Last winter was one of the harshest winters in living memory and with the new season in full swing, we've been alerted to many compaction and drainage problems.
From Wales to Sunderland, the last three months have kept our fleet extremely busy, writes David Green.
We treated a number of bowling greens in Caerphilly because problems with water retention had gradually returned after our initial treatments some 8 years ago. Some greens reported that they had been able to bowl on as few as five days during the entire 2009 season because of incessant rainfall in what was the wettest summer for a very long time.
"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.
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 have the machinery and we will travel to most of mainland Europe to assist turf and tree care professionals with the aeration of compacted soil on sports surfaces, including rugby and football pitches, golf courses, tennis courts and bowling greens.
We can also treat the root-zone areas of fruit orchards and vineyards to a depth of one metre by injecting compressed air under high pressure to break up soil pans or to relieve poor drainage.
Any groundsman will tell you of the constant battle and challenges they they face when having to deal with areas of a football pitch that may suffer with over use, poor air circulation or lower light levels due to the presence of the supporters stands.
Ipswich Town Football Club are no exception but are burdened with a further complication in the corner of the ground where the south and west stands meet because it is the point where the players run onto the pitch and where the ground staff gain access to the pitch to carry out maintenance.
We are delighted that we are now able to offer a deep drill service to compliment our range of rootzone turf de-compaction treatments.
For me it represents a very nostalgic and proud moment because I was originally responsible for importing the original machine in September 1992.
Sadly, in the intervening years and while concentrating on building up Terrain Aeration, I did not have dealings with the deep drill machine; until very recently when we rescued her from a dank barn, in a battered and broken state, purchased her and began the task of re-building - from that day on she became 'Phoenix'.
Recent Comments