RUGBY
We have the pitch Pro- Cored once a month at a depth of five inches, and verti-drained to eight inches three times a season
”
tells me he would love the club to invest in lighting rigs. “I have looked at the rigs, but at present, they are out of our price range, but this may change in the future with the planned expansion of the stadium.” Alongside the stadium are four full-size sand/clay-based rugby pitches, a new SiS Rugby 60 3G pitch, which was installed ten weeks ago, and four mini juniors’ pitches, again sand/clay based. They are also looking to expand the site in the future and build two more full-size rugby pitches. Lee talks me through the renovation and maintenance regime on the Eclipse Hybrid pitch. “The top gets taken off using a special machine, getting as much grass out of the mat as possible. It’s then verti-drained at a depth of eight inches, 150 tonnes of medium sand spread evenly over the surface and brushed in. It’s then overseeded with thirty bags of grass seed - a mixture of Perennial and RPR ryegrass cultivars - and a pre-seed fertiliser applied at 35gm2
.”
Lee uses the Dennis G860s to cut the pitch on a regular basis at the height of
We use mainly liquids as, with the players going on the pitch training every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, getting granular on is difficult
” 108 PC December/January 2019
35mm, twice a day in the summer and, as winter approaches, they will cut when required. As I write, however, they were cutting at three times a week [early November].
He uses an outside contractor to carry out his aeration programme. “We have the pitch Pro-Cored once a month at a depth of five inches, and verti-drained to eight inches three times a season. We do this to relieve compaction, but also to help get our roots down. The last sample I took they were down to seven inches, which I was more than happy with being a sand based construction.” He will use the Browns rake to tickle through the surface to help remove any dead grass and debris once a month, then will clean up with the Allett RM34 rotary mowers. Lee likes to take soil samples from the pitch every six months, which is undertaken by his local sales rep. He will then have a fertiliser programme drawn up from the results and try and keep to it but, with many factors to consider, this can be changed.
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