Winter Sports
“The only option was to carry on with appropriate aeration works and then, over time, begin to increase the depth of rootzone during end of season renovations”
Drew Duffy
end of season renovations. With no crown on the pitch, surface water was an additional problem, so the team, now without Dave Roberts, had to create one. Both issues were resolved by removing 10mm of vegetation, using a Koro, after weedkilling the pitch, power harrowing and topdressing with 350-400 tonnes of sand, carefully adding a crown, and returfing with 40mm thick, big-roll turf.
By 2008, Andy had achieved much of the desired results, and ongoing renovation has given him a profile of around 290mm, which is now draining very well. Following the returfing, the pitch has since been reseeded after renovations. Like most stadium pitches, the time to complete end of season renovations seems to be getting shorter. Last year, Andy had less than seven weeks to get the pitch back up and running, due to the club hosting an England U21 match on the 5th June.
Andy fraise mowed the pitch,
topdressed with 90 tonnes of sand and then hired a linear aerator from Kestrel to aerate the pitch at 50mm depth, before overseeding with sixteen bags of DLF Pro 81. He then applied twelve bags of 8:12:8 granular fertiliser. The pitch was then earthquaked at 200mm centres to help restore levels. The first cut was on the 23rd June using pedestrian rotary mowers. The pitch has an integral, automated irrigation system allowing efficient watering of the pitch any time of the day or night.
The first cut with the Dennis G760s was carried out on the 7th July, with the first set of matches - a triangular tournament - scheduled to take place on the 23rd July. Feeding and mowing was increased to maximise grass growth. PrimoMaxx was applied, at 1.2 litres per hectare, to help increase sward density and root mass whilst, at the same time, helping to reduce the amount of clippings taken during each
cut. The pitch is maintained at 25mm all year round. The pitch is cut regularly using the Dennis mowers, and is also brushed and verticut to help stand the sward up and help clear any surface debris. A range of liquid feeds are applied to
ensure the grass plant remains healthy, vigorous and retains a good colour. On match days, three full time staff
are on duty and seven regular volunteers come and help repair the pitch after the game has finished. Andy has a team of four full time groundstaff to help him. Graeme Mills is his assistant, along with Danny Silvestri, Peter Hall and Ian Lucas. It is important to replace the divots and heal over any scars. Depending on the time of the year, and when the next fixture is scheduled, usually dictates what other jobs need doing. The club has recently invested in
three SGL MU360 lighting rigs to help promote grass growth during the winter months. They only arrived in
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