RANT not just the
A few weeks ago I popped over to a large LEA school to watch my son play in an away rugby match for his school. On arriving, I was confronted with the usual long drive towards the main school entrance with pitches on either side and a car park at the end. Now this is 2006 with an Olympics in 2012. So why was the grass not cut? Lines were burnt in, uneven growth and no stripes. Presentation!! Perhaps one reason goes
back to 1988 when, in local government, Compulsive Competitive Tendering was introduced. This meant the dismantling of the traditional structure of schools having their own on-site groundsman and equipment. At that time sport also had an important role to play, with a good structure of fixtures. Suddenly a mobile team of three came in to school to cut and mark the pitch once every two weeks, if possible or if lucky. Competitive sport was a bad word. Heads were given the task
of offering maintenance contracts with little or no advice or guidance as to what was really needed. Finance dictated just how good or bad the contract for maintaining fields would be.
This must be changed if we, who care about profession, are to prosper. Professional groundsmen should be involved in the decision making and setting of standards. Perhaps a benchmark could be set for the maintenance of a grass pitch, i.e., 30 cuts per year, aeration four times, feeding four times, seeding twice, weed killing twice. Worm suppressants could be used and top dressing. This will have a cost but, if
we value our children’s future on quality fields, then so be it. There will be many visitors
to this school including prospective parents, current staff, pupils, and visiting opposition. The grounds will be the first thing that they will see so their first impression must
An opportunity to put your point of view on a subject that is bugging you. This issue James Mead, Head Groundsman at Rugby School, says that presentation is important -n grounds but also the grounds staff
Slender Speedwell
be a good one. The entrance of any establishment is a major selling point and a marker for the standards therein. As a profession, presentation must be placed high on our list of objectives. We see major grounds in the
country, including Wimbledon, Twickenham and Lord’s, all looking magnificent on TV. We expect them to look good, so why not give the same presentation at all levels of competitive sport. We can achieve this within most areas using various equipment towed behind a triple or tractor, i.e. dragmat brush or light roller. When cutting make it more fun and show your skills of precision. If you are hiring aeration equipment, tell the contractor how you want the pitch to look afterwards. Remember that a vertidrain can leave a fantastic finish.
Last but not least, look at
ourselves. We should set the right image in appearance. Smart clothing sets the tone for all to see. After all, we are professionals with an extremely important role to play. We are all proud of our
industry and should show everyone just how good we can be.
Want to rant about something turf related? Send us your comments, plus a photo, to
peter@pitchcare.com
(Veronica filiformis)
Slender Speedwell is a garden escapee, introduced from the Caucasus in the 1830’s. In Ireland it was sewn into the clothes of travelers for good luck, to ‘speed’ them on their journey. If you want to introduce some to your sports ground, go to the herb section of the local garden centre!
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: Prostrate and low growing with creeping slender stems
SITUATION: This weed grows on all soil types, in particular moist soils.
GROWTH: Grows via small creeping stems and will adapt to close mowing regimes with ease.
FLOWERS: Flowers are silvery/blue/mauve/violet in colour and appear on thin flower stems from April to June. More often than not, this weed can flower at the same time as the first crop of Dandelions in the spring.
LEAVES: Leaves are small, kidney-s
shaped and toothed.
Small fragments of stem can root if they have broken off during the actions of mowing. Rarely forms seed as plants are self-f
fertile.
CULTURAL CONTROL MEASURES: Hand weeding - Individual weeds can be carefully lifted with a fork or pulled out by hand. Ensure all portions of root and stem are
root at nodes and produce new plants. Pieces of root/shoot broken off from the parent plant can also re-r
root from the nodes.
REPRODUCTION: By vegetative reproduction -u over-g
ground creeping stems will underground and
to prevent flower and seed heads forming. Remove all clippings after mowing to prevent spread of seed -jjust in case. A dressing of Lawn Sand applied in the spring will help to keep the weed under control as the Iron in the Lawn Sand will scorch the leaves. Feed and top- dress to encourage vigorous growth of the turf grasses.
Remove existing plants; rake vigorously to raise runners, mow closely and remove all stems to prevent re-r
lifted to prevent re-g growth. rooting. Mow regularly
CHEMICAL CONTROL MEASURES: Slender Speedwell is a difficult weed to control after just one herbicide treatment, despite what the chemical label states! The time to apply a selective herbicide is just before the flowering stage, which, if in early spring, is not warm enough for the turf that it resides in to be growing normally. Control is less effective after flowering. Apply little and often, spraying again six weeks after the initial treatment in order to gain better control.
These selective herbicides have Slender Speedwell control listed on their labels:
Mascot Bastion T -F and Mecoprop -P
Spearhead -C Mecoprop -P P (Rigby Taylor)
Diflufenican and MCPA (Bayer) Lawn Clear -F
Products) Always read the label -u
pesticides safely
Fluroxypyr and P (Vitax Amateur
use
With thanks to Mike Seaton, Weed Free
www.weedfree.co.uk
Clopyralid, Fluroxypyr
OF THE MONTH
WEED
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