Aerating shady and overused areas of a football pitch
May 29, 2009
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.
Ipswich head groundsman, Alan Ferguson - who was interviewed for the position of Wembley head groundsman but turned it down because of concerns about pitch strategy - hosted a demonstration of our 'Phoenix' deep drill which we have recently restored.
Alan is a fan of the deep drill method of root zone treatment and was the first groundsman to see our newly restored machine when it was first imported new to the UK in 1992; we thought it appropriate that he should be the first to see it in action in 2009.
At a recent open day for Institute of Groundsmanship members, we drilled the affected area of the Portman Road surface with sixty holes per metre at a depth of thirty centimetres.
Thanks to Alan, the whole day was a complete success and our deep drill demonstration was met with enthusiasm by our valued customers who attended.
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