Educational Establishments
Machinery acquisitions in the last five years
The school has helped us in maintaining a rolling programme of capital machinery replacement. These are the items we have procured over the last five years:
Amazone GHLT 150 Groundkeeper
Toro Reelmaster 3100D (non sidewinder)
Wiedenmann XD6 TerraSpike aerator John Deere 4720 tractor Lloyds Paladin mower (with groomer)
Dennis G860 cylinder mower (with verticut cassette)
Kubota G21 Glidecut ride on rotary mower
Ransomes Super-Certes cylinder mower (with groomer)
Sisis S1000 trailed sweeper Vauxhall Vivaro works van Ifor Williams 16ft twin axle trailer E-Z-Go petrol golf buggy
Spring Renovations 2014
This year, after a second consecutive and exceptionally wet winter, we propose to spend more money than ever on the pitches renovations to aid their recovery and restore levels. We have fourteen winter sports pitches and we plan to fertilise and overseed all of them, and topdress the two pitches that have suffered the most, namely the 1st XV rugby pitch and training grid area and the 1st XI football pitch. We are going to apply eighty bags of , 120
Barenbrug BAR 7 RPR at 25g/m2
bags of Vitax Enhance R outfield fertiliser at 35g/m2
and 145 tonnes of PM35 sand
topdressing to the two pitches - 50 tonnes on the football pitch, 60 tonnes on the rugby pitch and 15 tonnes on the training area. The rest will be used on worn goalmouths and other worn areas. We will use our Amazone Groundkeeper to cut down and lightly scarify all the pitches, then follow up by aerating to a depth of 200mm using ¾” solid tines at 150mm spacings using the Wiedenmann
Terraspike. We have hired in a Vredo seeder to apply the seed, followed by the application of fertiliser. We have also hired in a Charterhouse 1005 topdresser to apply the sand topdressing. This work will take place during the last two weeks of March.
Future project - winter sports pitches re-levelling and drainage
Due to the increasingly wet winters (and summers!) we are experiencing, we are now looking at the feasibility of re- levelling and installing of drainage in our winter sports pitches. At present, all the pitches consist of natural soil with no installed drainage systems. The soil consists of a reasonable loamy topsoil, but this varies in depth across the site and the subsoil is a make up of medium to heavy clay. Many pitches have become more and more uneven on the surface and need attention. So, I shall look at each pitch on an individual basis and carry out some trial digs to ascertain the depth of topsoil and measure the variables of surface levels,
with a view to spraying off the vegetation, stripping the topsoil, regrading the sub soil, installing pipe drainage, replacing the topsoil and re-seeding. After installing secondary drainage, I shall instigate a programme of maintenance to the secondary drainage on an annual basis to ensure that it remains effective.
Staff
The team consists of seven full time staff - five groundsmen and two gardeners. We have myself, who has worked here for 11½ years; Liam Screech, Deputy Head Groundsman - 7 years; Gary Parsons, Groundsman - 35 years; Chris Oldham, School Gardener - 2 years; Lee Monsey, Assistant Gardener - 2 years. We have one member of staff who left at the end of January - Gary Higgins - he has defected across town to work as Deputy Head at Queen’s College! At the time of writing, we are recruiting for Gary’s replacement and also for another groundsman, as the other ‘current’ member of staff has moved on elsewhere.
100 PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014
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