Interesting

[Mrgreen]

Most resilient and most abundant plant on the planet.. And for me at least interesting. 

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

Interesting to me as well buddy.

Resilient beyond belief if you study it, amazing stuff.

Trivia. 

90⁰ of the planet is water.

92⁰ of the land mass is covered in some species of grass. 

600 sq ft of grass produces enough oxygen for one persons requirement per day.

It is the most efficient plant at absorbing Carbon dioxide. 

A very valuable asset to the success of the planet. 

3 hours ago, fenman said:

How can a potentially boring subject be so interesting  .I'm unfortunate in that in spite of my advanced years I have a thirst for knowledge  so I read this saga with some interest . Although I'll never be marking out  a pitch or forking it for drainage with a bitter North Sea wind blowing me about  I have learnt a thing or two about the effect of water on growing crops from this post . Older has explained why some of my sweet peas haven't germinated in an indirect way  , I've obviously overwatered them . I realise it now but more importantly I now know why this is , the excess water is preventing the seed from breathing . A valuable lesson learnt , it also illustrates the fine balance between not enough water and too much water in grass and other crops . Having said that grass is a far more resilient plant than  most flowers and vegetables .

Always soak the ground well (before) you put your peas and beans in.

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

Went up to water one of the goals today prior to seeding and spotted these fellas...Plantains popped up over the last two days...so spraying again before they shoot up and seed.

 

Also brought out one of the watering machines to give it a bit of a service before use.

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

These are travelling sprinklers that follow wherever you lay the hose, they are able to pull the hose behind them for up to 9 hours so you can actually leave them run all day without returning to move them to other areas.

We have two of these about 30 years old now but still super efficient in what they do.

If we run both the whole pitch can be heavily watered in 5 days, but you do need a lot of pressure to run them, it would be advisable to check what BAR pressure you have before purchasing one.

Also not cheap to run if you are on a meter.

To keep them running for around a month on and off would be in excess of 1K + per month!

 

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

Popped into the club with my dogs tonight and ran into a fella practicing with his new drone, needs a bit more practice but did these for me.

The first one is at 300ft and the second one 60ft

[St Darren]

I don’t think either pic does the pitch or the ground justice!!  
 

Big still good none the less 

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

21 minutes ago, St Darren said:

I don’t think either pic does the pitch or the ground justice!!  
 

Big still good none the less 

Thanks St Darren. He's just got it and is learning how to use it,  going to come up again so hopefully he gets the knack with it.

[Bruegel the Elder]

WHAT IS GOING ON? 60 hours without an update on how the grass is growing! In these troubled times watching the grass grow is one of the biggest things in our lives (apart from eating and drinking too much). Come on Older, Mark et al, anyone would think you’ve got better things to do with your time!

[bighairydave]

14 minutes ago, Bruegel the Elder said:

WHAT IS GOING ON? 60 hours without an update on how the grass is growing! In these troubled times watching the grass grow is one of the biggest things in our lives (apart from eating and drinking too much). Come on Older, Mark et al, anyone would think you’ve got better things to do with your time!

I think Mark has been busy with another event at his club following the sad death of David Searle last week.

[Bruegel the Elder]

Maybe, of course, Olders been nicked by the P.P.P. (Penryn Police Patrol) for overstaying his daily exercise ration. He’s used up his lockdown excursion limit until the twelfth of never!

On a more serious note, I hope that you and all our regular (O.K. and irregular) posters are fit and well, and stay that way.

Just now, bighairydave said:

I think Mark has been busy with another event at his club following the sad death of David Searle last week.

My apologies bhd and Mark, I wasn’t aware. My condolences.

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

Dont panic all...I'm still lurking...just doing other things at the moment. 

[baldy]

17 minutes ago, TheolderIgetthebetterIwas said:

Dont panic all...I'm still lurking...just doing other things at the moment. 

No. You’ll try to tell us you have a life next lol

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

1 hour ago, baldy said:

No. You’ll try to tell us you have a life next lol

Sort of. Spent the last few days sanitizing the clubhouse and sterilising the bar equipment,  beer lines, ice machine and glass washer, plus kettles jugs, cups and so on.

Just a thousand glasses to treat now!

Quite a bit of work, more than I thought!

Not bad Thursday though, a couple of furloughed players came up and litter picked the whole site.

Also gave them a quick tutorial on spot treating the weeds and away they went...bonus while I carried on in the club.

Back on the pitch tomorrow hopefully. 

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

Did get a few cleaned up pictures from the drone fella though.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ieuan Gregory]

sorry Bruegel, all very boring at the moment, waiting for the new seed to establish,spot selective weed spraying, chain harrowing and cutting. Highlight of the day yesterday was vacuuming the 3G to remove leaves and assorted debris. Waiting for the good Lord now to bring ,believe it or not,some rain don't have enough water pressure to irrigate any farther then the goal outside the clubhouse! So onward and upward.

[Mark Leah]

Hi Bruegel,

 

Yes as BHD say we have recently lost our Chairman Dave Searle, who gave 55 years, continuous service to our club and sadly in these times giving him the send off he deserves has been difficult, but i think it was achieved on Thursday with lots of people "exercising" along the route at 2:30pm.

 

Anyway back to the grass, like Leuan and Older catching up on other jobs, painting dugouts, organising a few other things whilst the new seed establishes. I did brush and roll our pitch but you have to be careful not to pull out the new seed. I have been also working on our training areas and warm up areas with new seed and top soil so that these areas are ready when we return. On top of this i have been watering our pitch so the last week for me has consisted mainly of painting at home (got to keep her in doors happy too) and going to the club every hour to move sprinklers, thank god i live fairly close. Both pitches are coming on nicely, trying to stripe the pitches in different ways to normal so that the grass becomes as strong as possible.

Maybe get a cut in early next week.

 

Thanks for taking an interest.

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

Managed to get back on to the pitch again today for a couple of hours, few things have moved on in the last few days.

Weeds are having a bit of a second spurt with a few dandelions and plantains showing up well - so they got a blast of selective. 

Also the annual meadow grass has started to flower! Not the best of grasses to have on your pitch but at this level better than nothing. Bit of a weak grass in terms of rooting and can become very invasive producing over 500 seeds in its life cycle, known to be the most prolific grass worldwide! 

If there's a crack in the pavement, slabs, gutters you will see a meadow grass growing it's that successful. 

Repeated scarifying is the only way to keep it under some sort of control, with an annual sowing of Rye grass to deny the the seeds light and space but you will be chasing your tail a bit with this grass!

 

Took a core out to have a look at the moisture levels and not bad at the moment, still plenty of moisture to keep the winter grasses growing on. This time of the year is when the winter grasses are storing energy to get them ready for the dry period where they will go dormant until the rains return.

Go easy on the fertiliser, especially nitrogen as if you force too much top growth the energy used is diverted from its storage needs.

[baldy]

Watch out the the frost tonight.

[Mrgreen]

Just a note on meadow grass and nitrogen.

Not all meadow grass is bad, only the annual variety. Which, buy the way, is nothing more than a weed in most cases.

Older will tell us for sure, but does smooth stalk meadow grass have a role to play within a footy pitch sword?

NITROGEN.

There can be a bit of math involved, but fert bags have 3 main numbers on the front. The first of these refers to % Nitrogen. Basically a 20kg bag of feed, with a N P K of 20 10 10 contains around 4kg of Nitrogen ie. 20%.

Again over to older for some advise, but depending on amount of play and soil type. A reasonable figure would be in the region of 40-70kg/N per pitch, per year....Note, per year. Not per season.

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

Yes, annual meadow grass is classified as a weed grass because it is so prolific. 

Smooth stalked meadow grass on the other hand  was extensively used years ago in a sports sward, today with the genetic engineering of the Ryegrass species ...not so much. Certainly a creditable grass to have in your pitch though, deep rooting and very green, but not used a lot today. 

The picture shows an annual meadow grass I spotted growing in a seriously dried out bit of ground where nothing else can!

Fertiliser requirements vary from site to site so I never really follow recommended levels for nitrogen or anything else.

I would decide what is needed by looking at the grass or having it tested. 

Myself I'm a bit of a fan of Potash giving me a more controlled growth rather than the big flush you can get with Nitrogen. 

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

Spent a bit more time with weed killer today, only it was a total killer (glyphosate) and did the edges of the pitch around the posts and areas that had recently been strimmed, saves any more strimming for a couple of months or more. 

Also spotted another weed attack on the pitch...creeping buttercup (Celandine) so out with the 2lt sprayer again and gave them a blast of selective. Spotted the clover as well starting to push on giving the pitch a nice dose of free nitrogen , there is a lot of free nitrogen around at the moment...excellent. 

I will leave the clover to keep giving  up the nitrogen until just after flowering,  then I will  spray it but will get the seeds from it into the ground for next year...old pasture land trick farmers use to reduce nitrogen fertiliser requirements. 

Dont want clover in the sward for the season as its weak rooting and can be quite slippery when the ground is hard.

The clover is the red dot,  the celandine is blue.

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

Clover is in the Legume family and has the ability to take nitrogen from the air and fixate it into nitrates the plant can use.

This is transferred to the plant by bacteria who create a symbiotic response within the rhizomes, it only becomes available to the grass when bits of clover die off before regeneration...a daily occurrence hence the flush of grass in and around the clover.

Trivia. Nearly 80% of the air we breathe is Nitrogen. 

[Mrgreen]

Judging by the leaf the yellow flower is definitely a butterfly, as opposed to a lesser celindine. Same family different species. Good news is, it's easier to kill with selective.

The other, white clover, is as you say a great nitrogen fixer. Difficult to control fully, but rightly say Autumn best time to spray when plant dies back for winter. 

Some of the new micro clover is very impressive. Still provides free N, but barely noticeable in a tight sward, even at low mowing height. 

[Bruegel the Elder]

Dear Mr. Deacon,

I note that the topic “Interesting” has been running since February 23rd and has taken up six pages of correspondence. Do you, or one of your trivia experts, happen to know how long it would have to be in both time and page use in order to set a new forum record?

Lots of love

Bruegel the (increasingly) Elder! 

P.S. Mr Green,🧈☕️ rather than 🦋 methinks❗️

1 hour ago, Mrgreen said:

Judging by the leaf the yellow flower is definitely a butterfly, as opposed to a lesser celindine.

 

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

3 hours ago, Mrgreen said:

Judging by the leaf the yellow flower is definitely a butterfly, as opposed to a lesser celindine. Same family different species. Good news is, it's easier to kill with selective.

The other, white clover, is as you say a great nitrogen fixer. Difficult to control fully, but rightly say Autumn best time to spray when plant dies back for winter. 

Some of the new micro clover is very impressive. Still provides free N, but barely noticeable in a tight sward, even at low mowing height. 

Haha Mrgreen there is a butterfly flower, most would have seen it as a weed commonly known as Milkweed.

 

Last time I read about micro clovers (over 10+ years ago! ) they had to be left to grow 2" so at that time not suitable for sport surfaces...has that changed now (?)

2 hours ago, Bruegel the Elder said:

Dear Mr. Deacon,

I note that the topic “Interesting” has been running since February 23rd and has taken up six pages of correspondence. Do you, or one of your trivia experts, happen to know how long it would have to be in both time and page use in order to set a new forum record?

 

 

Alright Bruegal...I know - I talk too much!

But people keep telling me to carry on???

[Bruegel the Elder]

Keep it up Older (et al) absolutely fascinating! They say you learn something new every day; here it’s every paragraph! Why do you think that I keep butting in to this thread, despite knowing nothing about the subject matter. I want to be part of this record! 
Incidentally, our local (senior club) pitch used to have horses🐴/goats🐐/sheep🐑 (not all at the same time) grazing on it during the summer months a few years back, before the groundsman got stuck in a couple of weeks before pre-season. Pros and cons of this naturalistic approach please experts?

 

[Mrgreen]

3 hours ago, Bruegel the Elder said:

Dear Mr. Deacon,

I note that the topic “Interesting” has been running since February 23rd and has taken up six pages of correspondence. Do you, or one of your trivia experts, happen to know how long it would have to be in both time and page use in order to set a new forum record?

Lots of love

Bruegel the (increasingly) Elder! 

P.S. Mr Green,🧈☕️ rather than 🦋 methinks❗️

 

Well spotted bruegel.

damn that auto correct.  I did indeed mean butterCUP not FLY

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

43 minutes ago, Bruegel the Elder said:

Keep it up Older (et al) absolutely fascinating! They say you learn something new every day; here it’s every paragraph! Why do you think that I keep butting in to this thread, despite knowing nothing about the subject matter. I want to be part of this record! 
Incidentally, our local (senior club) pitch used to have horses🐴/goats🐐/sheep🐑 (not all at the same time) grazing on it during the summer months a few years back, before the groundsman got stuck in a couple of weeks before pre-season. Pros and cons of this naturalistic approach please experts?

 

Simple...manure! ...lol

[Bruegel the Elder]

1 hour ago, TheolderIgetthebetterIwas said:

Simple...manure! ...lol

And there was I expecting a piece on hoof divots!

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

1 hour ago, Bruegel the Elder said:

And there was I expecting a piece on hoof divots!

Had a few hoofers leaving divots on the pitch...lol

[Mrgreen]

There are a few golf courses that have animals grazing on fairways etc. Mainly ponies and sheep, and mainly on moorland. Yealverton and Tavistock are two fairly local.

They co exist without too much hassle. Most are kept off greens by either a physical fence or a collar and virtual electric fence buried in the ground. Also some turf growers will graze land with sheep and harvest turf after.

Sheep would therefor seem the most suitable. They graze fairly tight, and unless spooked are gentle on firm ground.

Trivia: Sheep actually have a grass named after them.......Sheep’s fescue

Donkeys would not be suitable,  despite having played with a few over the years!!!!!

 

Just reading this back to myself, I realise how BORING I am.

 

 

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

Love it...welcome to the club...lol

Just read about sheeps fescue,  interesting,  very tough grass survives drought and lives in virtually any conditions.

Prevalent on very acidic moorland areas so heavily grazed by......sheep! Hence the name. 

Being looked at for lawns due to its ability to withstand drought.

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

Cut the pitch today, first time for 25 days! Gave it a light scarifying at the same time to take the pattern out.

Spring flush in full flow and the sward now thickening up nicely. 

Did raise the cutting height to 2" as this gives the new tillers time to store energy for the year ahead and the roots to get deeper into the ground.

Just waiting for the weekend rain...hopefully. 

 

[Dave Deacon]

9 hours ago, Bruegel the Elder said:

Dear Mr. Deacon,

I note that the topic “Interesting” has been running since February 23rd and has taken up six pages of correspondence. Do you, or one of your trivia experts, happen to know how long it would have to be in both time and page use in order to set a new forum record?

Lots of love

Bruegel the (increasingly) Elder! 

 

No sorry, afraid I wouldn’t know without manually going back through the years that the forum has been going.

If not already the longest, I suspect it must be very close.

Keep up the interesting thread. So much involved! 👍

[fenman]

I look at the photos of the pitch and the first thought that struck me was that Older must be very tall to take those photo's , then I read that they were taken from a drone . Secondly , more seriously I look at that pitch and think , how can you not play good football on it ? . I look back over my undistinguished  playing days and think back to playing in the Norfolk / Cambridgeshire fens , the flattest part of the country and think of the lack of grass , ruts and  slopes that we were happy to play on . As regards animals it wasn't uncommon  for sheep or cattle to be removed from the field the day before the game , I'm sure the same applied to Devon and Cornwall  . Very few changing rooms , even less showers but we loved it . Digressing to the subject of another post about works teams , in the 50'2s and 60's a company called W.N.F.  had the best sports complex in Norfolk . It's football , tennis , bowling greens and a hockey pitch were maintained regardless of cost . The football pitch was Cumberland turf  which at that time was the best turf for football ( Older would probably know ) the pitch was spirit level flat and it was a pleasure to play on . The only down side was that the turf sapped your energy  so you had to be fit  to keep going for 90 mins , it was big as well .  Sadly the company folded in the 1970's  and I find it sad when I go past the field  now , the tennis courts etc are now tarmacced   over and are the Kings Lynn bye pass and the football pitch is a travellers site As recently as 1980 I've played on pitches where animal have been grazing the day before , looking back I don't know how we played on those pitches with their uncut grass several inches long .

Hopefully your players appreciate  the  condition of your pitch older , I must look at it in ?????? whenever this is over  and I'm down there again . I've been to events at Sticker and I always think that looks a good ground .

[Mrgreen]

2 hours ago, fenman said:

I look at the photos of the pitch and the first thought that struck me was that Older must be very tall to take those photo's , then I read that they were taken from a drone . Secondly , more seriously I look at that pitch and think , how can you not play good football on it ? . I look back over my undistinguished  playing days and think back to playing in the Norfolk / Cambridgeshire fens , the flattest part of the country and think of the lack of grass , ruts and  slopes that we were happy to play on . As regards animals it wasn't uncommon  for sheep or cattle to be removed from the field the day before the game , I'm sure the same applied to Devon and Cornwall  . Very few changing rooms , even less showers but we loved it . Digressing to the subject of another post about works teams , in the 50'2s and 60's a company called W.N.F.  had the best sports complex in Norfolk . It's football , tennis , bowling greens and a hockey pitch were maintained regardless of cost . The football pitch was Cumberland turf  which at that time was the best turf for football ( Older would probably know ) the pitch was spirit level flat and it was a pleasure to play on . The only down side was that the turf sapped your energy  so you had to be fit  to keep going for 90 mins , it was big as well .  Sadly the company folded in the 1970's  and I find it sad when I go past the field  now , the tennis courts etc are now tarmacced   over and are the Kings Lynn bye pass and the football pitch is a travellers site As recently as 1980 I've played on pitches where animal have been grazing the day before , looking back I don't know how we played on those pitches with their uncut grass several inches long .

Hopefully your players appreciate  the  condition of your pitch older , I must look at it in ?????? whenever this is over  and I'm down there again . I've been to events at Sticker and I always think that looks a good ground .

Cumberland turf, was, I believe, harvested from salt marshland. Occasionally it would be covered by the incoming tide.

It was made up mostly of the very finest grasses, fescue and bents. More suited, I would suggest, to bowling greens etc. The advancement in dwarf ryegrass breeding means these hard wearing varieties are more suited these days.

Also, I have laid a bit of it over the years, and found the grass within soon start to struggle once removed from it’s growing environment. The coarser grass more suited to the new site became dominant. Of course this could be down to my lack of skill in agronomy.

Not sure why it would be energy sapping, maybe a little thatchy and grassy.

 

Now over to Older, to fill in any gaps.

[RAPPO]

To be fair Fenman Penryn do play some lovely football as their league position suggested before the ‘expunged’ season and needless to say Older does them proud with that pitch 👍 lucky lads these days, as you said, played on some right dumps over the years but as long as it’s got 2 goals either end we were happy!! 👍⚽️😁

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

Cumberland turf, blimey that was a long time ago, probably near 50 years now!

Mrgreen on the money with your post.

It was a salt marsh grass of mainly fescues, the continual soaking with a salt water made the leaves very fine and was favoured by golf clubs for their greens but they soon learned that the turf was silt loaded and drained very badly. Also probably why it sapped energy,  it would become very heavy when it rained. 

Also salt water changes the electrical charge on the soil particles tying up nitrogen (fixing) so the grass would very often go off to yellow and it would require feed to keep its colour.

Please correct any of the above as it was a very long time ago, back to my horticultural college days!

 

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

Went up to the pitch today intending to finish the scarifying and a bit of spraying around the ground. But. 3 furloughed players had been up there for an hour and had swept the moss of one side of the roof and cleaned the gutters and the roof on the standing area! 

Excellent...delighted.

So took the opportunity to get them to load up the top dresser with the sand we had delivered and spread it on some of the wetter areas. 

 

 

Now you see the slots. 

Now you don't. 

Happy with that, a bit left on the surface will get pushed into the ground when the games start again.

Decent spreader but a couple of damp-ish bags did stick a bit so would have to dry any wet sand that was delivered.

Spread roughly 5 tons in a leisurely hour...so quite efficient bit of kit with a few hands assisting. 

Boys are coming up again tomorrow to paint the posts around the pitch...happy days here. 

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

9 hours ago, fenman said:

 

Hopefully your players appreciate  the  condition of your pitch older , I must look at it in ?????? whenever this is over  and I'm down there again . I've been to events at Sticker and I always think that looks a good ground .

It flatters to deceive at the moment Fenman, only just started working on it after 10 years retiring from it.

Lack of investment has caught up with it so bit of a long road ahead to get it back to it's best.

The lockdown denying end of season income has stopped any proper investment this season...but life is more important than a bit of grass! 

But thank you for your kind words. 

[Bruegel the Elder]

A bit of intensive TLC🌾❣️ and lots of know-how📚 beats (or at least equals) any amount of random investment🚜!

Mind you, I have to admit that both is rather better!

[fenman]

I believe that in the 50's and 60's the Wembley turf was Cumberland , from distant memory I think that  it's energy sapping was one of the reasons so many players suffered injuries in cup finals . Again , from memory and we are talking about 60 years ago , the turf was very springy and compact . At the time it was one of the only pitches with a true bounce , being  so flat  with a good surface . They obviously had a team of pre olders looking after  all the sports fields at that time , expense no object .

Refering to your  budget comment , a thought struck me whilst I was potting up some carnations in my greenhouse .The focus is all on professional clubs suffering  financially during this crisis , but little mention or thought is given to village football teams and other sports such as bowls and cricket  and the organisations that run village playing fields . I include leagues  as well . All these rely on finance  through match fees  and bar receipts etc. . I know from being involved with my old team that our ground rent was £600 per year , the cricket club and bowls club who shared the same facilities also paid £600 , this was 5 years ago . The players used to moan about having to pay match fees ( how I miss all that palaver ) and always accused the playing field committee of rooking them .  I showed them the outgoings for the field and pavilion several times and the more intelligent ones were shocked at how much it cost to operate a playing field and pavilion in a small village . Bear in mind that the bowls and cricket club had to fund their own playing surface preparation  and lawn mowers ,  quite a high cost   , particularly cricket with it's strip preparation ,  so their outgoings were much higher than ours . Things that those not involved or interested in , insurance , water rates , electricity , building upkeep and repairs , health and safety measures etc. etc . .    As  the football season has finished well short of time , the clubs will be extremely short of income and many will be unable to pay their ground rent . The cricket and bowls season may not start so a similar problem there . The same lack of income will mean that some clubs will be unable to pay affiliation fees to the F.A.  and respective leagues . Leagues could be in a similar situation sponsorship could dry up . I know my own league will have serious problems in that respect as our long term sponsor has retired  and finding a replacement  was going to be difficult even before this crisis .

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

There is a government grant you can apply for and failing that a grant from Sport England. 

If you dont get one of them you're up the proverbial creek! 

---------------------

Did another light scarifying of the pitch,  that'll be enough for the time as it is really the wrong time of year for it but needs must.

September-ish is the best time but of course football is in full swing so forced to do it at this time...please rain!

The boys came up as promised and did the posts and dugouts...well done fellas.

 

[Ieuan Gregory]

replying to a previous post I have a photo in an old book of horses grazing RFU Twickenham back in 1915, a much different stadium to the present one! Although back in the 70's I turned up at Long Lane St Erth to referee and half the team were putting the nets up and the rest were taking the cows off. Although I think they were on there for fattening rather than fertilising.

Yes the old Wembley was turfed with Cumberland as it was known then.The Spring flush has really kicked in over this side of the county photo attached and like older only cut to about 45 mm. Rain tomorrow please and we should see a vast improvement next week

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

Looking good there Ieuan...fertilised yet(?)

Spring flush pretty much started, just a few spots waiting to start, the Easterly does keep temperatures down a bit here with temperatures hovering around 6⁰ to 8⁰ and lack of rain just slowing the flush a tad.

Cloud coming in from the Southwest now so should be some rain around soon, better get my head around putting some seed in and order my fertiliser. 

Trivia. It is estimated fertiliser production is responsible for 5% of the world's pollution! 

‐------------------------

Have messed around with a bit of rubber crumb today with a light dressing to the driest goalmouth, Mmmm dont know - may take it off again, dont want the grass rooting into it and getting kicked out during a match. Grass/ all plants will always take the easy option and this rubber maybe to easy to root into. 

This goalmouth is all creeping fescues from the original sowing and does not have deep roots like Rye grasses. (Rye grasses have both types of root)

They only have adventitious roots predominantly near the surface and are essentially a summer grass so may grow into the rubber.

The crown (meristematic tissue) of fescues is also 90% above ground so may tend to send new roots and tillers into the rubber rather than the ground. I'll have to keep a sharp on it to see what happens! 

 

And a nice line of freshly painted posts... and one of my dogs...lol

[Ieuan Gregory]

fertilised about 14 days ago, couldn't wait to use my new spreader can't walk for 2 and half hours pushing a spreader any more . So one on the back of the Kubota cut spreading down to 25 minutes and no walking! Used slow release 180 days, see how it goes, the 90 day one used last October lasted through to March . Good to see you are getting the Penryn pitch back to its former glory. Stay safe

[fenman]

As well as it's sporting uses grass is quite a versatile plant . After I retired  I worked at a Bovine Transport Cleansing Consultant , this is a modern title , what it means is that my boss said do you think you could wash my cattle float out ( so he consulted me ) I would say yes  and wash it out . A bit similar to my Police career really !!!!.  During the course of working with cattle , I learned quite a lot about them and the food they eat .  The most obvious is grass  in in many forms , either raw , sileage or hay  , these are all the food and  nutritional side that  most of us know about . But the thing that surprised me was the medicinal benefits grass gave them .One cattle farmer said that grass was such an effective medicine that it was nicknamed " Doctor Green " in many parts of the country .

Just a bit of useless information about grass really .

Allotment still dry Older , weather here cold wind but rain forecast tomorrow , sad to see the local sports field with long grass and daisies .

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

2 hours ago, Ieuan Gregory said:

fertilised about 14 days ago, couldn't wait to use my new spreader can't walk for 2 and half hours pushing a spreader any more . So one on the back of the Kubota cut spreading down to 25 minutes and no walking! Used slow release 180 days, see how it goes, the 90 day one used last October lasted through to March . Good to see you are getting the Penryn pitch back to its former glory. Stay safe

Nice one Ieuan,  and thanks for the comments...long way to go on the pitch yet! 

What did you think of the slow release fertiliser over the winter(?) Putting it down at that time goes against how this stuff works to my knowledge! 

Did it work(?) What was the NPK value of it(?) Do the high lift blades suck it up of the ground(?) and so on!

Yes as well to spreading it, I've had a tow behind spinner for over ten years or more, although I still have the push one which I used fix to the back of the mower rather than push it.

Even even whe I did not look after the ground I still did the fertilizing as it's so critical to get it right, get it wrong and fertiliser is the best grass and plant killer going!

Too much fertiliser causes plasmolysis the opposite of osmosis and sucks the plant dry of all nutrients and its  death is unstoppable. 

Also fertiliser is chemically hot and will burn the grass if not put down in the perfect conditions. 

The long release ones do not have this problem as the prills are polymer coated. 

Natural organic fertilizers do not burn either but have a much lower NPK value but are useful when you need to add a bit of humus type material into the profile. 

Normally used on well draining pitches to hold onto moisture a bit longer.

Anyway Ieuan best of health to you as well buddy.

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

5 hours ago, fenman said:

As well as it's sporting uses grass is quite a versatile plant . After I retired  I worked at a Bovine Transport Cleansing Consultant , this is a modern title , what it means is that my boss said do you think you could wash my cattle float out ( so he consulted me ) I would say yes  and wash it out . A bit similar to my Police career really !!!!.  During the course of working with cattle , I learned quite a lot about them and the food they eat .  The most obvious is grass  in in many forms , either raw , sileage or hay  , these are all the food and  nutritional side that  most of us know about . But the thing that surprised me was the medicinal benefits grass gave them .One cattle farmer said that grass was such an effective medicine that it was nicknamed " Doctor Green " in many parts of the country .

Just a bit of useless information about grass really .

Allotment still dry Older , weather here cold wind but rain forecast tomorrow , sad to see the local sports field with long grass and daisies .

Trivia. Without grass the planet and virtually all life on it would die.

Yes Fenman,  grass is beneficial to herbivores, as well as feeding them it has a huge amount of roughage which keeps their insides very clean. 

We all need roughage. 

Dogs eat grass when they are not too good for the same reason to clean their guts.

The trouble with grass grown as silage is the amount of nitrogen fertiliser that is used 34% to push the grass to maximum yield...this ends up in your steaks, beef and burgers and is no good to man or beast!

Raining here and more for tomorrow...happy days.

[Mrgreen]

Rubber crumb.

May I suggest you consider brushing into tine holes, instead of dressing  the surface. As you suspect, I believe it will make the very top to unstable  and vulnerable. It does work really well if mixed with dry sand and brushed in as deep as you can get it. Maybe a job for some of your furloughed players. The columns of sand and crumb will drain and root really well,  and will be virtually impossible to compact. But the ground will stay firm and stable.

Fertiliser.

Slow release verses Controlled release.

Slow release Fertilizers will release their nutrients over a set period of time regardless of conditions. Usually relying on soil microbe activity. There is more involved, but that will suffice for now.

Controlled release are nearly always coated with a type of polymer. This coating is usually broken down by moisture, again over a set period. A fairly recent development, is the autumn/winter range. These rely on both moisture and temperature, and are “clever” enough to shut down when not needed.

The Prills are quite tiny, and I don’t believe they would be hovered up by a rotary mower or pick up by a cylinder. They may be vulnerable to a mechanical scarifier, as these may crack the coat and dump all the nutrients at once.  The prills are usually different colours as these are the different nutrients.