CONSERVATION & ECOLOGY


which acts as the grounds team’s shed.”


The site has one rugby pitch and one football pitch, both of which are natural grass, as well as a hard surface netball court amongst the gardens. Penny has been enjoying the challenge of involving sportsturf care into her schedule more than in any of her previous roles. This culminated in a recent publicity story and machinery purchase via Kubota. Penny said: “I’m just coming up on three years here. I’d previously been a gardener or assistant head gardener. When I was offered the job, I’d been reluctant to give up the gardening aspect.” “But, when I got here, I saw what the grounds were like and realised why they’d asked. It’s really nice here, and I can continue with managing the gardens as well as the turf.”


“Because there are restrictions here on it having to maintain the appearance of a Georgian period landscape, there are certain criteria we have to stay within.” “That goes right down to the specifics of the types of benches we use, the types of fencing, and all those kinds of factors. That also adds to the interest of the job, though.”


“Some of my focus, since I arrived, has been planning the revamping of tired planted areas, especially outside the older halls of residence near the entrance.” “There are, of course, the sporting areas on the site too. They are quite difficult, because they sit at the bottom of a hill and they don’t drain all that well.” “We’re trying to bring in programmes to improve surface playability on those. Another of our sites is about to be developed for


sports too, which has better natural drainage.”


“In one of my previous positions, I


worked in a turf department. I could bring in plenty of similar skills from that, and we’ve also gone through the gradual process of introducing new machinery.” “We aerate far more regularly than we used to. We have just begun to consider introducing artificial drainage, because it needs something to give it that extra bit of help.”


“The university now owns a Toro


LT-F3000 flail mower and a Trimax Snake, which are recent purchases and have helped the standard of cut on the pitch.” “We also verti-drain via a local contractor, which we aim for now around twice per year. We topdressed with drainage sand not long ago, but we are starting to implement a regular regime.” “There are summer schools on campus at the moment and, although it’s only recreational, we have to set up pitches for them. Not having a practice area makes it more difficult due to wear.” And where Penny and I stood was the walkway from the forest, across those pitches and up the ponds, through all of which the newts make their annual pilgrimage. It’s a pleasure to see an institution like a modern university paying such attention to


harmonising with creatures already on-site, as it too often seems such a low priority on the agendas of large companies when plotting their building projects.


128 PC August/September 2018


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156