Premium-quality seed, nutrition and skilled groundsmanship produce - a perfect pitch against the odds

For Ryan Golding, Assistant Groundsman at Leeds Rugby’s Kirkstall Training Ground, renovating the Leeds Carnegie first team pitch didn’t go according to plan this summer. Extreme weather conditions tested both his team, and his choice of products’, strength and resilience. 

The programme approach

Using specially developed iTurf software, Everris’ Technical Area Sales Manager, Simon Harcastle, worked with him to create a tailored, site-specific programme for the year aimed at establishing and maintaining a first-class playing surface. Following the key principles of integrated turf management (ITM), implementing it requires the groundstaff to draw on all methods available to them – cultural, biological and chemical – to solve turf problems.

The pro’s select ProSelect

Contractor Allan Chappelow removed the existing surface with a Koro TopMaker to a depth of 22mm before making a second pass at 25mm. The process removed all the weed grass and thatch leaving only well-rooted ryegrass in situ. Without access to an automatic irrigation system and after one of the warmest, driest springs in 25 years, the surface was dry and dusty, and with the weather becoming increasingly windy, Ryan watered before seeding to create a moist seed bed and to ensure that the seed wasn’t blown away. Ten bags of Everris ProSelect 1 grass seed was sown on 18th May at a rate of 32.5 grammes per square metre using a SISIS variseeder, before 30 tonnes of topdressing was applied. Frost sheets doubled up as germination sheets to cover the entire pitch and irrigation was applied over the top. The wind continued to gather pace and Ryan arrived at the training ground the next day to see that the covers have been ripped off the strong metal pegs that had anchored them. Seed and topdressing had been almost completely blown away in places and remedial action was needed to get the renovations back on track.

Getting back on track

Germination was observed ten days after seeding. Where the surface was untouched, establishment was rapid and strong, but large bare areas accounted for about half the surface area where the seed and dressing had been blown away. Ryan applied 12 bags of Sportsmaster 8-12-8+3%MgO fertilizer on 31st May and mowed for the first time on 7th June to encourage growth and tillering. In the coming weeks the pitch was vertidrained, re-seeded using a disc seeder to fill in the bare areas and mown regularly to thicken the sward. “The first thing I observed was the colour, it really stood out,” said Ryan. “The density of the sward was also surprising, bearing in mind the problems we had encountered and the short window for it to establish from seed.”

“On 29th August, when the players arrived, they initially commented on the colour, but as the training session progressed, they picked up on how hardwearing it is. There was no ripping up, which they’ve experienced in previous seasons.”

Bred for performance with exceptional colour

“As a winter games pitch mixture, ProSelect 1 ticks all the boxes in terms of the characteristics you’d want in a premium ryegrass blend”, explains Mark Rayner, Key Account Manager for Everris Limited (formerly named Scotts). “The three ryegrasses in the blend, Roadrunner, Vantage and Citation Fore, establish rapidly to produce a deep rooting, dense sward with superb wear tolerance. It is shown to repair quickly from divots and is resistant to disease, cold and drought. But it is the rich, dark green winter colour that has been catching the eye of turf professionals, particularly those preparing pitches for professional sports clubs,” he adds.

The wider benefits of iTurf

Everris’ International Technical Manager, Stuart Staples explains: “iTurf makes it easy for turf managers to implement ITM and helps them meet their environmental and regulatory responsibilities. The advice our technical advisors give is based on research data, rather than ideas and theory. We instigated a series of trials at the STRI several years ago and we’re adding to the trial programme continually. The integrated turf management approach synergises with Everris’ global philosophy of using the best products in the most efficient and responsible way. For the end-user, having iTurf programmes in place makes turf more tolerant to stresses and will build the health of turf for future years.”