Pitch care and the promotion of groundsmanship

2667873 — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:15:00 GMT

We are at the time of year where are preparing the pitches for the forthcoming winter. Our pitches are all 100% natural and require a fairly intense programme of works to keep them in tiptop condition. Working with Nature sometimes means that things do not always go to plan. Through the pre-season months of July and early August, Suffolk went through the driest spell for years. Weather watchers claim our rainfall is 40% down on the average. Grasses, particularly Ryegrasses, begin to stress. To try and ease this stress we have pumped millions of gallons of water over that period. Thankfully we have now had some rain and temperatures have returned too normal. Over recent weeks we have applied a general fungicide to stave of any potential problems as we enter autumn. We have also applied a 6:5:10 granular fertiliser as part of our feeding programme. This will see the pitches through to December when we will apply a turf tonic to keep things ticking over. Early October also saw us apply the 6^th and final application for year of the growth regulator Primo Maxx. This product restricts plant growth upwards diverting energy downwards and out wards. We have used it now for three years and the density of the sward and rooting is impressive. All the pitches have been aerated. This is one of the key tasks we carry out. Mowing is now being scaled down to three times per week. We mow daily from early March to October and the reduction in frequency will give us time to pick up other essential maintenance tasks.

Promoting the sector

Through my work at the club I am asked from time to time to do things outside my normal duties. I was recently interviewed on the Mark Murphy Show on BBC Radio Suffolk. I have done several interviews in my time at the club for both Radio and TV and I enjoy being given the chance to promote the club and raise the profile of the industry. I firmly believe that as football is such a high profile sport those working in it can and should try to make a difference for their sectors of the industry. As I have previously mentioned in this blog, it was not so long ago that the job of a groundsman was not too appealing. Now I would encourage any young boy or girl wanting a challenging and rewarding career outdoors to give it a look.

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Pitch care and the promotion of groundsmanship