FOOTBALL


I tend to keep a few selective weed guns for spot treating any new


”


weeds that pop up. I will normally apply another knapsack treatment


towards the end of the playing season


with the Hayter as I find the rotary blade is good for lifting debris. I do not tend to mow the pitch too often with the Hayter though as it is a job that takes five hours of my time!” he said.


Weed control


William carries out weed control himself using both selective and total weed killer applications. The first treatment is applied in early April to target early growth of dandelion and daisy plants.


“Daises are not present on the pitch, but do grow in the grass behind both goals, as does clover. Greater plantain is the biggest problem weed on the pitch, although their numbers are reducing year on year.” “The chemical is applied through the CP20 knapsack, mostly using the spot treatment technique. It may be more time consuming using this method but it is proving to be effective in reducing weed numbers, and the chemical will last me longer, saving the club money at the same time.” “After the first application of the season, I


Divot repairs are another weekly task and I start this as quickly as possible following a


” game. It’s another time-


consuming job but a very important one to help maintain good surface levels


48 PC August/September 2020


tend to keep a few selective weed guns for spot treating any new weeds that pop up. I will normally apply another knapsack treatment towards the end of the playing season, just before my renovation works commence, because I know that, when the new seed begins to germinate, I can’t be putting chemicals near it.”


“I will put another spray on sometime in July and continue to spot treat weeds right through to the end of the growing season. Weeds were a major problem on the pitch when I first took this job and I made it one of my highest priorities to tackle.” “Thankfully, with nearly five years of battling weeds, I have made significant progress in reducing quantities of weeds. As well as pitch weeds, I am responsible for weeds growing on hard surfaces, such as the terracing and car parks and, similar to the pitch weed story, weed infestations on the terracing was pretty serious five years ago. Thankfully, a sustained effort by me has greatly reduced weeds growing on the terracing,” said William.


Nutrition


Granular fertiliser is applied to the pitch four times per year using a combination of spring and summer, autumn/winter and slow release fertilisers.


“For spring and summer application I use a 27:6:6 mix from Turfcare in County Kildare, a particularly good one for an early spring growth boost, as well as Pearl 16:16:16. 15:0:30 is my usual autumn/winter use fertiliser. Another mix I like to use is 12:11:18 Yara Mila complex as it gives me up to eight weeks longevity and is supplied to me through Orchard County Enterprises based in County Armagh. I apply the fertiliser using the ICL AccuPro 2000 rotary spreader.” “Last year, for the first time, I introduced regular liquid feeds, mostly nitrogen and iron-based, to give the grass a boost of colour. Some of the products I used were Pearl Mag N and Liquid Iron 7 supplied by Turfcare. Mixed into the same tank as the feed was Primo Maxx, with the aim of reducing top growth and encouraging lateral stem development.”


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