Raising Standards

March 2019

Raising Standards

After the kindest Winter for many years, the pitches at the training ground and the Stadium pitch are in as good of condition as they have ever been at this time of year. Before pitch renovation begins, other areas of the Training Ground are going through their own improvements.

One of the areas I have wanted to improve for many years is the lawns. We are making a start with the grassed area around the academy building which has only ever had basic maintenance of mowing and very occasionally a little fertiliser, which is at the bottom of the spreader left over at the end of the day from feeding the pitches.

The area consisted of patchy grass and weeds on an uneven surface which looked OK from a distance but didn't meet my expectation for presentation in such a prominent area. 

The path and Old stop netting has been removed, sockets dug out, edges leveled and the whole of the surface has been koro'ed 3 times in an attempt to remove 50mm of thatch in some areas. Around the edges, a turf cutter has been used to get in where the tractors can't. The process has taken out all of the high areas and minimised the depth of the depressions, which will leave the area in a good position to hand mow.

I have chosen to seed the lawn with a fine leaved dwarf rye grass for an "ornamental" lawn look without the extra maintenance which fescue or bent grasses would have required.   

Before the work begun

Mid way through cleaning off the surface

After the surface removed with just the tidying up around the outsides to do

The Professionals training pitches have come through the winter in very good condition and it seems a shame to weed kill them off for the renovation starting in April. As we start taking them out of play, the team will train on the main pitch only for the last few weeks. At this time of year the turf can cope with the increased hours of play. 

A major benefit of have a drainage system installed is being able to move the water through the pitch reasonably quickly. although the pitches are of  indigenous soils, they drain well on the Bent Lane site, which helps retain grass coverage.

Torrential rain in a short amount of time can leave some pitches waterlogged on the academy side. Fortunately, scenes like the photo below are rare and it does drain within a few hours.

With renovations beginning in April, The first pitches to be renovated have been weedkilled. We do this to clean out any unwanted grass species so there is no chance of them surviving through the renovation. The only problem we may have is if there is seed in the soil already waiting to germinate. We may encourage dormant seed to germinate by disrupting the surface during the pitch renovation, but there is no way round that if we are going to do the work.
Renovations usually take around 10 weeks, allowing one week per pitch.We have placed material orders and are raring to go!

The stadium pitch is in excellent condition for the end of March. This is down to the amount for fixtures played on the stadium pitch and being fortunate with the weather around matchdays. 
Unfortunately,  we occasionally have issues with away goalkeepers marking the middle of the goal. This is a yellow card offence for intentially damaging the pitch. The referee has to see it, but they never do. This mark was made during warm up.

Intentional damage to the pitch marking the middle of the goal

Looking forward to the last stretch of the season, we have at least one more U23 game on the stadium pitch and possibly an U18 game along with the remaining three first team fixtures.

What a Difference a Year Makes

February 19'

What a Difference a Year Makes

This winter's weather has been the one all groundsmen wish for, which is the polar opposite to last year. but does that bring its own problems?

We have had just one very hard week this winter when snow arrived and getting that shifted off the covers ready for training. Fortunately, that was only for a week, unlike last year when it felt like we were doing it all winter. 

We are watering the pitches in February, which is the first time since 2012, despite having a wet winter that year, the weather in February was warm. Watering now isn't ideal as we are putting cold water on surfaces we are wanting to warm up for some growth and germination of seed which has been sown, but this is necessary as pitches were drying out too much and getting hard under foot for play.

We are generally pleased with  stadium pitch this winter because of a combination of the good weather and we have had less fixture congestion in the post Christmas period. 8 fixtures were held in poor weather in the new year of 2018 and this year we have had 5 fixtures in good weather. The only problem area I could see when the fixtures can out was the 13th and 16th of February, a Wednesday - Saturday quick turn around, which is OK if you don't get snow or a frosty spell over this period.

When the "Beast From The East" we were experiencing temperatures down to -7, the same week a year on, we have temperatures in the teens. This is great news for us, but we do have to adjust our management practices to accommodate. Our feeding programme has to change because the winter fertiliser we would normally plan and budget for is insufficient for the requirement. Typically an order would be placed 2-3 weeks before it is required so a look at the long range forecast, which is not much more than an educated guess by the meteorologists, and a decision is made so it has been last minute changes this year.

2019 forecast for the end of Feb on the left and on the right 2018

There is a massive improvement to the area in front of the dug outs, which we have always struggled with. we were able to purchase a new grow light for the pitch in December which sits around this area now, not just giving light to help the plant to photosynthesise but also heat from the lamps to keep the surface dry. Most of our grass coverage is lost when play happens on a surface which is has too much moisture in the top. The images tell their own story.

In front of the dug outs 13 Feb 2019

In front of dug outs 13 Feb 2018

We have overseeded through the middle of the pitch to fill in the gaps to have as much grass coverage as possible going into the last quarter of the season. We will have the pitch in play until the end of May to accommodate county cup finals and corporate use. 

The training ground pitches have come through the winter in decent condition, so a strong finish to the season regarding pitch quality is expected. Pitch 1 has performed particularly well this year. It has the benefit of the drainage system installed and that really helps pull the water away from the surface so there isn't damage taken when it is used after rain.

Pitch 1

Pitch 2

Goal keeper training area

Renovation planning has been done with the first training ground pitches to be taken up from the 15th April if the weather is on our side. Renovations will continue until the end of June completing one pitch per week.

It's a good feeling that challenging weather is (hopefully) behind us and we have survived the winter  with the pitches in good condition. roll on the summer.

Winter's Arrived

January 19'

Winter's Arrived

The winter so far has been very kind to us with no rainfall of note in December and just 21mm in January. To match the good fortune of the weather, fixtures have fallen nicely too and the stadium pitch going into February in as good as condition as we could hope. 

Although time mowing and line marking is reduced during this time of year as the grass isn't growing much, we spend most of our time repairing pitches after play, knocking back, pulling frost covers on and off. 

A typical day in January when we are having a cold spell is removing covers in the morning, if necessary mark the pitch, put goals in place ready for training. After the training session, we might use a Dennis G860 brush to clean up, if time and a quick repair of any divot markes etc before re-covering for the following day. If all goes smoothly, re-covering should take no more than two hours and taking the covers off in the mornings just 45 minutes.

Clearing snow off covers at the training ground

When snow has fallen on the covers, as it did last week, it can take many hours to remove the snow, depending on how much has fallen. Fortunately, we had less than an inch this time and a full pitch was cleared by 1030 training. If there is a decent amount to fall, it is unlikely a whole pitch will be d in this time without many people helping.

Managing the stadium MaCleod covering system is different. Snow is easily pushed to the side as it slides nicely across the material, once deflated. The down side is that there isn't anywhere for it to go to around the edges of the stadium pitch. If we have time, we will wheelbarrow it out of the stadium. If we don't have time to do that because of an impending match, then it is is put over the edges of the pitch area in to the stands and the lower area is closed off for fans. If the snow isn't moved from the edge of the cover, we can't get the cover off as it buries the straps which are anchored around the outside of the pitch. 

MaCleod system

This month, all the mowers have been sharpened to ensure we are cutting the leaf as cleanly as possible. It is important this is done to maintain plant health and the grass isn't torn when cutting as it will make it vulnerable to disease. Water and nutrients are also used more efficiently by the plant.
As soon as we notice it isn't cutting the paper cleanly when checking the mower over before we start, it is brought in to the workshop for grinding. We are fortunate enough to have our own grinders and experience within the grounds team to sharpen them ourselves. This is one of our strategies of maintaining our turf as healthily as we can with out regular chemical applications.

Planning for renovations is well under way and will begin in mid April. A timetable of which pitches are taken out is worked out mainly on a date to which they will be required back in play. Because of the concert this summer, the stadium pitch will be renovated in June and will be our last pitch to be renovated during the spring/summer as it will be required to be back in play at the latest date. 

 

Alternative Solutions

Dec 18'

Alternative Solutions

As we head into the new year, the weather has been wet and mild creating ideal conditions for disease outbreaks which we have had at the Training Ground, although the Portman Rd pitch is keeping relatively clear this year.

Three pitches of ten are now chemical free at the training ground and we are treating them with nutrient feeds, looking at different options from different suppliers. The first team pitches are still on our fungicide treatments. 

We don't apply preventative sprays largely due to the cost, as this money is used with the aim to create a stronger plant to resist or recover from disease outbreaks. Chemicals are being banned every year now and the options to choose from are becoming fewer. Propiconazole is the latest active ingredient to be given a use by date of March 2020. We use it in Banner Maxx, a systemic for when the turf is actively growing and has been our go to for many years as it controls 18 diseases. 

Although companies will develop replacement chemicals, I have no doubt they will be less effective and still cost a fortune. The plan is still to go 100% chemical free long before the last fungicides to control disease is banned, but finding the best alternative solution is still on going and probably always will be.

The Stadium pitch is now starting to have a winter appearance with natural thinning in the areas without the artificial light. The turf takes a bit more damage from games and the pre-match warm up areas are noticeable on the cameras. 

22nd December

The game on the 22nd of December was the turning point. we had had 11mm of rain on the Thursday, which was fine as the pitch needed some moisture in it, but we had another 5mm on the Friday night that wasn't forecast, 12 hours before KO, which left the top with just a little too much moisture in and some surface damage occurred during the game.  

 

We are seeing massive benefits from the grow lights at the stadium, even the home made rig with 400w bulbs is making quite an impact. This one is left in the same position all of the time covering about 40sqm in the south goal mouth. we are covering as much of the pitch as we can with the other lights which covers 530sqm at any one time. The 1000w bulbs of the MU50 and LU120 have a bigger impact than the old MU360, which used to be at the old Highbury Stadium. We have had it for about 5 years now and it is still doing a good job.

Dense turf in the south goal mouth from the home made rig 

The last couple of weeks have seen a reduction in rainfall and it is easier to get on to work on the academy pitches. Timing is everything, not wanting to put machinery onto pitches which aren't quite fit for it, but also having to pressure to deliver the presentation expected. 

Another alternative solution to traditional aeration is an air injector from Bury Turf Care, which is the same principal as the Air2G2, but you can chose when to and how many times you release the shot of air. We found our demonstration very successful, relieving a compaction at 6 inch depth from an academy pitch which we were struggling to deal with even with regular aeration. I have them booked in for a days work on a couple of problem areas which have never drained adequately.

January will hopefully be a quiet month with only two fixtures scheduled at Portman Rd, but an U18's FA Cup might be scheduled depending on their result at Gillingham. 

I always see January as the month to get through in as good as condition as possible so when February is on us, we are on count down to hopefully some longer sunshine hours in March.

Let There Be Light!

NOV 18'

Let There Be Light!

Grow lights have been a valuable tool in stadiums over the last 15 years and we have been adding rigs to the Portman Rd since 2013, with our latest addition in November.

Having done much research across the three main manufacturers to get the best value for money, we decided to purchase a new LU120 from SGL. We also looked at TLS and MLR which would have also done a good job for us. 

TLS offered the same SqM coverage but with 18 bulbs to the SGL 24 and MLR offered two rigs with 12 in each rig covering 160SqM. 

The MLR option was of interest to us as we could split the two rigs up if necessary, covering 80SqM each. although the light intensity was diluted more over the extra 40SqM, I believe it would have been adequate to maintain grass coverage where we needed it. 

MLR are reviewing the design and build of this rig and when this has happened, I will be very interested in looking again and believe they will become very competitive in the grow lights market.

LU120

Every season the area in front of the dugouts loses a large percentage of grass coverage. The main reasons for this is lack of light, poorer soils in that area and increased foot traffic during games because of where it is. The LU120 is now positioned in this area and the expectation is that we will retain considerably more grass. We have already noticed that the light, with 1000w bulbs in dries the soil out a lot more quickly than the 600w MU360 which is based further along the wing.

Aeration with all three of the aerators has been taken place across all the sites this month to continue the battle with what has been a very wet month. Along with the aeration, we have been using penetrant wetting agents on some pitches to help pull water through the soil profile. extra care needs to be made on the stadium pitch that the top doesn't dry out too much, which can lead to the surface losing stability.

The pitch cover was used for the first time this season at the end of November for the Bristol City game to keep the 11mm of rain which fell off the pitch the night before the game. This did reduce our time we had to work on the pitch to turn it around from the Sky game on the previous Friday, but better that way and manage the rainfall.

We are fortunate in Ipswich to get half of the average rainfall for the UK, but it doesn't feel like it sometimes! In November, we had 25% more than our average but below overage over the previous 6 months, so it was time for natures payback...

During the Autumn, we usually suffered from, what I believe is called "Ghost Grass". I understand that it something to do with the plant not being able to control the production of gibberellic acid, therefore promoting growth. this is possibly some sort of fungal infection. The plant leaves are soft (probably due to cell elongation) and they do not get cut when the pitch is cut with a cylinder mower. The only way to remove them is cutting with a rotary mower. 

Ghost grass on 3 of the training pitches

Now that that the soil temperatures have dropped, we are currently at about 7 deg, the pitches have slowed in growth considerably and we are only cutting to present for matches and a tidy up when required. it is noticeable the extra growth under the stadium grow lights though, and showing a more dense plant. 

It goes to show how important the grow lights are, however many are owned, we always need more to maintain grass coverage in the high wear areas. We are now in our sixth year of not turfing the goal mouths at the stadium, which we will endeavour to continue this record through the season.

Disease Pressure

October 2018

Disease pressure

Now the days are getting shorter, it's getting cooler and a lot more moisture hanging around the turf.  We aim to avoid disease outbreaks in the plant at this time of year to prevent needing to spray chemicals to control it.

knocking the dew off the turf first thing in the morning is a must. This is done with a 2.5 meter dew brush on the stadium pitch and by either a tractor mounted brush or by pulling a rope across the pitches at the training ground. if dew is left, then it creates warm, moist conditions for disease to break out.
We have had disease (Microdochium patch) outbreaks on four pitches so far during October. It is expected, but we are working towards minimising them as much as possible. three of the pitches were sprayed with fungicide and the other with nutrients to help the plant fight the disease on its own. This pitch (pitch 4) has been chemical free since March 2017. The hope is we will learn to deal with disease attacks without reaching for the chemical bottle across the whole site. This might mean we have to be tolerant to some disease scarring on the turf at times but it's weighing up the negatives and the benefits.
We are also sharpening our own mower blades using Bernhard grinders and we do this as often as necessary to keep a clean cut. Mowing with dull blades tears at the plant leaf and leaves it vulnerable to infection.

An advanced attack of Microdchium patch from back in 2012

Off pitch area of pitch 2 (2018)

Annual Meadow Grass (Poa annua) showing up on pitch 6. 

We are suffering more the average with the grass species Poa annua on one of our pitches this year. I'm sure it isn't a coincidence that this pitch wasn't sprayed off with glyphosate before renovation. It was also heavily watered during the summer heat, encouraging the Poa annua species. It can stand out by being a lighter shade of green and shows up clearly in the morning dew...

We are still continuing with the aeration. The stadium pitch has been aerated twice this mont, once with the verti drain with 3/4 inch tines and also with the weidenmann G8xi with 12mm tines. the only difference to the aeration program from the stadium to the training ground is the addition of groundbreaking in season is not carried out at the stadium. Although it would be beneficial, our old Blec Groundbreaker we have leaves lines which is not acceptable for the stadium pitch. 

We have probably made the last Primo Maxx application as we will spray up until the temperatures start to drop below double figures. Growth has slowed considerably in the last couple of weeks as we head towards winter. We will continue with our bio sprays of sugars/carbs and seaweed every other week.

We are also spraying Clear cast, which is a sulphur based product to deter the worms from surfacing,thus creating a cast. We have had mixed results, but since carbendazim was banned last year our options are limited. We will also be adding a little penetrant wetting agent to help pull the water through the profile. We have used this before with unexpectedly effective results but drying the surface out too much. This time a quarter rate will be applied and it will be monitored from there.

The last U23 game to take place at the stadium is at the beginning of November, then except for the U18 cup games, it will be clear for first team use only.

We have been very lucky so far with the weather going through autumn and keeping our fingers crossed we get into the new year without any weather which is too harsh.



I wish every month was September!

September 2018

I wish every month was September!

September and October are my favourite months of the year because the renovated pitches are more mature and stronger, the temperatures have dropped a little and there is no need to chase around with irrigation to keep the turf alive.

At this time, a big emphasis is put on aeration. We continue with our regular programme of 20mm deep soilid tines with the verti drain 7516 and 12mm solid tines at 7-8 inches with the weidenmann GXi8 after a pass of the 1m Blec Groundbreaker, which really shakes things about. It takes more than a day to get across a pitch, but it is worth it for the benefits of aeration and drainage, especially on the pitches which need a little more help. 

During September we have had the MacLeod cover system inspected by Sports & Stadia, with some very useful tips . Despite knowing the cover for 8 years and there being one at Portman Road for almost 20 years , you always learn something new and find a better way of doing things. Earlier in the year, when “the beast from the east “ was with us , we had some of the worst conditions that there has been for many years and the cover kept the pitch frost free throughout.
There is a mains gas supply installed behind the south goal which connects directly to the heater unit where we are able to pump heat via vents along the central tube the length of the pitch. By shutting off vent outlets along the tube, it is possible to push the hot air evenly to the north end of the pitch .

MacLeod cover inspection September 2018

We are continuing to feed the pitches as much as they require, going with the weather conditions rather than the date as we are still getting good day time temperatures, although at night it is starting to cool off a little. The soil holds onto the temperature well in the autumn but will drop off quicker when we start to get a run of frosts, which I’m sure will be some time off yet in the south east.  

The bio-stimulant and trace element fortnightly sprays will continue throughout, with Primo Maxx growth regulator is still being applied for the time being, whilst the temperatures are still with us.

Good conditions during September

The stadium pitch has performed well during September hosting 5 matches including two U23 fixtures. Extra help from the Groundstaff from the Training Ground is required when we have a 1st team fixture on the Saturday and an U23 on the Monday. Although not ideal, it is better to fit in our five compulsory Stadium fixtures whilst the turf has some recovery time before the Winter. Much of the battle is getting the correct amount of moisture in the pitch for the game as this has a direct impact on the surface damage we take.

The October international break gives us an 18 day gap in fixtures at Portman Rd, which will give us the chance to carry out some verti cutting, deep aeration and liquid applications of a wetting agent, Primo Maxx and our bio-stimulant mix.