FOOTBALL
night of rain. We have had some numbers in the gauge ranging from 5mm, to the gauge overflowing at 30mm plus. This has given me numerous headaches, as I’m sure groundspersons and greenkeepers all over the country have experienced. I’ve lost at least two feeds due to heavy rain that’s not been forecast.”
“At the end of August, I had a game which was changed to a Friday night for TV. I planned to feed that week with a 15:5:15 slow release and, due to different things, I couldn’t get it applied. The forecast for that evening said rain so, I decided to stay late after the game to get it down. This would give me the two days of the weekend to give it the best chance to wash in. I’m pretty sure it rained for the next twenty-four hours! Hence, I’ve been pretty unlucky with some feeds.” “It’s not been all bad though! The
pitch is handling water very well after the renovations and, a few weeks ago, a fellow groundsman was good enough to loan me a Blec dimple seeder and I managed to get nine bags on the pitch. I have also earthquaked the pitch going down to a depth of 5 inches - which is as deep as I dare to go with the undersoil heating pipes in at various depths, some as shallow as 6 inches. It was badly needed after we had a community fun day with five hundred children on it plus parents!” “The pitch has been getting some great comments from the team, coaches, opposition, directors and fans. So that’s always good to hear. It’s been a pleasure to work on and is in pretty good shape going into winter.”
Dale has an average fertiliser budget for the pitch, so he likes to make use of slow- release granular products and liquids. But he expects the inputs needed to maintain the pitch this season will dramatically increase with having a clean surface to work with, plus the extra drainage work. “Last year, I used applications of ICL Proturf, Sportsmaster and Sierrablen. I found I got great results using these products and they gave me the longevity I was looking for. I will continue to use them this season. The pitch is only six weeks in, and I have applied two granular feeds and
one liquid feed, which includes seaweed and chelated iron. This leads me to believe the pitch is leaching nutrient through a lot quicker than in previous seasons. It is a good indicator that the work done in pre- season is working, but at the same time, my fertiliser budget will increase.” The machinery Dale must work with is getting dated, and he would like to be able to update it in the future. “I have inherited everything I have got; the Jacobson T3 ride-on mower was bought in May 2016 on hire purchase a few months before I started. The Dennis G860 is from 2002 and was bought secondhand and is in desperate need of replacement, and the cylinder cassette has only one or two more regrinds left in it. I have an Iseki tractor which is around ten to twelve years old and was bought on hire purchase at the time. A piece of kit I wouldn’t be without is the Toro Pro-core, which was also purchased secondhand, and I have a sprayer which I don’t even know how old it is.” I asked Dale what would be first on his wish list if he was able to replace a piece of equipment and if there is one piece of kit he believes would help improve the surface. “I would love a new Dennis G860; this would enable me to hand mow the pitch a lot more often as our current machine is on its last legs. For clean-up, after a game, I would like a
I can’t wait now to see if what we have done this
pre-season will pay dividends this year. I have already seen some slight improvements in the percolation rates
PC December/January 2020 65
“
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
