Wigan Athletic Gets Top Results With Scotts H2Pro

Premiership football club Wigan Athletic has seen significant improvements in the quality of its pitch at the JJB stadium after using Scotts H2Pro Maximise.

Scotts’ H2Pro range of products helps turf managers overcome a wide range of water management issues, whether the problem is too much or too little water. Wigan’s use of H2Pro Maximise through the winter months of 2006/7 clearly demonstrates the benefits of using leading wetting agent technology to disperse surface moisture.

Head groundsman Ian Forshaw explains: “Two years ago we installed a new pitch on top of an old Desso system, and we were concerned that this would affect soil drainage. We also had an anaerobic layer of around 2mm which we wanted to take care of before it developed into a serious problem. I discussed this with Scotts’ Ed Carter and he suggested using H2Pro Maximise as it was proven to be very successful in dispersing water and improving drainage.

	Wigan Athletic has been using a range of Scotts products to improve turf quality and drainage, and says its pitch has never looked so good.

“We made three applications of Maximise last winter, with a month between each one. After seeing good results after the first two applications at a rate of 10 litres over 8,500m2, we decided to increase the third one to 20 litres to give the pitch a boost for the last games of the season. After the second application we began to see some positive results – the pitch dried out a lot quicker, there was less dew on the plant leaf, and overall pitch recovery was improved.

“There was also less disease on the pitch, which we believe is due to the reduced moisture levels in the sward minimising the ability of diseases to move from plant to plant. H2Pro has really helped to reduce the anaerobic layer, too, and this is helping water to pass through the soil much more easily. Needless to say we’ve been delighted with the results we’ve had using the product and we will continue to use it through the autumn and coming winter in conjunction with our aeration programme.”

Wigan also uses a comprehensive range of other Scotts products to help maintain pitch quality. These include fertilizers Sierrablen, Greenmaster Pro-Lite, Greenmaster Liquid and Blade, plus turf growth regulator Primo MAXX, and fungicides Heritage and Daconil.

“I think the pitch is looking its best ever,” says Ian, “even better than when it was first laid two years ago. The combination of all the Scotts products we use clearly works very well. The pitch is much less stressed, the colour is great and it is very healthy. It’s a solution I would recommend to any turf professional.”