While writing this article for the May edition of Turf Pro, snow is still lying in many areas throughout the UK and Ireland. We have been subject to a savage Easterly wind for weeks that has dried the ground out so much that hill fires have been burning in the South Wales valleys and the glens of Scotland. And to cap it all, rainfall has been minimal.

So talking of Plant Growth Regulators (PGR’s) may be a bit optimistic, even though it does give Greenkeepers extra breathing space if cuts are missed due to rainy summers as we’ve experienced in recent years.

But in this industry, optimism is a necessary requirement for all of us. So I'm sticking my neck out and relying on mother-nature to redress the balance, give a little more heat, moisture and in general, be kind to all of us working in the sports turf industry.

There have been many PGR’s throughout the past decades, and maleic hydrazide was one of the first. (It has an 'Off-Label recommendation on grass until Dec2013). This chemical was more of a growth retardant, as opposed to now-a-days, where we refer to trinexapac-ethyl as a growth regulator.

The first trinexapac - ethyl was Primo Maxx, marketed by Everris and made by Syngenta.
Since losing its patent, more generics are on the market, including Clipless from Headland Amenity, Pure Max from Countrywide etc.

These PGR’s make good turf better, not bad turf good. There are so many issues governing when to use the products, including the condition of the grasses at the time of application. If applied in drought situations, the plant may shut down and future growth may be a problem. A nitrogen fertilizer and an iron should be applied on 'fairway ' type turf for aesthetic reasons.

The right application rate is important. Modern Turf Managers have integrated TE as an important part of their summer programmes. TE reduces inter- nodal growth, making the grasses thicker, it improves tillering, thus making the plant stronger and more able to resist disease, the thicker sward also increasing competition with weeds , less arisings, less mowing, thus giving more staff- flexibility and reducing fuel and machinery costs.

As you can see, this is another excellent example of a herbicide that brings nothing but benefits to the user and increases the sportsman's' perception of the playing surface.

Advice must be sought from BASIS qualified personnel as to the most efficient use of trinexapac- ethyl in your particular situation. CWC are well placed throughout the country to help with advice, and apply the products into the bargain, supplying all the necessary COSHH and Risk Assessments and looking after the safe disposal aspect of pesticide application.

Let's hope we have a great summer of sport, and weather commensurate with that.

For more information, please contact Complete Weed Control’s National office on 01325 324 277 or visit www.completeweedcontrol.co.uk. You can also follow CWC on Twitter @CWCLimited for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

Souters Irrigation Services (SISL), a specialist arm of sports turf contractor Souters Sports set up in 2010 to handle irrigation refurbishment and installation projects, have been awarded the contract to design, install and maintain an irrigation system for Scotland’s newest landmark, The Hydro.

Once completed, The Hydro will become a new landmark on Glasgow's skyline. The SECC national arena is the only one of its scale in the UK built specifically for concerts, conferences and events.

The irrigation system will consist of over 13,000 meters of Dripline over 10 sectors. The planting will be Buxus Sempervirons (box hedging) densely planted to form a green mat.

The new venue will enhance Glasgow and Scotland's tourism offer with the arena playing an integral role in the 2014 Commonwealth Games as the home for both gymnastics and the netball finals at the games. The Hydro will be in the top five busiest indoor entertainment arenas in the world alongside such iconic venues as Madison Square Gardens in New York and The O2 in London.

“This is a fairly unique building with some unusual challenges for the irrigation system”, said Robert Smith, Sales and Technical Manager at SISL. “The irrigation is situated on the raised banking areas which is also suspended above the ground and encircles the arena at varying widths and pitches”.

For further information, please contact Souters Sports Limited on 01236 453030 or visit www.souterssports.co.uk.

Dennis & SISIS have concluded their spring 2013 series of educational events with the recent bowls seminar at Meole Brace Bowling Club in Shrewsbury. Committed to educating greenkeepers on how to maintain and look after bowling greens, the British manufacturer was pleased with the event which saw over 50 people attend the day which encompassed a mix of technical presentations and demonstrations ‘on the green’.

The programme for the day was started by Toby Clarke, the company’s Area Sales Manager, who welcomed delegates from around the county before handing over to Matt Gresty of Limagrain, one of the UK’s leading plant breeder and seed producers.

In his presentation, Matt discussed grass seed for fine turf surfaces, fertiliser application, germination, disease management and what to avoid when renovating a green before opening up the floor for a lively Q&A session. This was followed by an informative talk by Charles Henderson of Sports Agronomy Services (SAS) on measuring and identifying organic matter. Charles’s presentation centred on achieving quality greens on a more consistent basis stating that the more organic matter you have, the more prone to disease you will be.

“Clubs spend a considerable amount of money each year managing organic matter – sand dressing, renovations etc”, said Charles. It can also cut the playing season short. That is why managing organic matter is so important”.

The morning session was completed with an outside demonstration of Dennis and SISIS turf maintenance machinery by the company’s Field Support Team Andy Walker and Ben Lloyd. Despite the cold weather, a wide range of machinery which could be used on the green was shown including spikers, scarifiers and a range of mowers.
After lunch, Charles Henderson talked about successful renovations for bowling greens, from choosing a renovation type to the terminology which has recently grown and become confusing which can often lead people in the wrong direction when choosing a maintenance programme.

The day was concluded with a talk about machinery servicing from local Dennis and SISIS dealer Jim Clarke Machinery before the now infamous ‘Turf Clinic’ – a question and answer session.

“The day today has been extremely enjoyable and very informative. Looking after a bowling green as I do takes a lot of time, effort and money. It’s always good to find new ways of maintaining the green and improving it for the years to come”, said Mike Below from Montgomery Bowling Club.

Sentiments echoed by the Head Groundsman of Bridge North Bowling Club who said: “The seminars give me a lot of food for thought. They are put over in a very user-friendly manner”.

Further bowls and cricket seminars are planned for later this year. For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis and SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com / www.sisis.com.

Specialist weed control contractor Complete Weed Control has brought its technical expertise into play to ensure that the Celtic Manor Resort in South Wales is always in pristine condition - and continues to flourish with a long-term maintenance programme.

Director of Golf Courses & Estate Management James McKenzie MBE is convinced the fantastic-looking resort is in no small way due to the high standard of work and service provided by Complete Weed Control (South Wales).

Following a positive testimonial from a greenkeeper at a nearby golf course, CWC has been working with James for almost twenty years having first been brought in on a short term basis to combat problem weeds during the construction of the Roman Road Course in 1994.

Since then, CWC have become a regular visitor to the resort with work including moss control, weed control, disease management and last minute cosmetic spraying applications as well as emergency works, ensuring that the course greens and fairways look their best at all times.

“Complete Weed Control are experts in their field and we see them as an extension to our in-house team,” explains James. “Visitor experience is very important. We need to ensure that the three courses are open all-year-round, which is why it’s important that Alan and his team are flexible and can come in either early morning before our visitors arrive or late evening – something that is only possible by working with a local company.”

A major innovation in recent years has been the introduction of new technology to apply pesticides more accurately as part of a continuing drive to apply fewer quantities and conform to the EU sustainable use directive (SUD).

“The technology of weed control and spraying applications is quite sophisticated these days, and CWC is widely recognised as the number one contractor in the industry. They put a lot into research and development and really look after us. What we receive from them is a total solution, not just spraying, but a scientific approach and the best expert advice for the future. It's very cost-effective too, and we receive excellent value for money."

The CWC team know all three courses intimately – something James appreciates. “It can take years to train someone to know the sites as well as Alan and his team do. They work out of sight which lets our visitors enjoy their day. It’s been known for Alan to be working as early as 4am and as late as 10pm – I really couldn’t recommend Alan and his team highly enough.”

You can view a video of what Director of Golf Courses & Estate Management James McKenzie MBE think about Complete Weed Control by clicking here.

For more information, please contact Complete Weed Control’s National office on 01325 324 277 or visit www.completeweedcontrol.co.uk. You can also follow CWC on Twitter @CWCLimited for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

Technical Surfaces, The UK’s leading synthetic surface maintenance specialists, has recently completed their patented Rejeneration® works on the synthetic sports surface at the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy.

At 10 years old, the sand-filled pitch was in need of a deep clean to remove excess mud and silt, to help resolve the problems the players and teachers had been experiencing with the playing surface. Resurfacing is not considered a viable option at this stage, and so the specialist contractor was contacted in late 2012 to provide a condition report on the pitch.

In situations such as this, the ideal solution is to extract the contaminated infill that has caused the problems to occur, replacing it with clean, fresh aggregate to restore the draining and playing properties of a synthetic sports surface.

Technical Surfaces inspected the pitch and submitted their findings in early December. Shortly afterwards, they received an order to complete the Rejeneration®, with a view to following this with a regular MatchFit® Plus maintenance contract.

“We have worked closely with the facility operator, G4S Integrated Services (UK) Ltd, at every stage of this process, to ensure that the Rejeneration® works would minimise disruption to the academy”, said Tom Nott, Technical Manager at Technical Surfaces.

The air-extraction and sand re-dressing was completed within a week, with a return visit for a second re-dressing a few weeks later. For the Rejeneration® process to work effectively there must be a gradual re-introduction of infill into the carpet. An initial heavy dressing should be completed immediately after the extraction of the contaminated infill, and then allowed to bed in for a sufficient period of time before another visit to carry out the secondary application.

“I would like to thank Technical Surfaces for their prompt response to our request and for the professional way that the Rejeneration® works were carried out”, says Steven Glass of G4S, who made the initial enquiry. This sentiment is echoed by Contract Operations Manager, Paul Schafer, who is based at the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy: “Many thanks for the good work completed and for the professionalism as a company.”

As Royal Wootton Bassett Academy and many more customers have discovered, when it comes to the deep-cleaning of a synthetic sports surface, making the right choice in the first instance provides better value for money in the long run.

Some statistics from 2012:

 4,772 jobs completed on 872 artificial surfaces across the UK, including:
 263 schools
 93 colleges and universities
 42 academies
 174 leisure centres
 68 sports clubs
 25 technicians travelling far and wide – from Land’s End to the Orkney Islands
 3,060 sweeps, decompactions and drag brushes
 1,063 pitch inspections
 57 Red Range demonstrations and certified training for on-site maintenance
 9 tonnes of glue used to repair damaged carpet
 1,581 tonnes of sand used for top-ups, repairs and deep cleans
 202,082 m² of turf restored by the patented Rejeneration® process – the equivalent of over 28 Wembley pitches
 500,000 miles covered – further than a trip to the moon and back!

To find out how you can extend the usable life of your synthetic sports surface, call Technical Surfaces on 08702 400 700 and ask to speak to a Technical Manager.

Souters Sports, one of the UK’s leading sportsturf contractors, has recently carried out extensive drainage works at Dunikier Golf Club in Fife, to help allow for almost uninterrupted play during wet weather.

The golf club has had a history of poor drainage, which was highlighted by the terrible weather that the UK experienced last year. Predominantly clay based, the ground at the course is prone to flooding and the heavy rainfall would often cause the fairways to become waterlogged and un-playable.

Alleviation works included the opening of a series of swales across the centre of the course where the existing piped drainage was unable to cope with the flows required, as well as increasing the capacity of the existing drainage system. Decorative headwalls were also introduced along with other works including reshaping of bunkers and green surrounds, turfing, hydroseeding and gorse & broom planting.

Following a competitive tendering process, Souter’s in-house labour and plant combined with their ability to provide a high quality service was certainly one of the many reasons why they were chosen.

“Having a heavy clay surface, we obviously experience some drainage problems,” says Paul Murphy, Golf Course Operations Manager for Fife Golf Trust. “Last year brought those areas which needed the most attention into focus. We aim to stay open as much as possible despite the weather and I am absolutely delighted with the work that Souters Sports have done. We never want to close the course and the new drainage system gives the course that extra edge”.

Souters Sports has completed extensive drainage projects on many other golf courses around the country including Gleneagles, the venue for the 2014 Ryder Cup.

For further information, please contact Souters Sports Limited on 01236 453030 or visit www.souterssports.co.uk.

Health & Safety is a serious matter and has become a key issue for many involved in grounds maintenance. It certainly played a major role in the decision making process which led Historic Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish Government, to work with Etesia as one of their mowing partners for the up-keep of the agency's large number of grass areas around their conservation sites.

The latest Etesia Bahia MHHE ride-on purchased from local dealer, Angus Chain Saws, is to be used to keep grassed areas in pristine condition all-year-round for visitors to Aberdour Castle in Fife.

Dating back to the 12th century, Aberdour Castle is Scotland’s oldest standing stone castle and as well as attracting over 13 thousand visitors each year, the castle is also a wedding ceremony venue. A high level of round the calendar upkeep is essential with Angus Cook, Head Gardener at the site, ensuring the 16th and 17th century walled garden and terraces which overlook the Forth are in top order at all times.

Previously, grass cutting had been carried out by a pedestrian mower, and when it came to replacing this, an extensive search was carried out by Scott MacFarlane, National Planning and Resources Manager for Historic Scotland. After looking at what machines there were on the market, it was felt the Etesia Bahia offered everything the Gardens needed for grass maintenance as well as being narrow enough to drive through narrow gates and be stored in a secure shed at the castle.

“We are looking at best practice working policies and which plant equipment to buy which is suitable for gardeners to use without risk of HAVS and other health and safety related issues,” said Scott. “We are constantly looking at improving the working conditions of our staff and now have a central procurement policy to purchase equipment from an approved list in place with service from the supplier, vibration levels of the equipment and reliability of great importance.

“Etesia’s mowers have many safety features which come as standard. We have worked with Etesia before on different sites, so we know their machines and their performance.

The compact ride-on mower is ideal for multi-tasking and easily adapts to every terrain, every grass cutting situation and every task. The pocket-size cut and collect mower, at just 0.82 m wide and 1.98 m long, features an incredibly tight turning circle and is able to nip into every nook and cranny as well as being able to be easily transported in the back of a van or on the back of a trailer.

“In normal working conditions we cut the grass in the gardens and on the terraces once a week,” said Angus. “Compared to our old walk-behind mower, I’ve managed to half the time it takes to cut and collect which leaves me time to carry out other tasks.

“The Bahia is small enough to go through tight openings and gates and is extremely good in tight spaces which were previously inaccessible. I’m now able to cut the grounds before the castle opens to visitors so that it’s presentable as they stroll around.”

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.etesia.co.uk. You can also follow Etesia on Twitter @EtesiaUK for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

We have all been waiting with bated breath for our National Action Plan - a document that each Member State of the EU has to produce to show how the Sustainable Use Directive (SUD) would be implemented in their own country.

After all the National Action Plan’s (NAP) were published, meetings and more meetings would be held to take the best practice from each document to produce a NAP blueprint document.

This is happening and will be finalised sometime over the next 18 months. When all is said and done, the outcome for the Pesticide Application is disappointing; this was a chance for the Premier League, of contractors especially, to come to the top of the pile.

But due to the current economic climate, the Government was unwilling to 'Gold Plate' EU legislation. We are now left with a diluted SUD where although training, education, storage and all the husbandry that goes with this territory are still given prominence, great leaps forward have not been made.

It is still likely that a BASIS 'letter of exemption' (or Grandfather Clause) will be accepted as 'certificated'. BASIS have decided to issue certificates to these 'Grandfathers' who have 3 years CPD points on 26 Nov 2013.

Those who sell and supply Plant Protection Products must continue to hold the appropriate BASIS Certificate. The opportunity was there to 'beef -up' (no pun intended with ‘horse-gate’) the areas of Pesticide Application such as:

- More Equipment inspection
- More emphasis on training
- More legal requirements

Lip service is no longer enough. When it comes to accurate Pesticide Application, ALL operators must have gone through PA training to the required standard and should always be able to demonstrate good knowledge of calibration and understand the product they are using.

Where contracts are being let by Local Authorities, the new BASIS Amenity Assured Standard must be brought into play, and those officers writing specifications should hold a BASIS qualification. (See www.basis-reg.com for the range of courses available).

Too often, tired specifications are trotted out, only re-dated, and showing little understanding of what is happening in the weed control world. It is now awash with new formulations, adjuvants and revolutionary chemistry –i.e. Dichlobenil used to give medium longevity control of weeds @ 150 KGs per HA.

Now, the same level of control can be achieved using a THOUSANDTH of this amount - Flazasulfuron @ 150 GRAMMES per HA!

We are entering a new era for Pesticide Application, and we must all be armed appropriately to deal with the demands ahead.

This will mean investing in people, equipment and associated training, which although expensive, ensures the job is carried out to the highest standard possible.

That's surely what it's all about, isn't it?

CWC as a company are committed fully to the AMENITY ASSURED STANDARD, that has been rubber stamped by the government, and is required under the National Action Plan that has been produced following the introduction of the EU Sustainable Use Directive.

The author is Alan Abel. Alan has been a CWC franchisee since 1983 and this year celebrates his 30th year of trading. Alan was involved in the management buyout with fellow franchisee Ian Graham in 2007, with a pledge to drive the business forward.

For more information, please contact Complete Weed Control’s National office on 01325 324 277 or visit www.completeweedcontrol.co.uk. You can also follow CWC on Twitter @CWCLimited for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

Etesia UK is pleased to announce the appointment of three new dealerships, covering Norfolk & Suffolk, North Oxfordshire & Warwickshire borders and Worcester & Hereford.

Ron Smith and Company, with depots in Worcester and Hereford is a family run business with over 40 years of experience and has grown to become one of the largest garden machinery retailers in the UK. The company will be responsible for both Etesia and Pellenc products within their allocated areas.

“We needed a high quality, commercial range of mowers to add to our existing product range,” said Mark Smith, Director at Ron Smith and Company. “There is a definite trend at the moment with our customers wanting better equipment, which while the initial investment may be larger, the overall lifetime cost is low due to better reliability and fewer breakdowns. We’ve also seen a large amount of customers looking at environmentally friendly options and the Pellenc products sit perfectly with what people are wanting.”

New Norfolk and Suffolk dealer for both Etesia and Pellenc products is Bartram Mowers. Operating from two sites, one in Norwich and one in Ipswich, both sites have showrooms, spare parts departments, and fully equipped workshops, which also have service vans that carry out on site repairs ensuring that all customers can rely on Bartram Mowers’ excellent customer support. The service team has an in-depth experience of maintaining both domestic and commercial machinery and regularly attend manufacturer’s courses to keep up to date with new machinery. The company was awarded the Royal Warrant in 1978 for supplying machinery to Sandringham and has held it ever since.

“Etesia Products have such a good reputation for being able to do exactly what you say they can do,” said Adrian Kersey, Bartram Mower’s Branch Manager. “They are probably the best professional mowers on the market at being able to cut and collect in one pass and we see them being sold to our vast range of customers including local authorities, landscape contractors, schools and colleges.

“Pellenc is something new to us, but we are very excited to be able to show our customers a revolutionary and environmentally friendly range of products. We’re looking to expand our customer base and Pellenc sits perfectly with this.”

Finally, New Etesia and Pellenc dealer for North Oxfordshire and Warwickshire borders is FN Pile and sons. Recognised as one of the leading suppliers of garden and grounds care machinery in the area, FN Pile is known for the high levels of pre- and after-sales support it provides to customers of both new and pre-owned machinery. This support includes expert purchase advice and assistance and comprehensive service and repair facilities.

“We have been selling the usual brands of garden machinery for some time and decided to move into something more professional, for our more demanding customers,” said Managing Director Frank Pile. “After a lot of looking around we found the answer was on our doorstep, just 3 miles away. The people at Etesia were helpful and gave us guidance as to what we were looking for, so as to satisfy our customer’s needs. We were looking for a ride-on mower with a diesel engine with a good build quality, strong, reliable and have good back up. The main selling point with Pellenc machines is the way in which they appeal to the commercial customer who is becoming concerned at the rocketing price of petrol and the hassle involved in purchasing and storing petrol in cans. Etesia and Pellenc ticked all the right boxes for us.”

Les Malin, Etesia UK General Manager, said: “I am delighted to welcome the three new dealers into our network. All companies have a wealth of experience in the groundscare industry and will maintain the standards of excellence that our customers expect.”

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680 120 or visit www.etesia.co.uk. You can also follow Etesia on Twitter @EtesiaUK for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

Alan Abel, a Complete Weed Control franchisee for 30 years takes a look at moss control.

With Greenkeepers and Groundsman alike, the most often used phrase these days are 'I haven't seen water there for forty years' or 'it’s never been as wet as this' etc.

The awful weather over the past year has affected sports surfaces (including synthetic) like never before. Even in strong swards, moss has built up and is going to be a major problem in early spring. On synthetics, algae and moss are prevalent and will need treatment and then mechanical brushing.

There is quite an arsenal of products available on the market for this application, including MMC Pro, StayClear, MossGo as well as others. Remember that the water volume is important and rates on labels must be adhered to for good results.

With regards to moss in turf, the most cost-effective method is spraying Sulphate of Iron with the addition of a wetter/spreader to ensure total coverage of the moss. A pH buffer should also be included, as a more acid mix will give better results. After the iron has given the desired blackening of the moss, then scarification should take place.

With an aeration programme and maybe some topdressing if necessary, and a good early warm spring (is that being too optimistic?), then the turf grasses should out-compete any moss remaining.

Jewel from Everris, is an alternative, but you must wait for warmth and growth as it contains Mecoprop-P for broad leaf weed control, plus carfentrazone for the moss control.

Mogeton from Certis has approval for moss control, but only in a golf scenario. High water volume is necessary for good results.

The application of a total herbicide around tree bases is another job that can be undertaken early. There are products that are residual, such as Chikara and Pistol from Bayer that will keep the bottom of trees and signage free from the 'sock ' look.

Chikara (flazasulfuron) has longevity and needs glyphosate added if vegetation is already present.

Kerb (propyzamide) is also an option in FLAT areas and mixed with Gallery or Flexidor (isoxaben) will give good control of grasses and shallow rooted broad leaf weeds. Kerb needs cold weather to be activated, so is only recommended for use up to the end of January in an amenity vegetation situation, so we are at the end of the application window. However, if a cold snap were forecast, it would be worth considering this mixture, which can also be used in shrub areas around the golf course. Kerb is also useful where grasses are interfering with heathers, maybe on upland or links courses. It is very soluble so it can run and damage grasses in the proximity that are wanted, so should only be used on flat ground.

All we want now is some dry weather enabling us to carry out some of these weed control options!

CWC as a company are committed fully to the AMENITY ASSURED STANDARD, that has been rubber stamped by the government, and is required under the National Action Plan that has been produced following the introduction of the EU Sustainable Use Directive.

The author is Alan Abel. Alan has been a CWC franchisee since 1983 and this year celebrates his 30th year of trading. Alan was involved in the management buyout with fellow franchisee Ian Graham in 2007, with a pledge to drive the business forward.

For more information, please contact Complete Weed Control’s National office on 01325 324 277 or visit www.completeweedcontrol.co.uk. You can also follow CWC on Twitter @CWCLimited for much more news, reviews and insightful views.