Winter Sports - Football
River Severn and was regularly flooded in winter as the river broke its banks. The new stadium pitch was constructed with Loksand, but eight years of topdressing had buried this up to 100mm below the surface. The reinforced sand construction extended only to a couple of metres outside the playing area, leaving another five metres or so of thick heavy clay soil to the tarmac path that surrounds the grass. This 1800 square metres of poor draining soil is the polar opposite of the free draining sand pitch in the middle and the use of the integrated irrigation system is not as easy as it should be. We sprayed the existing grasses with glyphosate on the 18th May, and Koroed off the surface right up to the tarmac edge on the 23rd. We then ‘Shockwaved’ the pitch area to decompact the profile, before
applying 80 litres of Biomass Sugar to help remove any nematode activity. On the 26th and 27th May, we cultivated
the top 75mm using a power harrow, firmed the surface with tractor wheels and then spread 60 tonness of concentrated Loksand over the pitch surface. This was then power harrowed and mixed into the existing rootzone. Whilst this was being done, we applied 250kg of Lebanon 25:0:5 slow release fertiliser and 260kg of Turf Food Myco 2, an organic slow release feed. Once the cultivation was concluded, the
pitch was again firmed with tractor tyres, before grading started using a Blec box grader. During the grading, the area was irrigated to help keep the material moist to ensure a good finish. When we were happy with the levels, the pitch was then seeded using the Blec
Groundmaker (slot seeder) using MM50 seed at a higher rate of 55g/m2
. The pitch was then fertilised with 9:7:7
pre-seed and lightly rolled. The irrigation was then implemented and,
for the next few days, the system was programmed 4-5 times each 24 hours to make sure that the surface wouldn’t dry out. Our contract officially started on the 1st June; it was a big change for Richard and Andrew. Richard had holiday booked for the first two weeks and went off to the Balearics, whilst Andrew came into the office on the first day and handed in his notice. I felt for the guys as they’d put their life and soul into the pitches. The start of June was cold, and we waited
eight days for the first germination anywhere on the area. We’d also ascertained, looking at the patterns on the bare surface, that the
“
The results that came back painted an even darker picture. Both the iron and phosphate levels were through the roof, everything else was through the floor. The only saving grace was that pH was at 6.5
PC OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2015 I 71
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