“The timing of spraying plays a large part in achieving the
best results” Paul Cawood
and enough water to get penetration through the grass to hit smaller weeds emerging beneath the grass canopy. Every time you calibrate the sprayer to treat a problem you should tailor the nozzle and spray quality to suit the task being performed. For example, herbicides work well with medium and coarse quality sprays, whilst fungicides work well at fine and medium quality sprays. Don’t ever think that one setting and one set of nozzles will be okay for the range of tasks that your sprayer is capable of doing. Refining it to do a specific job will deliver much better results! For example, worm cast control requires high water volumes to deliver the carbendazim into the soil profile where the worms are active. To achieve this you need at least 1000 litres - 1500 litres of water per hectare depending on your soil type. If you used this calibration and nozzle set up to spray a herbicide the sheer volume of water will wash the product onto and then off the weed leaf leaving the herbicide on the soil. This is an extreme example but does illustrate why water volume is crucial. The function of the water volume is to deliver the herbicide evenly and accurately on the target leaf achieving good and even coverage. As the leaf targets in grass are usually prostrate and well presented with very little canopy to penetrate, a high water volume is not needed. The timing of spraying plays a large
part in achieving the best result. The decision to treat weeds is usually made when they are getting so numerous that you feel that they are affecting the appearance of the course or ground or they are affecting the quality of the surface. When the decision to spray is made take account of the germination window of the type of the weeds you are treating.
The main flush for annuals and
perennials is from March to June. It is understandable that many managers wish to treat as early as possible to rid themselves of the problem, but spraying too early will only catch the weeds present at the time you spray. If you wait until you get higher levels of germination you will literally kill more weeds with the one spray. This may take patience and tolerance with the problem but you will get far better value from the herbicide you have paid for.
Herbicides and fungicides are expensive tools that have become a vital resource in the management of our leisure spaces. They should be used as a last resort when long term cultural techniques and IPM have not been able to achieve the desired affects. I hope this article has shed some light on the techniques that full time spraying professionals use to deliver high performance results for their clients. After all - if we didn’t deliver the results we promise, we wouldn’t be in business very long!
Green Flag Awards
SAMANTHA WARD, Technical Officer of Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council, explains how the National Green Flag Awards are reaping benefits
Standards are what we all have - it’s an inherent gift that drives us to do our best in all that we undertake. We strive for perfection in many different ways. In my capacity as Technical
Officer for Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council, the National Green Flag Awards allow me and my team the opportunity to achieve high standards in the workplace. The Green Flag Award has been in existence sinc 1996 and is the only national quality standard for parks and open spaces in the UK. It is amazing the effect it has, not only on the local community but also on the grounds maintenance staff who work and maintain our local parks. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Green Flag Awards and what it means, here is the low-down. Run by the Civic Trust, the Green Flag Award is a now the recognised standard of quality for local parks or open spaces. Many
local authorities strive for this acclaim and Calderdale is no exception. Getting a Green Flag literally means that your local park has hit the almost dizzying heights of perfection in the eight criteria set out in the Award handbook; A welcoming place, healthy, safe and secure, clean and well maintained, sustainability, conservation and heritage, marketing, community and management. The award is split into two elements, the desktop assessment or park
management plan, and the field assessment.For the latter it means that the park is scrutinised at an on-site visit by the independent Green Flag judges on judgement (sorry green flag judging) day. The park management plan is where I fit in. Putting down, in report format, elements such as what is happening in the park, what the aspirations are for the park and how these both fit into the wider context of Calderdale MBC is not an easy undertaking
but, surprisingly enough, I think I have found my niche.
The secret to a great park
management plan is knowing your park, knowing who uses the park and knowing what these users’ needs are to enjoy the park. We have Friends Groups and, at the many events staged in the parks, we get feedback from users on what they enjoy and want to see. Once you know these details the rest of the criteria fall into place. Not everything can be worked out and understood in an office environment though, that is why a regular visit to the park is essential. Park managers, groundsmen gardeners and area grounds maintenance teams are vital in achieving, and maintaining, high horticultural standards throughout the parks and open spaces and, ultimately, have a generous say in whether we attain the Green Flag Award.
This year we have submitted
four parks to the Civic Trust for the Green Flag Award; Manor Heath, Wellholme, Ogden Water and The People’s Park, the latter going in for the award for the first time (you have to resubmit every year for the award). I am hopeful that the Green Flag will be flying in all these parks later in the year. High standards are what I
have come to expect in both my own work and the work of others. The future looks promising as local parks and open spaces are moving away from blanket mowing and obligatory shrub bed maintenance, responding to user needs and bringing back ownership and pride with the inclusion of wildflower meadows and more sustainable horticultural planting schemes.
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