SPORT PITCHES
The quickest and
strongest germination
and establishment
fter switching over to Johnsons
A Sports Seed four years ago, the
grounds team at Norwich City
Football Club haven’t looked back. The
combination of Johnsons J Pitch, and J
Premier Pitch, have been used at the Carrow
Road stadium and across the surfaces at
the club’s training ground. While delivering
improved disease resistance and great wear
tolerance, it’s the speed of establishment
that has really impressed Grounds Manager
Gary Kemp.
“One of the main issues we have is the very
short turnover period between the end of the
season and the start of the next” explains
Gary, who heads up a team of nine grounds
staff. “With concerts and other events we
often have just a few weeks to complete
our renovations.” With the advice of his DLF
Seeds Regional Technical Manager Craig
Spooner and external contractors, this is
now possible. “As our window of opportunity
reduced, we trialled various seed mixtures
and found that Johnsons delivered the
quickest and strongest germination and
establishment.”
fungicide applications this year, and this is
only going to become more important, with
changes in legislation, moving forward.”
“With Johnsons, you know that there’s a
huge amount of research and development
going on behind the scenes to develop
mixtures that help us out with everyday
problems, such as disease resistance, the
ever-challenging issues with the weather
and shade issues in stadia. The results we’ve
achieved with their mixtures are proof that
we can withstand those factors and it puts
us in the best position to cope with whatever
is thrown at us moving forward.”
J Pitch and J Premier Pitch deliver deep
rooting, rapid growth – ready to mow in
under five weeks. Their hard-wearing
nature makes them ideal for football &
rugby pitches, training grounds and hybrid
surfaces.
www.dlf.co.uk
Now solely using the Johnsons J Premier
Pitch and J Pitch mixtures, Gary has been
very happy with the results across the two
facilities. “Year on year it helps us deliver
our renovations on time, giving great
wear tolerance and great colour which
is particularly important for our stadium
pitch. This last year has also been one of
the best years we’ve had in terms of disease
occurrence, despite the peaks and troughs
we had with temperatures and rainfall.
We think we’ve saved close to £10,000 in
10 GroundskeepingJournal.co.uk | Summer 2020