Groundskeeping Journal Issue 1 2019 | Page 46

TURF MANAGEMENT Everyone takes grass for granted! ne of the ongoing nightmares for grounds staff is that the public and players don’t regard grass as a crop which needs nurturing like any other. They expect it to be green all year round and the right consistency regardless of the weather. If it’s a public space such as Bath Recreation Ground, there’s no respect – it’s fair game for camping, concerts, barbecues, school use and dog walkers – a lovely amenity but difficult to maintain. O Regardless of their use or ownership, sports pitches need lots of TLC from a dedicated groundscare team if they are truly to fulfil their intended purpose. As well as routine maintenance, mowing, line marking, irrigating, vertidraining and scarification, they will need feeding in spring, autumn and maybe midsummer. Often, if the site involves winter sports pitches, bowls or cricket, they can require a complete renovation in spring or autumn. Routine maintenance will be taken care of by the permanent groundstaff, but what happens if despite all this care, sports grounds don’t drain properly because of their soil profile, overuse, compaction, thatch or poor construction? It could be time to call in a specialist groundscare contractor. 46 Wiltshire- based Ecosol Turfcare can perform a variety of operations on contract. These range from drainage and aeration, fertilising and reseeding to end of season renovation and complete pitch construction. For pitches that are slow to drain and grow, compacted or have thatch and black grass It operates the unique Drill n Fill aerator. Its ability to gently fold back the turf, drill down to 30 cm with a grid of drills, take out the spoil and backfill it with either pure kiln-dried sand or a mix of sand and soil amendment, has numerous benefits for golf and bowls greens, cricket squares, centre circles and goal mouth areas. The ducts created last for over a year, allowing surface water to percolate off the surface, through obstructions caused by thatch or compaction and into the rootzone and drainage layer. GroundskeepingJournal.co.uk | Sept/Oct 2019