Football Pitch Maintenance

[Richard Chown]

So it the end of the season For those involved in Football Pitch Maintenance, what steps are you taking to get your pitch perfect for the start of 2009/10 season?

With the Met Office predicting a dry summer will Verti-Draining your pitch be essential to help with root development.

[D K]

At St Blazey Cricket Club this year, we changed the company that takes care of our Weed control and they did a first class job.

For those of you who have pitches in a flood plain or are generally low lying, you may suffer from moss.

If so, twice a year treatment will curtail it in no time. One in Early April and another in Late September.

All the other issues like clover, daisies etc are all killed in one hit and his prices are reasonable.

Our field is just over 5 acres, he applied over 180 litres of water with approx 5 litres of chemical and charged us around £175 I think.

Basically, he is a one man band who runs a franchise of his own throughout Devon & Cornwall.

The national firm he buys into is called Complete Weed Control (www.completeweedcontrol.co.uk)

The gent is called Alun Jones and he resides in Polgooth.

Contact him on 01726 68746 or 07799843830 or alunjones@cwc.uk.com

Around the bases of your stands etc as well as the playing surface could be treated for 6 months in the space of one 20 minute visit. I was very impressed.

I would say that vertidraining now is probably more important with the rumoured weather.

Anything that can be done to promote growth when the ground will soon harden should be done.

I'm sure it will rain soon to allow the process to be done quicker and easier!

[Mark Jones]

Falmouth have just been vertidrained. It is much needed after 4 0r 5 years without much aeration. It will bring much needed aerobic conditions into the soil profile helping with root growth during the summer by decompacting.

As for weeds on most pitches one spray a year will control them. We sprayed in April. As for ours we had so many weeds it will take another spray around september time to control them.

[Guest Sam Boston]

Shooting rabbits probably :D

[The General]

We get a load of fat lads who walk around on ours! The exscuse is cricket!

[Guest Sam Boston]

I should think there's a lot of relieved groundsmen after last nights rain :D

[Richard Chown]

I should think there's a lot of relieved groundsmen after last nights rain

:thumbsup:

[Postman Pat]

and i thought it was just rain sam :P

[Richard Chown]

We have seemed to have solved our rabbit problem. It has cost us but worth it. We have put chicken wire all the way around the pitch at a cost of around £350, then we pinned it all down, as we found the can get under it, after a few days putting it all up, the rabbits have stop comming on the pitch. Plus we have someone shooting them.

Result - No more rabbit holes. New grass growing through.

[razor61]

Whilst on the subject of pitch maintenance, would any groundsman like to recommend the most cost effective supply/source and approximate price for white line pigment ( wheel transfer marker) and fertiliser (grade?).

Can delivery costs be avoided by collecting from within Cornwall?

[Fatso]

Also whilst on the subject...

I have been trying my hand at getting our ground up to scratch with the club secretary. If there are any individuals who would be interested in volunteering (or cheap labour) to work on a ground then please contact me. I am by no means an expert and having the ground sorted would help our club greatly. We are adding a pitch surround, dug-outs etc so the field would require more attention to bring it in line with the rest of the facilities.

Alternatively if you are a young person interested in this kind of thing, looking for experience, and could help out now and then we would welcome you at the club.

Dave Price

Storm FC

david.price@cornwall.ac.uk