Pittodrie Stadium - coming to the end of the road
“We were able to maintain stability for most of the season, and we start out with a good root structure, but it is a battle with a rootzone pitch,” Paul comments. “Ideally, you need to get water on the pitch, but it is difficult in those conditions. I just give it a heavy roll with a Rotoknife and try and water, if possible, but, once coverage is lost, it is hard to recover. In total, we had fifty-one days of undersoil heating, and it just burnt the roots.”
A cold spring, which has not encouraged regrowth, hasn’t helped, and Paul comments that, with limited funds, it is difficult to bring the turf back. He also has a small team to maintain six pitches in total, with three training pitches at the local barracks and two at the university, and it has been smaller than ever this year.
“My two groundsmen are both
currently on long term sick leave and I’m relying on a retired farmer for help - at least he can drive a tractor!” he says. Going forward, he believes that a
compromise will need to be reached with the management to minimise training on the stadium pitch in severe weather. “We just cannot afford to use lights or
returf, as other clubs do, to revive their pitches, and players and the media need to understand that we are always going to struggle this far north. Once grass has been damaged by playing on it in freezing conditions, there’s no coming back,” Paul says. By broadcasting seed throughout the season to encourage fresh growth, 75-80 percent coverage was achieved, with the pitch looking good by the end of the season, and only a light renovation has
AERATE, DECOMPACT, RENOVATE, SEED, SLIT, RAKE, BRUSH – DON’T PANIC, IT’S ONE MACHINE
The AeraVator’s unique vibrating tines aerate & renovate in all
ground conditions - even the hardest. Add value with the effective overseeding attachment.
L-r: Neil Kitchener, Paul Fiske and Nigel MacRae
been necessary. “We koroed the pitch in 2009 to
remove black layer and algae before reseeding, so this year I’ve just used my Dennis cylinder mowers set at 10mm to fraise mow, cleaning up the surface,” Paul explains. “We put 40 tonnes of rootzone topdressing on and overseeded on 18th May before putting the covers on, so it was a relatively easy job.” To ease the staffing issues, Greentech
were engaged to vertidrain and sand band the barracks grounds, before applying 100 tonnes of sand and overseeding. The university grounds just needed a heavy topdress and overseed. Paul uses Johnsons Premier Pitch ryegrass mixture, citing its good mix of cultivars which, he says, germinate quickly and have a strong root system. “Prior to seeding, I use PrimoMaxx to
MAKE LIGHT WORK OF CUTTING, COLLECTING AND SCARIFICATION
THE OMARV range of heavy duty flail mowers clears and collects grass, heath, brush and other dense vegetation with ease.
The more compact TE and TEL models are suitable for use on sports grounds and golf courses whilst the larger TER, with its colossal hopper capacity and high-tip facility, is ideal for amenity grassland maintenance and heathland management.
A scarification rotor can also be fitted to TEL models.
CAMPEY TURF CARE SYSTEMS Marton,
Tel: 0845 026 0064
www.jsmd.co.uk
22
Macclesfield Cheshire SK11 9HG
Tel: 01260 224568 Fax: 01260 224791
Email:
info@campeyturfcare.com www.campeyturfcare.com
TE, TEL AND TER MODELS TO SUIT ALL REQUIREMENTS
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