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OVERSEEDING OVERSEED?
can occur. The entire court should be thoroughly washed about twice a year using clean water and a soft bristled broom although there are specialist companies who can pressure wash the surface with specialist equipment which can make the surface look like new.
Artificial Grass Courts
An artificial grass court usually comprises a tufted synthetic carpet laid onto a porous macadam base. Once the carpet has been installed, the pile is filled with specially graded, kiln dried sand.
turf surface has to be kept clean and free from leaves and organic deposits. A vital operation is to regularly sweep or ‘broom’ the surface to keep the pile upright and the sand agitated and evenly distributed. If the surface is not swept at least weekly, the pile and sand will compact. Sand levels should be checked regularly and the installer contacted if the level drops. Weeds often appear on artificial grass surfaces and can be pulled out by hand or treated with domestic weedkillers (check with installer first). Surfaces can be given a new lease of life by the removal of a proportion of the sand and replacement with new by specialist companies. This improves appearance, porosity and playing characteristics.
Clay and Shale Surfaces
Clay is a porous water-bound surface consisting of natural crushed stone, brick, tile or a combination. The traditional type of clay typically seen across Europe is known as Continental, European or Red Clay. There are also American Clay, Fast-Dry or Green Clay based on the same principle of construction, using local materials and derived from naturally occurring green stone.
As with macadam, the artificial
surface. It is therefore essential that any holes in the surface are immediately filled in. A flat bladed rake called a ‘loot’ is kept on the court and players must be encouraged to fill holes and loot the surface for the next set of players. New clay courts take some time to consolidate, and vigorous play and competition should be avoided on new courts. Check the line marking tapes for displacement and nail loss. Traditional clay courts need to be decompacted and partially rebuilt at the start of each season. This can vary according to the type of clay used, the installer must be consulted.
Natural Turf Surfaces
There are still grass courts around the country, but not so many are installed these days. The LTA have guidelines on their maintenance and, in general, they are in play from mid May to around mid September. The cost of maintenance is high and particular attention has to be paid to grass courts pre-season, so that a presentable surface is available prior to the start of Wimbledon fortnight! Bald patches in high wear areas such as baselines occur, so maintenance throughout the season must continue. This is again one for the experienced Groundsman. The importance of maintaining
your court cannot be emphasised enough. SAPCA have produced a Code of Practice for the Construction and Maintenance of Tennis Courts. This code, which contains detailed maintenance advice and a list of specialist tennis court contractors and consultants, can be freely downloaded from the SAPCA website
www.sapca.org.uk. The installer's maintenance advice for your court should also be followed and will be contained in the handover documentation.
POWEROLL ROLLERS
NEW AND USED
Tel: 01822 832608
www.poweroll.com
RUBBER CRUMB
The use of RUBBER CRUMB on grass as top dressing has been granted a PATENT in the UK and Ireland under Number EP0788301B1
TEBBUTT ASSO.
ARE THE LICENSEES with CROWN III rubber crumb Turf
Reinforcement, the licensed product. Contact Tebbutt Asso.
on 01253 342003 or Fax 01253 346644 e-mail:
tebbuttasso@btconnect.com www.tebbuttassociates.co.uk
intensive to maintain and the Groundsman’s skill and judgement often play a big part in successful maintenance. The maintenance process is a mixture of watering, brushing and rolling. The clay surface is readily displaced during play, which is the nature of the
This type of court is labour
About the author: Bob Froud is a Senior Consultant at Materials Science Consultants and its associated company, the Centre for Sports Technology. Bob has almost thirty years experience in court, pitch and athletics track construction and refurbishment projects.
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93
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SPRAYERS
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