.

The event was organised by STIHL to allow larger professional users, such as councils and major landscaping contractors, exclusive access to its range of cordless machines, as well as providing local dealers with what the company describe as "more support than ever before."

There’s no doubt the range of cordless STIHL products continues to grow, with many now equally as powerful has their petrol-powered equivalents. I was personally interested in the running and charging times of these new products - all of which are now powered by a range of different powered batteries to suit the needs of the machine being used. With chainsaws and blowers requiring more energy to run its important you use the right battery to give you the running times you need. However, with charging times coming down significantly and the fact you can multicharge more than one battery at a time, effectively there will be no down time on the use of these new cordless products.

The benefits of using battery powered tools are immense in that noise and vibration levels are reduced dramatically, and they are generally lighter and more ergonomically cleaner and easier to handle.

Mark Hall the estates manager at Harper Adams University was impressed with the performance of the new cordless chainsaw range and says he can see many benefits from using these products in and around the university campus due to their reduced noise levels.

I’d like to thank STIHL for inviting me. I was certainly impressed by the continuing growing range of their battery products now on offer. I may myself be looking at investing in a couple of their products - namely a FSA135 R battery powered strimmer, FSA 84R hedge trimmer and a BGA 200 handheld blower.

NEWS

CALLS FOR GREATER SUPPORT FOR GREENKEEPERS
And golf club staff

Calls for great support for golf club staff

In our first WEB ONLY story, a rallying cry has been issued for the game to reinvest in golf club staff who make the game possible.

GRASSROOTS CLUB BENEFITS
From Staffs FA and manufacturers' partnership

Grassroots club has benefitted from partnership

In our next WEB ONLY story the partnership will be a key component in the Football Association’s goal of improving a total of 20,000 grass pitches across England over the next decade.

CLUB WINS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
Two courses praised

An international sustainability certification awarded after greenkeeping team successfully demonstrated its commitment to making sustainability a priority.

The Golf Environment Organisation (GEO) certification has been awarded to Golf At Goodwood after their team successfully demonstrated its commitment to making sustainability a priority across their Park and Downs courses in West Sussex.

“We’re proud of our social and environmental contributions, which show that even simple actions can have a powerful impact for golf and the environment. We look forward to achieving more on our sustainability journey,” said Golf At Goodwood general manager Gary Beeves.

The agronomy team’s application outlined its environmental projects, which included creating habitats and biodiversity along with the management of turfgrass.

9th green

Commenting on Golf At Goodwood’s commitment to sustainability head greenkeeper Rob Dyer said, “Being GEO certified is one of the ways we are showing our commitment to fostering nature, conserving resources, strengthening communities and taking climate action.

“We’re also taking steps to inspire golfers, staff and the wider community because we all have a part of play.”

GEO Certified is the symbol used by accredited great golf environments worldwide, to show that a golf facility has met a credible standard in sustainability across six key areas.

Some of Goodwood’s sustainable golf highlights include a two-year experiment to stop flailing a natural tough area next to a woodland edge. As a result, 20 tree shoots - including beech, hawthorn and lime – came up.

The greenkeeping team removed some of the reeds and weeds at the pond on the 17th hole to create space and a more diverse habitat. Now the pond on the Downs Course has come to life with carps and tadpoles.

17th green

The natural rough on The Downs course has allowed a wide range of biodiversity to run through all 18 holes. There are more wildflowers and fine grasses present compared to five years ago.

GEO independent verifier Tony Hanson added, “Golf At Goodwood have continued their work to improve their environmental performance. Man hours, machinery use and fuel consumption have been reduced through the reduction of closely managed areas.”

SPEAKERS SOUGHT
Call for papers

The best speakers in the grounds management industry are being looked for to showcase their knowledge at upcoming trade event.

Organisers of SALTEX are looking for the best speakers in the grounds management industry to showcase their knowledge at the show, which will take place at the NEC, Birmingham on 2 and 3 November 2022.

Learning LIVE, the show's education programme, provides advice, insight and solutions to issues that the grounds management industry cares about most. Organisers say they aim for the seminar programme at SALTEX to be engaging, informative and educational for attendees.

Since its creation in 2015, the most popular Learning LIVE sessions have been case studies and presentations from companies or individuals who are prepared to share personal experience and learnings, but the submission of presentations on new and emerging trends, technologies and innovations that will benefit the sports turf industry are also encouraged.

Each proposal will be evaluated and those that most closely match the needs of the attendees will be selected.

To submit a proposal, click here.

TEE RENOVATION DAYS
Taking place in April

Anyone with a professional interest is invited to attend and see the complete process in one day.

Campey Turf Care Systems in occasional conjunction with Germinal Seeds, are hosting a series of Tee Renovation Days throughout the country during April and are inviting anyone with a professional interest, to come and see the complete process in one day.

Starting on April 4th at East Brighton GC, moving on to Eastbourne Downs GC, Kings Norton, Renfrew, Seascale, Knotty Hill, Greetham Valley, Huyton and Prescott, Wilmslow and Greenway Hall Golf Club, Campeys will be at ten different golf venues in total, providing an opportunity to see the latest techniques in renovation specific to golf tees, and to introduce some alternative methods that may not have been considered in a golf course setting before.

Each day will start at 9am with the company providing refreshments and bacon rolls before the day begins. A full team of experts will be on-hand to guide the visitors through the processes and to listen to any ideas, or particular issues, that you may be experiencing at your own club.

A full list of the venues and dates can be found on the Campey website.

For catering purposes, Campeys is asking that attendees register online via the website or by scanning the QR code on the official invite.

PRO TURF SHOW SET TO RETURN
Visitor registration opens

Exhibition and demonstration event is scheduled to return this summer.

The sports and grounds maintenance tradeshow, SAGE is taking place on 6th & 7th July at The Three Counties Showground in Malvern. Free registration is now open for visitors.

Organisers say there will be people from a wide range of industries exhibiting products, providing live demonstrations and the opportunity to take a free training course.

In an official statement the show said, “The main priority of SAGE is that visitors get to see the industry products in action, in an environment that has ample space to accommodate the largest kit on sale. Amongst our exhibitors there are businesses who supply turfcare products and equipment, playground equipment and landscaping equipment.”

SAGE this year will also be hosting the first sustainability summit, which will take place on Wednesday 6th July, in partnership with Bio-Circle. Organisers say the summit will be led by experts across the industry and will provide guidance and support on how sustainable solutions can be achieved by businesses across the sports and grounds maintenance industry. The panel along with their colleagues will be on hand to deliver tailored options for those looking to adopt processes that are more environmentally friendly.

There will also be taster courses on offer, as well as talks from leading experts across the industry.

SHOW LAUNCHES TREE PLANTING INITIATIVE
Exhibitors encouraged to contribute

Stand-holders who sign up to attend will be given the option of purchasing a tree, to create a network of community woodlands.

BIGGA has launched a new scheme that will see exhibitors at its annual trade show and education conference encouraged to ‘Plant a Tree for BTME’.

BIGGA's membership services Manager for ecology James Hutchinson (left) and head of business development Lauren Frazer (right) with Harrogate Golf Club course manager Ken Ward

The 2022 edition of BTME took place last week from 22 to 24 March at the Harrogate Convention Centre, but BIGGA say it is anticipated to return to its regular January date in 2023. Exhibitors who sign up to attend the 2023 event will be given the option of purchasing a tree, to be planted at a nominated golf course.

BIGGA hope that over the years sufficient trees will be planted to create a network of ‘BTME community woodlands’ around the UK, with Harrogate Golf Club the first club to participate in the scheme.

With individual trees capturing up to 1 tonne of carbon dioxide from our air over its lifetime, the scheme is intended to raise awareness of the carbon footprint generated by major events such as BTME and be a flagship initiative as BIGGA seeks to improve its sustainable practices.

BIGGA membership services manager for sustainability James Hutchinson said, “The idea of planting trees as a means of offsetting carbon generated by people travelling to attend BTME was first proposed by a BIGGA member a couple of months ago and it is something that struck me as making a lot of sense. Those who know me know that I’m a dendrophile - I love trees - and as we explored the possibility further we uncovered schemes such as the National Trust’s pledge to plant 20 million trees by 2030, so it just made a lot of sense to get involved.

“It is always important to take great care when selecting what trees to plant on a golf course as not all species are appropriate or will generate the desired result, but by working with courses that are eager to create areas of woodland for the wider community, we believe this scheme will help to raise awareness of the good work that golf courses are doing to protect the natural environment.”

Harrogate Golf Club’s course manager, Ken Ward, said: “An old employer of mine once told me, ‘we’re just custodians of this land’. That rang true with me. We’re not here for that long but we want to leave it in a better place than we found it. This is an opportunity to get our members and two local primary schools involved with a project on the golf course, which is a fantastic thing.”

MEAN GREEN DEALER APPOINTMENT
By Overton

Overton have appointed a new dealership for the Mean Green mowers

Dealership believes that with cost of all types of fuel increasing constantly, battery powered machines are attracting a lot of interest.

Overton (UK) have appointed David Evans Agriculture Ltd as the latest dealers for Mean Green Mowers covering South Wales.

Richard Jenkins (left) and Dan Oddy (right) from DEAL and Stuart Rose (centre) from Overton (UK)

David Evans said, "The current market is changing quickly and with the cost of all types of fuel increasing constantly, the battery powered machines are attracting a lot of interest.

"Many of our customers are exploring electric equipment across our whole sector and we felt the Mean Green mowers are a good fit for us as they are proven and established, have a 7-hour run time and surpass anything else on the market."

Stuart Rose from Overton UK added, "We are pleased to be working with the DEAL team in South Wales."

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