Bar Extreme at 35g per m2
and the
other with a mix of Bar
Extreme and Bar Platinum. In the
first week of August, both strips were covered with
germination sheets and watered by hand with a
rose lance, on a little and often approach. Germination was thick and fast, with new seedlings popping through after
four days - the sheets were removed after seven days. After the second leaf stage, we were cutting regularly
with a sharp bladed rotary mower. Although not a text book
approach to creating additional wickets from scratch, with time, patience and experience on our side it was
cleaned up with the rotary, then we verti- drained down to 100mm with 1/2” tines. The surface was then cleaned up again, with the Wessex power brush, in readiness for seeding. We have always favoured dimple
seeders, because of the little and often approach. We normally use a pro-seeder or the SISIS Variseeder but, this time, we decided keep the tractor off the square after verti-draining to avoid any wheel marks, and used the sarrel roller cassette on our Dennis FT. Conditions had to be just right so, with time on our side, there was no rush. The sarrel was put across the square in three directions, leaving nice clean pods for the seeds to drop into. Scotts 8:12:8 pre-seed fertiliser was applied at 35g per m2
was spread with a cyclone spreader in two directions at 35g m2
. Bar Extreme seed . The seed was then
brushed in with an up, down and across motion with the drag brush until all the seed pods were hidden, and then the whole process was repeated one more time.
Once we were satisfied, we topdressed
by hand, one track at a time, and carefully worked the Kaloam into the holes left from the verti-drain with Trulutes. This can be time consuming, but well worth it. Any footmarks and undulations can be addressed as well. The two new strips were overseeded using the sarrel and seed spreader, and a light dressing of loam was applied with a SISIS Truspread, and dragmatted to level off. Finally, the square was roped off and left to recover. Our other cricket square was autumn
renovated in the same way. Core samples taken in February 2011 showed a buried thatch layer. A Graden has already been booked in to help address this at the end of our summer
equipment. We used our SISIS spring tined
rake - with spring coils facing away from the rear of the tractor, and tractor weights fitted to the frame - to gain extra down force. We have found this more aggressive approach very affective when tithing the surface prior to reseeding and topdressing our winter pitches - although it had never been tried on the cricket squares before! After raking the wicket in different directions in four passes, with the final pass down the wicket, we tilthed the surface to 10mm. This was removed with rakes, repeated and a further 10mm removed. We were surprised at the soil quality. The verti-drain came out at this point and hollow tined, down to about 70mm, the two strips as much as possible. We then applied Kaloam to fill holes, and luted in. A final tilth raking down to 10mm was performed to form a key and 30mm of Kaloam was applied, trodden in and raked repeatedly until the final levels were achieved, just being slightly proud to allow for any settlement over the winter. A Scotts 8:12:8 pre-seed fertiliser was applied, then one track was seeded with
done to a
budget, with all equipment and work carried out in house with just seed and loam required. Cost? £300. The plan now is to hollow core down to 100mm, once this season has finished, and topdress ready for play next season. With the new wickets coming on nicely,
our attention now turned to preparing for renovation to the rest of the square. All through August, the whole square was watered regularly and sarrel spiked to allow the elements to do their work. The second week in September saw conditions that were perfect, and the square was scarified down to 6mm in three directions, again with the tungsten tipped Dennis cassette. Debris was
term in July. This will also allow us to reseed our squares. We look forward to the challenge. Since renovations, there has been concern about our cricket loam availability for the future but, hopefully, this will get resolved and we can carry on improving our surfaces. I could very well be telling a different story now if the continuing supply of Kaloam becomes an issue. One thing we did learn from all of this
was never take anything for granted, work to your strengths and improve on your weaknesses.
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