Equestrian
The extensive machinery fleet includes five 100hp John Deere tractors which handle tasks from mowing to siting irrigation equipment
Cowdray Park - a vast site
Irrigation booms have replaced the previous raingun system, using less water and giving more accurate watering
hand in 2012, the club felt the time was right to drain it. New carrier drains and laterals were installed first, by local contractor ACS, which also takes care of spraying and sand spreading for the club. In 2013, gravel bands were added at 6m centres on the diagonal. To ensure perfect conditions with the right
amount of ‘cut’ in the turf, regardless of sunshine or the lively breezes that whip across the Sussex landscape, significant investment has also been made in irrigation equipment. “We made the decision to switch to boom
irrigators in 2011 and now have two Briggs booms and reels at the Lawns ground and two at Ambersham, with a raingun retained for use on the Brooksfield pitch. Booms use twenty percent less water than rainguns, and their accuracy is not affected by the wind in the same way,” says Julian. It can take ten hours to apply 20mm of
Whilst a reel mower is used for most of the pitch maintenance, a Major roller mower comes in handy for firming divots as well as for cutting surrounds and public areas
water across the grounds and two hours to set up so, in dry conditions, Julian and his team get the reels going by 9.00am and will also water through the night. Water is abstracted from the River Rother, under an Environment Agency licence, to a ring main and fed to the system via electric and diesel pumps; installing a reservoir to share with the estate was considered, but
the sheer volume needed makes it cost- prohibitive. Mowing follows an exacting regime with
each pitch cut every thirty-six hours in the peak season, stretching to forty-eight hours later in the year and then to once a week in the winter. Kesmac reel mowers, with a 6.1m cut, were chosen for their ability to fold for transport down the narrow lanes and are used from April to September; Major and Wessex roller mowers are also in the fleet, their main role in the season being to cut surrounds and to help flatten and smooth divots.
Cut height is 25mm in the season and 40mm in the winter, and Julian comments: “Some clubs use 18-20mm cut heights, but I believe that longer grass encourages rooting and reduces stress. It’s not necessary to cut so tight if you scarify, brush and groom the pitches.” Scarification is carried out every three to
four weeks using Amazone 210 scarifier/sweepers and the club also has the use of a 9mm spring tine harrow to pull out debris, which is then collected by the Amazones. Sand spreading on the pitches is a
technique first popularised by cricket guru and polo enthusiast Kerry Packer, and
94 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2014
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