Terrain Aeration

Rewarding turfcare's 'Unsung Heroes' at BTME Harrogate

We had a busy time at BTME Harrogate Week and it was with pleasure to hand out our Unsung Hero Awards to Keri Jarman, Deputy Head Groundsman at Moor Park, and Hugh Murray, Head Greenkeeper at Bridgwater College for their outstanding commitment to the industry.

Keri Jarman was nominated by Stuart Bertram, the Course Manager of Moor Park Golf Course. Stuart told us that Keri took only four days leave (although he was entitled to more) having tragically lost both parents to illness in quick succession.

Sadly, Keri was left with his disabled brother to care for, while continuing to work full time. Keri finally made the very difficult decision to put him into a home: if his poor luck and recent difficulties weren't enough, Keri slipped on the ice and broke his leg - despite being in plaster, Keri hobbled in to work to check that all was well.

Launch of our Total Turf Aeration System

"In 1987, for the first time in their lives [the greens], I put the Vertidrain through the greens this was after the October hurricane. I used 1” tines at full depth (14”) and the soil just smeared, there was no chance to ‘shatter and fracture’ to create some structure."

Golf Consultant, Kevin Munt was the course manager at the Wentworth Club in the late 1980s and is describing on his blog, the challenge of breaking through a deep pan layer on the greens on the famous West 'Burma Road' Course - these conditions existed for him, those who preceded him and those who subsequently took over until present day.

Today, using our technology, any putting green, football pitch, bowling rink or indeed any natural grass playing surface, can benefit from treatment at depths that conventional specialist equipment cannot achieve.

Happy Christmas and New Year to everyone who knows us

Thanks for popping in. We are winding down now; not through choice but because the weather has temporarily beaten us. So, now that you are here - have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The New Year threatens bad weather for the first week or two (the UK usually gets a dump two or three weeks after USA so we are expecting snow), so once this has cleared, we will be up and running again, but keep in touch - your weather might differ from our Suffolk base so if you have the need and we can get there, we will.

Golf greens kept playable after autumn rains

The heavy rain which followed the late summer dry spell has helped to highlight compacted ground and potential drainage problems on golf courses throughout the UK.

It has meant a bust time for us as we travel extensively throughout the United Kingdom as turf managers call in our services.

Back in the days before irrigation became commonplace on golf course, clay was used to provide an impermeable barrier to retain water for the grass roots.

Remember your Unsung Hero

This year more than any other you’ll have appreciated your unsung heroes. You’ll have relied on them for support, tenacity, expert execution of the job and all those other special skills and qualities that only you and your immediate colleagues know about.

Don’t let these exceptional people go un-sung. It’s time they were recognised.

Download a nomination form and get it over to Lynda at Terrain Aeration today. Alternatively contact Lynda direct on Tel: 01449 673783, email terrainaeration@googlemail.com

How to keep a sports pitch playable during the Winter

I can picture the Monday aftermath of the weekend storms with enormous puddles across many playing fields throughout the British Isles.

In some cases, especially on heavy clay, the water will find hydraulic conductivity slow or even impossible - the lack of drainage may result in many football and rugby games being called off this coming weekend as groundstaff grapple with waterlogged soil conditions.

Inaccessibility with ride-on equipment means that only light forking can take place, an operation, in isolation, futile for hard pressed turf professionals to present a playing surface that is acceptable to sports organisations - fixture build-up could create extra pressure on the head groundsman that may result in a surface being played on in less than favourable conditions - further exacerbating the poor conditions.

We're off to aerate turf in Ireland

Terrain Aeration will be carrying out work in Northern Ireland as well as the Republic of Ireland in the near future - we would like to hear from greenkeepers and groundsman who may have a need for our services.

Renovating Windsor racecourse after the Saltex Show

Normally, when it comes to hard soil versus the sheer grunt and power of our Airforce Terralift there's no match.

With such a small amount of rain falling before, during and after the Saltex trade show, ground conditions adjacent to the trackwere, let's say, more than testing.

However, the guys at Windsor racecourse have a right to extract water from the River Thames so the track itself was green and lush and underneath the corrugated aluminium crossing roads, conditions were perfect for our treatments.

Kickstarting baked hard sports pitches after drought

We have seen a long period of dry weather with very little rain or moisture in the South and East of England which has meant that local authorities have been forced to cancel football matches following the late summer drought as the ground is too compact.

It will require only a modest level of sustained rainfall to render sports pitches unplayable. This is because the water cannot percolate down and reach the drainage system. Aeration is the solution - but penetration is not easily achieved by many ‘top surface’ machines.

We're off to aerate turf in Scotland

Our weather is flipping awful - six days of rain since April. Today, going to our nearest town Stowmarket, it was extremely windy (not as much as the North of the country) but you could hardly see across the road - dust storms had whipped up and taking all the sand (I mean soil) from the fields next to the road. Never seen anything like it before.

Each time, there is a hint of rain from the gathering clouds, then out pops the sun for a few minutes and no rain. We have pulled out of work since Saltex, the ground being too hard. Even at Saltex, despite watering our plot, the ground was too hard.