PITCH MANAGEMENT
WELSH CONTRACTOR
STILL OVER THE MOON WITH CHARTERHOUSE 20 YEARS ON
As the season progresses into the winter months, and
the soil becomes ever more cold, wet and compacted,
Turfgrass will begin to suffer unless maintenance has
been carried out in the preceding months. Specialist
turf maintenance contractor John Morgan of Keith
Morgan Mower Hire Ltd talks about the importance of
winter pitch preparation.
T
he consequence of adverse
weather, and the resultant
change in the soil
environment, is a negative impact on
soil moisture relationship and the turf's
growing environment. Poor drainage,
which can be caused by compaction, is
perhaps the biggest headache to many
sports turf managers. Compaction
causes water resistance, interfering with
water movement into, and through, the
soil. This further confounds the soil
moisture conditions and the ability of
turf to grow uniformly.
John Morgan.
Of course the wet conditions
accompanying poor drainage create playing season, not just for winter
soft surfaces that are, at least, messy if maintainence, and in my opinion is
not unplayable, and also contribute to probably the most important part of pitch
increased likelihood of disease and its preparation. Decompacting, followed by
associated turf damage. When things overseeding and topdressing, is the best
dry out, it could also result in surfaces way of getting great results.
that are too hard and interfere with We use Charterhouse Verti-drains -
play, or at worst increase potential for 7007's, 7521's, 7316's and 7626's.
injury. Decompacting the surface They're a good range of machines
means the pitch will be playable for enabling us to carryout work on a
longer and rain should not affect play. variety of pitches. The 7316 is a lighter
Compaction is almost inevitable weight machine, the 7626 and the 7521
where there is a lot of use. It effects allows for really deep aeration of up to
turf growth and surface hardness and 16 inches using an inch diameter tine.
needs to be tackled in order to develop We bought one of the first Verti-drains
effective management practices. So in the country about 20 years ago and have
addressing what is going on with water always been over the moon with the
in the soil is key to getting turf, and the quality of performance. Its rugged design
sporting surface, back on track. and durability is second to none. We have
The surface needs to have a healthy, tried all decompactors on the market, you
vigorous grass cover able to withstand name it, we've tried them but nothing
heavy wear and tear, be able to recover comes close to a Charterhouse Verti-Drain.
quickly from the shearing effect of And we stick to Charterhouse products
studded boots and be able to resist the for our overseeders and topdressers. We
onset of disease infestation. have two overseeders, a 2075 and a 1575,
This involves Aeration throughout the together with a 1600 speed seeder and
both a 1010 and a 1210 topdresser.
Keith Morgan Mower Hire ltd is
based in South Wales. His client base
spans over 10 counties.
FSA
Charterhouse Turf Machinery Ltd
Tel: 01428 661222
info@charterhouseturfmachinery.co.uk
www.charterhouseturfmachinery.co.uk
September/October 2008 | FOOTBALL & SPORTS ARENA | 49
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