Bruce Elliot, head of grounds and estates at Crystal Palace FC, has revealed that Limagrain’s MM60 is his preferred choice of winter sports grass seed.
It is safe to say that Crystal Palace have acquired an extremely experienced groundsman in Bruce. Having started his professional career at Fulham FC, Bruce went on to work for Tottenham FC, Millwall FC and Reading FC before returning for a second spell as head groundsman at Fulham. After a brief period away from groundsmanship, in which he actually worked for Limagrain UK, Bruce found that he simply couldn’t keep away from the job when the Palace opportunity came calling.
Throughout his illustrious career, he has always relied on one brand of grass seed and when Bruce joined Palace in July 2015 he was keen to stick to what he knew has always delivered him excellent results.
“I’ve used Limagrain’s MM60 throughout my professional career,” says Bruce. “It’s because I know what I’m going to get with it - for years it has been the number one winter sports mix.
“When I first started at the club, a new Desso pitch had just been installed, and it was sown with a grass seed which was the contractor’s preferred mix. However, when the opportunity came along I over-sowed with MM60 that season and then used it in the renovations at the start of this season. That’s nothing against the old grass seed mixture that was used – it’s just that MM60 is my preferred mix.”
Limagrain’s MM60 grass seed is renowned for producing an excellent playing surface in a stadium environment. It is a 100% Ryegrass formula which is perfect for renovation and divot repair, has a high disease resistance, fantastic aesthetic qualities and offers extremely fast germination – which is boosted by the inclusion of Headstart GOLD®.
Developed using the latest scientific findings and field experience, Headstart GOLD® is a natural revolutionary grass seed treatment that ensures rapid germination and is perfect for enhancing performance on grass seed coatings for sports fields, golf courses, lawns and amenity turf.
Varieties in the MM mixtures are also thoroughly tested at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) as part of the BSPB turfgrass trials, which is something that Bruce believes offers a great insight into the mix.
“What I like about the MM60 is that if you look into the cultivars there is a similarity between them in the ratings in the STRI handbook. All the cultivars in the mix have the same sort of wear resistance, recovery levels and same colour rather than different shades of green. We want an even product rather than having highs and lows within the difference of the cultivars – Limagrain has always provided me with a consistent product.”
Having worked at Limagrain, his continued use of MM60 is perhaps testament to just how good the mix is. Bruce also has inside knowledge of just how dedicated the Limagrain staff are to each and every client.
“Limagrain’s outstanding customer service is just all part of the overall package and having worked for the company I know that the back-up at head office is excellent. Someone is always available if I need to talk to them and they always offer first-class technical advice.”
For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.limagrain.co.uk. You can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed
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