Turf Managers are always faced with challenges in their daily work, mostly from the perils of the prevailing weather, making their work harder. Advice may be sought from an amenity turf care products supplier or distributor, relating to one of their fertilisers or chemicals or from a professional body such as the Sports Turf Research Institute or the Institute of Groundsmanship. The majority of advice comes from word of mouth or from fellow turf managers on their local patch. There are a lot of amateur volunteer groundsmen and groundswomen out there, looking after cricket clubs, tennis clubs, bowls clubs and football clubs. They are not paid for their work in support of their sport club or sport facility and may not have received much practical or technical training. Where do they or can they turn for advice when they need it?
Last week, I visited a local sports facilty and met the Croquet Section Committee and discussed the renovation of a set of Croquet Lawns. The employed Groundstaff looking after the estate were fine when it came to the shrubs and flowers but not specialised in turf management, the formal lawns or the fine turf areas.
During my discussions with the Croquet Secction Committee, it became apparent that they had been incorrectly advised over the previous few years with the net result of diminishing grasses making up the playing surface of the Croquet Lawns. An Advisor within the Sports Turf Industry, you would hope, would be in the know when it comes to the needs and requirements of turf grasses, relevant to the sport played on a particular surface. It appears not. Now there is a need for the Croquet Lawns to be completely renovated to restore the playing surface in time for the start of the 2009 Croquet season. It was evident that the people present at the meeting were impressed with our indepth knowledge of the problems their playing surface was experiencing enough to award a contract for the renovation of the same performed by The Lawn Company
What annoys us is why did it come to this in the first place, especially when a considerable budget has been spent on the sports surface over the previous three or so years. Having dedicated, enthusiastic and knowledgeable is so important but receiving poor advice from a so called turf professional is inexcusable and unprofessional and gives the Industry a bad name.
There are many short weekend courses run by The Institute of Groundsmanship, relevant to the playing surfaces under your control. They are presented by IOG Members who are qualified but who also possess a lot of hands on practical knowledge on their chosen subject.
At Weed Free and our sister company The Lawn Company, we have over 27 years of hands on practical, technical and commercial experience, gained in the UK Sports Turf Industry. We are always happy to give out small snippets of advice free of charge and our Blog is conviction of this. Should you need more indepth consultancy on a particular turf culture or sports turf management or maintenance problem, please contact us or fill in the enquiry form.
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