EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS


Prep school


of the year, in the position we are in, I am very proud of what we have achieved and how the team are beginning to develop our grounds and gardens.”


The current team includes six groundstaff ; George Skinner, Richard Reynolds, David Naylor, Reza O’Donnell, Karim McIver, Ben Scott and gardener Tom Middleton. Ed continues: “Currently, one of my main focuses is the fertiliser programme. Even through Covid-19, I’m happy with how this has been implemented on the main pitches at the Upper site. We kept these pitches the best we could with skeleton staffi ng, as we never really knew when pupils would return. We fertilised with ICL Sierrablen Plus in March and overseeded at the same time. Due to a very dry spring, it took some time for the seed to germinate but, once we got the rain and everything kicked in, we managed to get a few applications of Primo Maxx down mixed with liquid iron. In August, we fertilised again with


the Sierrablen Plus (to get us through winter) and also got one spray of the Primo Maxx down again. Now, when you look at these pitches, we have great grass coverage and the sward is really thickening up. Over the winter period and into spring, I plan to spray with biostimulants and iron to keep the plant healthy and recovering.” “Sadly, due to staffi ng levels and what was likely to be in play, this process could not be rolled out over all sites and the biggest hit was at Abington. With this site being out of town, and mainly used for fi xtures, it was clear that it would not be in use for quite some time. However, we now have one of the team (Richard) up there full-time. He has got back on top of the site and, as a result of the attention, it really is looking good. We still haven’t fertilised there, as we still can’t see fi xtures being played anytime soon. What we are trying to avoid is a big peak in growth and to be under pressure, when we just don’t know what the


A well-presented pitch is not just a stripe on a pitch, it shows that work has been carried out and pride has been taken whilst doing it


Left to right: George Skinner, Tom Middleton, Karim McIver, Reza O’Donnell, Ben Scott, Ed Ramsden and David Naylor


68 PC February/March 2021


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