Coping with
DROUGHT Ten tips for the professional landscaper working with turf
1 Plan ahead to prevent the turf drying out: don’t have more turf delivered in a day than you can lay.
2 Only buy your turf from a TGA grower or a stockist supplied by one: that way you’ll know the turf is fresh when you buy it.
3 Buy the right grade of turf for the job in hand. Your TGA approved grower or stockist will have the knowledge to help you.
4 When your turf is delivered to site stack it in a shady place with the aim of laying all that is delivered in the course of the day.
5 Prepare and wet the ground immediately before laying and incorporate a water-retaining soil conditioner to keep the soil moist.
6 To conserve water usage, lay and water-in no more than 20% of the delivery at a time. This means the first turf laid won’t have totally dried out when you reach the end.
7 In the days following, water only either in the early morning or in the early evening so the sun doesn’t burn off the water you’ve added.
8 Give the turf a light rolling to ensure good contact with the soil underneath.
9 Hold back on the mowing: the blades of grass should be at least one inch in height.
10 As the lawn establishes over the first month water less and less frequently.
After a month the turf should be well established and ready for your client to enjoy
TGA on the web -
www.turfgrass.co.uk
become the norm” “Grass is so
environmentally friendly, it’s one of the best converters of CO2 to oxygen there is. At the 2012 Olympics there are targets that all the stadia should be CO2 friendly, but if there’s hospepipe bans how can we green the games if there’s no grass?” Across the industry, the feedback from customers suggests that as long as the hosepipe bans continue buyers are likely to have strong reservations about buying turf.
“Sales of our turf had not suffered until the beginning of this week, when demand has slowed in reaction to the forecast for a hot, dry spell,” says Tim Fell from Tillers Turf. “The domestic market will be affected first. We have calls every day now from homeowners asking for advice about laying turf under the present water restrictions. Except for the three water areas in the south east of England where drought orders have been approved, other areas with hosepipe bans can still use watering cans to water their newly laid turf. However, except for quite small lawns it’s not practical to water with a watering can, so we are advising people to delay turfing until later in the year.”
The longer the drought goes on, he adds, the likelihood of a confrontation between the turf industry and water companies will soon be inevitable. “Many professional landscapers are still turfing on the grounds
that they feel the water companies are sympathetic when livelihoods are at stake,” he explains. “However, if the drought gets more severe during the summer, the water companies may be forced into taking a hard line.” Despite these problems on the immediate horizon he says that strong sales to date this year will enable his company to withstand a lean summer sales period. “It’s not this year that concerns me,” he stresses. “If the south east gets a third dry winter in a row then I think next year will be much more difficult. Drought orders put in place now could well be extended into next spring and beyond. Traditional turf buyers may well start looking for alternatives. That’s why it is very important that the TGA continues lobbying the water companies for an exemption for newly laid turf. The environment gains hugely through the activities of turf suppliers because of turf ’s ability to convert CO2 emissions into oxygen. Turf is also the best surface for absorbing winter rainfall and recharging the underground aquifers. God help us if artificial lawns become the norm.” To fight off such
threats, he adds, many in the turf industry are looking to introduce more resilient turf that is better equipped to deal with drought. “We were the first turf growers in Europe to recognise the benefits of rhizomatous tall fescue (RTF) in tolerating drought, and
“We will be less inclined towards close cut mowing”
CHRIS CARR, Q Lawns
“God help us if artificial lawns
TIM FELL, Tillers Turf
we sold our first crop in 2003. We have doubled our acreage each year since then as demand grows. RTF is unique in how it grows. It produces a really nice dense hard- wearing sward, and at the same time sends roots 1.5m deep into the soil. It produces three times as much root as perennial ryegrass, so you can see why it might withstand drought better. It stays greener than other grasses during dry spells, and has the ability to recover completely with the first rains. Species like this will go a long way toward improving turf quality during the summer.”
That may be the case, but according to other suppliers increasing pressure may be forced upon them to do more business in autumn and winter.
“Sales of turf are
undoubtedly suffering as a result of the drought orders,” admits Stephen Fell from Lindum Turf. “The wet May was only a temporary respite, and the hot dry spell that followed has reinforced the fact that you cannot risk laying turf at all if you cannot water it. Thankfully Lindum Turf
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