GROUNDSKEEPING
In the past, this water has caused
major problems in terms of large
patches of ‘greasy’ or ‘soft’ ground.
But now, with Bob and his team of
around eight volunteers steadfastly
applying lots of sand in recent
seasons complemented by regular
aeration, “thankfully the surface
water is nowhere near as bad and it
doesn’t stay on the surface too long,
either”.
Maidstone Rugby’s grounds chairman
Bob Hayton below) and his team (left)
He continues: “The pitches are
renovated each year (by Rigby
Taylor) with a concerted programme
of deep spiking, including
Earthquaking, and they have a lot of
sand applied – probably 30 tonnes
over each pitch each year.” Despite
this, when there is a lot of rainfall
certain areas of certain pitches do
still have (smaller) puddles so, says
Bob, “we’re constantly aerating to
a depth of four inches and handforking
some areas then ‘topping’ up
the sand on patches. Problems like
these cannot be solved overnight,
but we are getting there”.
Bob’s enthusiasm for aerating and the
use of sand was spurred by a visit by
former Twickenham grass guru Keith
Kent, as part of the RFU’s initiative
to help grassroots clubs. “Keith’s very
informative presentation focused
on aeration and the use of the
correct type of sand (round sand),”
reflects Bob. “Also, the accompanying
machine demonstrations really
opened our eyes to the lack of
equipment we had.
“The input of a fellow veteran
player, Martin Maytum, has
also been important to the
improvements we’ve made here.
Martin has imparted his sports field
groundscare experience – he has
been in the industry for more than
30 years, beginning as a 16-year-old
apprentice at Crystal Palace FC and
subsequent spells at Maidstone
United, Kent Police sports ground,
Queens Park Rangers’ training
ground and Kings Hill Sports Park.
He is also a volunteer pitch advisor
for the Rugby Football Union, before
recently joining Rigby Taylor as the
technical sales manager for this
area. So, in addition to our Saturday
afternoon chats about the pitches,
I’m sure we’ll be sitting down for
longer conversations.”
Addressing the club’s equipment
situation – with, for instance, a
refurbished drum-type Multitiner
aerator and a Quadraply,
which incorporates a frame to
accommodate various implements
including grooming rake, spiker
and slitter – Bob and his team have
gone on to instigate a concerted
maintenance programme that not
only involves Rigby Taylor’s annual
renovations but also includes
amenity supplies from the company
such as the use of the Sports Field
Renovation seed for overseeding
(on the rye grass base sward), Delta
Sport super-maxi granular fertilisers
and iGO line marking machine
applying Impact paint.
Designed for rapid establishment, as
well as showing excellent tolerance
to wear, cold, shade, disease and
drought, for example, Sports Field
Renovation seed is a mixture
of tetraploid perennial rye (the
Tetragreen cultivars) and perennial
ryes Columbine and Greensky, and
is treated with Germin-8T which
contains a speciality surfactant that
is activated when the seed comes
into contact with rootzone moisture.
This provides effective penetration
of water through the seeds’ outer
layer (pericorp) into the endosperm,
by lowering the surface tension of
the surrounding water molecules.
Roots can also take advantage of the
micronised mycorryhizal fungi that
will deliver long-term plant benefits.
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