TURF MANAGEMENT
“
The result has been amazing, says Paul. “The grid
system they created is brilliant. I feel that I know my
pitch again now – how to treat it, when we can get on
it – it drains quickly after heavy rain and the grass is
green and healthy.”
locality and level of use required and
this leads to a range of between
3m and 6m spacings. Following the
creation of trenches, pipes are laid
within them and covered with specified
gravel, before the upper section of the
trench is topped with a suitable high
infiltration rate sand-based rootzone.
Seeding completes the operation.
Soil amendments in the backfill get
down to the plant’s roots - allowing
improved uptake of nutrients;
increased cation exchange capacity
and better germination. Sports pitches
which remain consistently waterlogged
despite routine aeration and surface
maintenance may well have reached
the point where installation of primary
or secondary drainage systems is the
only means of alleviating the problem.
A playing surface which already has
a primary drainage system beneath
it but is still unacceptably wet, could
benefit from a secondary drainage
system placed at 90 o to the primary
trenches. This secondary system can
be excavated sand slits (such as those
installed by the KORO Topdrain) or they
can be excavated gravel and sand slits
(installed with a wheel-type trencher).
The principle is to create an intensive,
narrow-spaced system of slits over
the top that gives a link between the
playing surface and the gravel infill
above the pipes in the primary system.
Water then runs off the surface, along
the slits to the primary drain trench and
then away.
Clients range from Premier league
clubs to village sports fields.
Harlequins Rugby, in Twickenham was
a satisfied client. “We had reached
crisis time with our pitch,” says Paul
Sykes, head groundsman. “The playing
surface in the south-east corner of
the pitch had gone black with algae
because it was constantly waterlogged.
Initially, Ecosol Turfcare came in to
Drill n Fill it but we then discovered
that the drain had failed in that area.”
Paul had a new main drain installed
which ran the length of the pitch
and was reconnected to the existing
lateral pipes. However, the pitch was
still slow-draining and kept cutting
up. Ecosol Turfcare then boosted the
primary drainage system by installing
further lateral pipes in between
the existing ones, backed up by a
secondary system of excavated sand
and gravel slits placed at 90° to the
laterals to carry water off the surface
promptly.
Further information from Ecosol Turfcare,
email:[email protected];
website: www.ecosolve.co.uk; Tel:01666 861250
Primary drainage comprises a matrix
of underground pipework that allows
water to enter the pipes and then
be carried away to an outfall point
– usually a ditch but sometimes a
soakaway system.
The matrix is made up of a main or
carrier drain that has a system of
lateral drains feeding into it, with the
laterals usually being confined beneath
the playing surface. The spacing
between these laterals is determined
by influencing factors, for example,
soil type, annual rainfall data for the
GroundskeepingJournal.co.uk | Sept/Oct 2019
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