Dolphin fountain
The most serious problem Peter inherited was a layer of thatch on the grass courts, which was up to 25mm deep in places!
Formal gardens Herbaceous Border
None of the thirty grass tennis courts or the ten croquet lawns were originally constructed for their current levels of usage. They were all areas of what, one hundred years ago, were riverside fields that had been levelled and ‘converted’ into sports surfaces. The two bowling greens were purpose built although, like all the other surfaces, there’s no drainage systems installed. This rarely presents a problem as the indigenous soil is an extremely free draining dark sandy loam, sitting on top of an equally free draining sandy gravel. “To improve the binding qualities of the grass court soils we have implemented a hollow coring programme to integrate new loam into the courts, introducing a 12% clay content loam” said Peter. “The indigenous clay content is under 6% but we have now raised that to around 12-14%. This has improved the playing quality without reducing the after-rain playability, which is important, as we do not cover them during wet weather.” “We buy the tennis loam from
New mess room
Surrey Loams and the sand (CH45) from Ruffords, it being exactly the same sand as in our previously used topdressing, but without the loam content.” The most serious problem Peter inherited was a layer of thatch on the grass courts which was up to 25mm deep in places! Whilst a vigorous scarification programme, using Huxley tractor mounted scarifiers, made some impression it was clear that more dramatic action was needed to eliminate it. “We embarked on a programme, not of thatch reduction, but of thatch elimination using a Koro Field Topmaker. With regular in season thatch control and end of season thatch removal we have changed the courts from spongy, slow and low to firm and fast. This programme has certainly improved the performance of the courts.” “We are now intending to use
New workshop 10
the Koro to reinstate levels on the courts, again organising a rolling programme of refurbishment with the aim of completing a couple of courts per year.” “We maintain the croquet lawns and bowling greens in a similar way to a golf green, implementing
a comprehensive hollow coring and pure sand topdressing programme to improve sward composition, increase green speed and combat any surface drainage problems.” Together with the improvements in the playing facilities, during Peter’s tenure there has been an increase in the level of equipment and machinery. “I recognised that moving staff, machinery and materials around the site was very time consuming so, one of my first purchases was a fleet of John Deere Gators” said Peter. “They have certainly helped make transport more efficient. We also purchased John Deere 220 pedestrian mowers and a triple mower with groomers for mowing the courts and lawns.”
“In addition, we bought a six
metre Gator mounted sprayer to enable us to implement a programme of liquid feeding and soil conditioning. The investment of a chemical tank-mixing unit also improved the capabilities of our feeding regimes.” “Liquid feeding is proving to be
more cost effective, and more responsive, with good results being noted in colour and growth and health of the sward.” “We also invested in an Allett Big John tractor mounted deep scarifier which has speeded up the process of scarifiying the courts and lawns.” Peter has also been improving the sward quality of the tennis courts and has gradually changed the composition from fescue/bent into a predominantly pure perennial rye sward, each and every year sowing a new blend of pure rye grasses, along with increasing the frequency of mowing and cultural operations to improve sward density. Croquet lawns 7, 8, 9 and 10 are part of the cricket outfield. They are open for play every day between September and March and for corporate hire and tournament use during the summer, while lawns 1-4 are prepared for the summer months. The grass tennis courts are opened in May and close for refurbishment at the end of September. Similarly, the cricket facilities are used between April and September
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