www.charterhouseturfmachinery.co.uk
www.sisis.com
www.wiedenmann.co.uk
www.terrainaeration.co.uk
How deep is your drill?
In the situation of cricket wicket aeration: with the nature of the soil and loam that goes to compose a wicket, conventional solid or hollow tine work fails to penetrate more than a few inches. Deep Drill aeration can however drill into these hard surfaces with relative ease, giving all the benefits of aeration and root extension opportunities. It is the second of these points that is really helping improve cricket
square performance as the deeper root structure has a binding effect within the soil profile. This has proven to reduce the movement between soil platelets (caused inadvertently by use of different loams over decades), thus giving a consolidating effect. The net results are healthier grass plants and wickets with more consistent surface firmness, i.e more uniform ball bounce
There’s lovely
The green, green grass of Tom Jones’ hometown, Pontypridd, in South Wales is making a rapid recovery, following the singer’s open-air concert to mark his 65th birthday. Pontypridd’s most famous son drew
around 20,000 fans to Ynysangharad Memorial Park, in the town centre, at the end of May, for a homecoming concert, which marked the star’s first major appearance here since he became internationally known. According to Martin Sullivan, Outdoor
Parks and Amenities Officer for Rhondda Cynan Taf Council it wasn’t the crowds that did the turf damage, but the construction and de-construction of the imported American stage. “Steel decking was laid onto the field as a track-way for the huge crane employed to construct and dismantle the stage,” he explains. “Due to the weight of the crane, (approx 20 tonne), once the event was over and the decking was lifted, we were left with a 50 mm depression over the surface area with severe compaction and water logging.” Sullivan, who had anticipated this kind of damage prior to the event, had already booked Suffolk based Terrain Aeration, who came in with the company’s Airforce machine, to administer deep, compressed air de-compaction treatment 12 days after
the concert. “Our brief was to treat the sunken grass and as much of the rest of the adjacent football pitch as possible in a day,” said Terrain Aeration’s M.D. David Green. Working at 2
metre spacings to inject compressed air one metre down causing fractures and fissures to break up the soil, Terrain's Airforce machine was at first, hampered by the presence of boulders lying at about 250mm below the surface. “Progress in these adverse conditions was abysmally slow,” admits Green “with the power of the JCB hammer absolutely essential to make any progress whatever into the subsoil. Once full penetration to one metre depth was achieved there was suitable soil movement when the air blast was fired.” Fortunately the boulder layer was
restricted to a strip, approximately 8 metres wide, after which it petered out into heavy clay. Once Terrain reached this point, the work rate increased 5 fold. Having treated approx. 2,200 sq. metres of the worst affected areas, and watched
the surface water drain away, Terrain Aeration returned to Suffolk leaving the welsh ground staff to top dress and bring the depressed areas up to surface level. “The field dried out in 3 days,” said
Sullivan. “We had good weather and our cricket outfield was back in play immediately. We hosted three major games for the Ladies European Championship this summer, and brought the football pitch back into play in late Augustready for the first matches in early September.” Having foreseen the adverse effects of this concert and acted accordingly, Sullivan will not think twice about repeating the performance. “We now know that any further concerts or events of this nature will require similar aeration treatment after the event,” he confirms.
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