Headland Amenity regime makes for improved conditions at Durham Country Cricket Club

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In a year of ‘interesting’ weather conditions around the country, the challenge of knowing what, and when, to apply in terms of a nutritional programme has been just one of the many struggles for greenkeepers. For Vic Demain, head groundsman of Durham County Cricket Club, that task has been made a little easier with trusted advice from Alex Hawkes of Headland Amenity. Through a tried and tested combination of granular and soluble fertilisers, Vic has sustained a strong, vibrant and healthy plant throughout the season.

“We’ve not had a year quite like this before. In April we were completely flooded out, then in the following two months we had hardly any rain at all” explains Vic who has been at Durham CCC for four years. Vic was previously at Trent Bridge, which is where he first met Alex. “This was my first experience with Headland Amenity products and it was evident very quickly that they performed well and helped to deliver an immaculate field. When I was appointed at Durham, I asked Alex to come in and assess, which he did on my very first day in the position!”

“It was very different – coverage wasn’t particularly strong, and the ground looked a bit tired and run down.” Following the results of soil samples, Alex created a nutritional programme. “As with most places, I had to work within budget constraints, so we tweaked around to get a programme that suited both the nutritional requirements and budget.”

On the outfields Vic applies Multigreen® temperature-controlled release granular fertiliser in March and September and during the playing season they switch to a tank mix of Elevate Fe® and Xtend® soluble fertilisers. The most recent addition to the programme is Clipless NT® plant growth regulator to control the growth and reduce the requirement for daily cutting. On the square, again it’s a combination of Multigreen® Mini and C-Complex® granular fertilisers applied twice a year, with ProTec® and N-Sure™ liquid fertilisers delivering micronutrients throughout the summer period.

“When we started the new Headland regime, you could see the difference within a couple of months – the colour was better and the grass was much stronger. The results are then backed up with fantastic advice and support from Alex and it’s these two factors combined that means I swear by the Headland products.”