TURF MANAGEMENT
The ducts created last for over a year, of between 3m and 6m spacings. playing surface in the south-east
allowing surface water to percolate Following the creation of trenches, corner of the pitch had gone black
off the surface, through obstructions pipes are laid within them and covered with algae because it was constantly
caused by thatch or compaction and with specified gravel, before the upper waterlogged. Initially, Ecosol Turfcare
into the rootzone and drainage layer. section of the trench is topped with a came in to Drill n Fill it but we then
Soil amendments in the backfill get suitable high infiltration rate sand- discovered that the drain had failed
down to the plant’s roots - allowing based rootzone. Seeding completes the in that area.” Paul had a new main
improved uptake of nutrients; operation. drain installed which ran the length of
increased cation exchange capacity
the pitch and was reconnected to the
and better germination. A playing surface which already has Sports pitches which remain it but is still unacceptably wet, could However, the pitch was still slow-
consistently waterlogged despite benefit from a secondary drainage draining and kept cutting up. Ecosol
routine aeration and surface system placed at 90 o to the primary Turfcare then boosted the primary
maintenance may well have reached trenches. This secondary system drainage system by installing further
the point where installation of primary can be excavated sand slits (such as lateral pipes in between the existing
or secondary drainage systems is the those installed by the KORO Topdrain) ones, backed up by a secondary
only means of alleviating the problem. or they can be excavated gravel and system of excavated sand and gravel
sand slits (installed with a wheel-type slits placed at 90° to the laterals to
trencher). The principle is to create carry water off the surface promptly.
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
a primary drainage system beneath
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.
confined beneath the playing surface. Clients range from Premier league
The spacing between these laterals clubs to village sports fields.
is determined by influencing factors, Harlequins Rugby, in Twickenham was
for example, soil type, annual rainfall a satisfied client. “We had reached
data for the locality and level of use crisis time with our pitch,” says
required and this leads to a range Paul Sykes, head groundsman. “The
existing lateral pipes.
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.”
Further information from
Ecosol Turfcare,
email:[email protected];
website: www.ecosolve.co.uk;
Tel:01666 861250
Issue 39 2019 Landscape & Urban Design
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