A local authority in Nottinghamshire has seen a marked improvement in its fine turf sports facilities since it adopted a prescribed fertiliser programme from specialist turf care suppliers Sherriff Amenity.
A few miles west of Nottingham, at Beeston and the surrounding areas, Broxtowe Borough Council has eight bowling greens with an average size of 1500m², two grass tennis courts, and four cricket pitches within its care. A team of four groundsmen under the direction of the Council’s Grounds Maintenance Manager Steve Woodward carry out all of the upkeep."Like many councils we were guilty of routinely applying fertiliser year on year with little lasting effect, sticking to products stipulated in grounds maintenance specifications dating back to competitive tendering days,” said Steve.
When several of the greens failed to respond to the usual fertiliser treatments Steve decided to investigate why and called in Sherriff Amenity to conduct soil analysis of all the Council’s fine turf facilities.
"Soil samples were collected from each site and Sherriff Amenity’s John Mullins produced an in depth site-by-site report for us with fertiliser recommendations for each of them,” said Steve.
John Mullins worked with Sherriff Amenity’s Technical Manager Joe Kinder to produce a report based on a careful laboratory analysis of the nitrogen, phosphate and potash levels in the soil samples. A variety of precisely formulated liquid and granular fertilisers from the extensive Sherriff Amenity range were specified to suit underlying conditions and a handy month-by-month planner with application rates set out the programme to follow for each of the Broxtowe Council sites. This was easy to follow and made the job very straightforward, according to Steve.
"We are now in the third year of using the Sherriff Amenity soil analysis service and the results have been astounding,” he said. "It has transformed our fine turf areas.
"We are now clearly tackling the specific needs of each site. We only purchase the products and quantities required to undertake the programme, and this means we are more accurate and less wasteful with fertiliser applications. There have also been notable cost savings.
"Where we once had complaints, we now receive compliments for the quality of our fine turf sport areas.” Sherriff Amenity has an active research and development programme, including trials at the STRI. Its countrywide team of BASIS qualified advisers can provide specific recommendations for feeding or treating any type of amenity turf based on conducted, thorough scientific analysis.