Technical
TWENTY Questions
Simon Taylor - whatever you do, don’t drop litter, especially if he’s on his bike behind your car!
Frost damage on annual ryegrass
“Climate change will create new combinations of winter stresses and, in many cases, increasing stress for perennial plants”
grounds. For amenity grass breeders, success is all about selecting new breeding stock with the correct genetic background in the first place. Species is a huge factor and, over thousands of years of
evolution, certain grasses have adapted to surviving cold winter climates. Unfortunately, these very characteristic make most of these naturalised grasses unsuitable for the rigorous demands of our sports grounds. We don’t want grasses that virtually hibernate for the winter. Groundsmen are, therefore, attracted to grasses that grow at every opportunity in periods of increased winter temperature,
but a word of caution. The Annual Ryegrass types have very poor winter hardiness, and ground cover will be very much compromised during the winter. Through real winter conditions all Annual Ryegrasses will be killed completely, as turf-trials have shown. The accompanying images demonstrate this to great effect. Amenity perennial
ryegrasses still offer the best combination of winter durability and ground cover characteristics for groundsmen in the UK. They are a tried and tested formula that works and reduces the risk of losing valuable ground cover during our unpredictable winters.
Who are you? Simon Taylor, UK Sales and Marketing Manager for Euro Grass B.V.
Family status?
Married, two boys. One at Uni studying to be an Osteopath. Younger son just finishing his A levels.
Who’s your hero and why? Barry Sheene. He was demon on a 500.
What is your dream holiday? On a push bike in the Italian Alps.
What annoys you the most? Too much talking and not enough action.
What would you change about yourself? My age. Too much to do in so little time.
Who wouldn’t you like to be? Silvio Berlusconi, the ex Italian Prime Minister.
Favourite record, and why? Maggie May by Rod Stewart, because it reminds me of the great summer of 1976.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? Got to be my wife. This is going to print!
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Buy a pint at my local, because it would probably only be a tenner.
If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be and why? A guitar because there’s more than one string to my bow.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Don’t see things as a problem, but as a challenge.
What’s your favourite smell? Freshly ploughed earth.
What do you do in your spare time? Anything outdoors, but my real passion is cycling.
What’s the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? If I sow your seed now, when could I expect to use my lawn. It was December!
What's your favourite piece of kit? My legs, they take me everywhere.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Tenacious, trustworthy, loyal.
What talent would you like to have? To be able to sing in tune!
What makes you angry? People throwing rubbish out of car windows.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? A six month jail sentence for dropping litter.
Trials showing frost damage with an easterly wind DECEMBER/JANUARY 2012 PC 119
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156