watering of the strip to a depth 100mm, covering for up to thirty six hours and allowing it to dry out slowly. This was followed by a programme of cutting and brushing, plus rolling in half hour sessions, for the first three days of the preparation cycle. Ten days before a game the rolling time was increased to one hour, split into three twenty minute sessions. Total rolling time for each pitch was around six hours.
The final height of cut was 4mm using
the Protea mower. Andy could go no lower due to the uneven levels of the square and the risk of scalping. The pitches were then marked up ready for play.
By mid June the condition of the strips had improved greatly and offered some consistent bounce and pace, although they were a bit green in colour. Even so, the international games played throughout July and August scored good marks from the umpires.
By the end of the season, seventy games had been played on the square, a great achievement on a ten strip square.
End of season renovations
The main aim was to get rid of the Annual Meadow Grass, renovate the surface, restore levels and overseed. It was a case of continuous cutting, brushing and verticutting until the surface was clean. The square was scarified in three passes at 20 degree angles using a tractor mounted Koro
collector set to a depth of 8mm using 2mm wide blades.
A bag and half of Rigby Taylor R9 was applied at 40g/m2
and brushed in. Then
the surface was dampened down ready for the variseeder to run over it in several directions. The square was heavily topdressed, with twelve bags of Ongar Loam used on each strip to rectify the poor levels. Germination sheets were used and the seed was up within ten days.
The grass was allowed to establish and
reach the two leaf stage before getting its first cut using pedestrian rotary mowers. Height of cut was then reduced to 25mm for the winter. A preventative fungicide was applied to
control disease along with a couple of applications of autumn/winter feeds that included a dose of iron sulphate. Andy is contracted to return to the club every third week throughout the winter period (October-March) to keep an eye on the square and to carry out the relevant winter maintenance regimes, including an aeration programme. The VRA club have been very
impressed with the improvements Andy has achieved in his first year as Head Groundsman, and are now keen to further improve the quality and standard of their pitches and practice net facilities. So, if all things work out, Andy will be back next year to take the club on to the next stage of the development plan whilst, at the same time, encouraging other Dutch clubs to follow suit.
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