Golf Clubs looking for deep linear scarification and sand injection can now take advantage of the first tractor -mounted machine  available in the UK .  Ecosolve  Ltd and Blec Global  have  just  introduced The Sand-Filler for immediate sale or contract hire from Ecosol Turfcare and  are demonstrating it around the country.

Deep scarification and sand injection is a proven frontline technique for achieving better fine turf surfaces and the new Sand Filler gives the golf course manager the opportunity to tackle the increasingly important task of organic matter management in a much more convenient way.
Current pedestrian equipment for the task is heavily labour -intensive and time-consuming. Ecosol Turfcare’s new Sand Filler takes the scarification/injection concept to a new level. It extracts and collects the arisings into an on-board hopper that can then be tipped into a utility vehicle for disposal. Simultaneous sand injection completes the operation as a large capacity hopper feeds the injection spouts. Surface debris is removed by the rotor’s wind paddles that blow it into the hopper, preventing the need for specialist debris collection equipment.
The Sand-Filler is unique in that it is tractor mounted and can scarify and fill at exceptional depth, says Ecosolve’s technical director, Bretton King. “The Sand Filler can consistently scarify and fill down to 40mm, regardless of the amount of debris and thatch its 3mm wide blades extract, because the material is removed from the surface before the injection spouts follow.”
Ecosolve Ltd and Blec Global Ltd are in partnership to offer golf clubs the opportunity to see and hire this innovative  machine. It has already attracted great interest and working demonstrations are in progress across the UK. If you are interested in watching  a Sand Filler in action, need more information or a no-obligation quote, contact Ecosolve today on 01666 861250.

Drill n Fill aeration can work wonders on Britain’s old golf courses which can be  a nightmare for course managers who  find themselves running out of options.

This was the case at I00 year old Denham Golf Club which began a regular programme of Drill n Fill in 2006 and has just completed its third pass.

“Members were exasperated with unacceptably soft greens,” said  Course  manager, Guy Jenkins. Five years ago, he was finding it more and more difficult to calm the   disgruntled  750 strong membership who were getting fed up with  playing on temporaries. His course was built with push-up greens out of a sandy soil. Although it may have drained well in the early part of its life, organic matter put on the greens over the years was very absorbent and slowed water movement. Subsequent verti-draining had been rendered ineffective because the fines from the   top dressing persistently capped all the holes, explained Guy. “As a result, there was compaction, puddling, standing water and poor grass growth. When the greens got wet, they stayed wet.”

But just when he reached that low point, Guy decided to enlist the help of Ecosol Turfcare’s Drill n Fill. The aerator was making its mark as an effective and economical trouble shooter. Drilling into turf, extracting the old rootzone and backfilling with a sand/soil amendment not only establishes a network of effectively draining ducts for the water to percolate through  but also improves the rootzone and health of the grass plants.

Guy, who has been at Denham for 10 years now was delighted. “The effect was amazing that first time, I could see it in half an hour and inside three weeks, every member of the Golf Club – not to mention the greenkeeping  staff – was happy!

Denham employed 310mm deep drills with a diameter of 20mm on the 18 greens. They used a backfill of 70;30 sand to Sportslite,  Ecosol’s  zeolitic soil amendment ,which adds a wealth of benefits to soil, including increasing cation exchange capacity, lowering susceptibility to compaction and helping grass growth by reducing leaching and retaining nutrients.

“We used a backfill specially blended for us by Bespoke Blending and Bagging, Ecosol’s own operation, because we knew it would be produced in the correct proportions and delivered when and how we wanted it. Sportslite has been excellent.” said Guy.

Ecosol Turfcare has now completed its third Drill n Fill pass over Denham G.C.’s 18 greens.   Guy’s staff   vertidrained and brushed the excess backfill back in. Despite very little rain in the three weeks since it was done, the drill holes on the greens have almost disappeared.

“Although nothing will be as dramatic as the massive effect it had that first time, Drill n Fill has continued to improve our greens,”  Guy said. He is confident that water is now moving right through the profile. “Proof of the change Drill n Fill has made is that water is shedding away from the greens  and we can see it draining out at the lowest point of the course. But that’s a nice problem to have!”

Drill n Fill  has been the catalyst to a change in the quality of the greens which are firmer and with better grass growth,  continued Guy. “In fact it has led to a marked difference in our whole regime of top dressing and cultivation. We now need less fertiliser and irrigation right through the summer which is great both for the budget and the grass plants.”

“Denham’s members are all agreed that the Club’s greens have benefited considerably from Drill n Fill,” said Club Secretary, James Tucker. “With reduced thatch, improved drainage and better root development below the surface, the greens have performed much better throughout the year. This is in no small part due to our Drill n Fill programme over recent years.” In order to maintain this status quo, the club plans to support normal maintenance with a visit from Ecosol Turfcare every four years.


“Without doubt Drill n Fill is the single most course-changing operation we’ve ever had,” says Dunwood Manor G.C. and Bramshaw G.C. courses manager, Jason Buckmaster.

This positive endorsement came following Ecosol Turfcare’s treatment of all 18 greens at Dunwood Manor, Hampshire back in 2002. Jason was faced with greens built to no particular specification on predominantly heavy clay with only a partial drainage layer and “dubious” rootzone. As a result, the greens were often unplayable, soggy, puddled and with poor grass growth on the surface.

The Drill n Fill was able to punch through the top 30 cm down into the gravel and shingle drainage layer. Helped by the sand/sportslite backfill which aided percolation, water was able to filter through the multiple drilled ducts, off the surface and into the drainage layer. The results were both speedy and satisfactory. “Even the greens without any drainage layer improved,” adds Jason. They became firmer and the grass was much better because the drier surface resulted in less disease.

Jason is now responsible for nearby Bramshaw G.C. which had almost the same problems and similar construction to Dunwood Manor. Ecosol has just returned in August 2010 to Drill n Fill five greens at Dunwood  Manor and a further 12 on Bramshaw’s two courses. Drills went to a depth of 31cm and were backfilled with  an 80:20 mix of sand and Ecosol’s zeolitic soil amendment, Sportslite.

Just a couple of weeks on and the operation has already brought results, says Jason. “I was on holiday and I got a phone call saying we’d  had an inch of rain in an hour one morning – well, they were mowing that afternoon!”

Now he has the budget for a rolling programme of Drill n Fill on all his greens. “Drill n Fill is a cost-effective option which keeps the greens in the state we want them without having to go for expensive reconstruction which would have been the only other alternative,” he says. And, it’s not just the operation which is satisfactory… “Ecosol are one contractor we never have to worry about,” says Jason. “They have a brilliant work ethic, the job’s always neat and tidy and they are great at what they do.”

Bath Rugby’s famous ground at The Rec is looking good after the season’s first fixture, a double header involving Newbury and Edinburgh, towards the end of August.

Three years into the renovation and maintenance partnership with Ecosol Turfcare, Bath head groundsman, Darren Ball, is delighted with the work. “At the end of last season, the pitch was shot to bits, with the surface full of holes,” he said. Ecosol Turfcare went in in May, with the Koro Field Top maker which strips the top of the pitch, removing all vegetation and rootzone down to 30mm. The pitch was regraded to remove high and low spots and top dressed with 100  tonnes of 50/50 rootzone. A further 80 tonnes of sand was applied with the Blec Sandmaster to create 12mm wide sand slits which help speed water off the surface. Reseeding took place immediately and despite a very dry summer and the occurrence of public events on the pitch, the grass flourished.

“It’s come back really well, “ said Darren. “It was a radical treatment but there’s no question it’s done better than it would, had we not removed the old surface. Following those first games and a lot of rain on the Sunday night, it’s held together well.

Ecosol Turfcare also installed a perimeter drain on the river side, by the  Wadworth and Hampton stands, which kept the ground dry after the torrent and will be replacing the artificial grass in front of the subs’ seats before the first league game on 11/12 September. The company also took care of the training ground at Lambridge, carrying out aeration, decompaction, overseeding with Barenbrug Bar 7 grass seed and applying fertiliser in preparation for the new season.

The newly seeded pitch in July 2010.

“We are really happy with the Ecosol team and the work they’ve done for us,” said Darren. “Being a local firm is a bonus because they can respond quickly and they take a pride in their work.”

Our photo shows the newly seeded pitch in July 2010.

Ecosol Turfcare added another string to its bow during the depths of winter 2010 – snow clearance!

At a time when big match cancellations were widespread – resulting in dissatisfied fans, players’ fitness suffering and money being lost, Ecosol was able to help its clients Swindon Town FC and Bath Rugby to host important fixtures.

Swindon Town contacted Ecosol in the middle of the snow event, saying that players were going stir crazy because fitness work had to be confined to indoors. Would it be possible to clear 30 cm of snow off the training ground? Ecosolve’s MD, Bretton King, decided to take on the challenge, shipping a team of four with tractors and trailers to clear the snow off the Liddington pitch.

The success of that operation so impressed Swindon’s directors, they decided, one day in advance of the planned Gillingham game, to take a chance on the County Ground, because due to the weather, cancellations were mounting up and everyone needed a game. With Ecosol’s tractors and trailers parked on the pitch perimeter to minimise surface damage, all Swindon’s staff and an army of volunteers got to work with snow shovels and wheelbarrows. At 4.30 pm on the Friday, head groundsman Marcus Cassidy, went out with the white liner and the game went ahead the following day. The pitch played well and Swindon won 3 nil – a great result for all.

Meanwhile, down the road at the Rec, Bath Rugby was struggling with 15cm of snow on top of its frost covers and an important Heineken Cup fixture looming. It was to be screened live by Sky Sports and cancellation was not an option! “Leaving the covers on for an extended period would have severely damaged the viability of the grass, because no light was getting through,” said Bretton King. Once again, Ecosol decided to act and with a small team of 20 volunteers, including officials, they were able to pull the groundsheets off in such a way that the snow was rolled into sausage shapes on top and carted into Ecosol’s pitchside trailers. “The operation took a solid eight hours and was absolutely critical because had all that snow melted it would have completely destabilised the playing surface,” said King. Eight days later, the Heineken game went ahead and the pitch played well.

Ecosol Turfcare then soil relieved the Swindon County Ground and a mere 10 days after the snow shifting operation, the vital midweek clash with Leeds went ahead, with another win for Swindon and a crowd of 14,500. Not many weeks later, on 6 February 2010, Swindon hosted Charlton Athletic for a top- of- the -table clash in a promotion playoff championship game. Throughout the match, the BBC radio commentator was heard to compliment the condition of the pitch at County Ground – another coup for Ecosol!

“At a time when clubs all over the UK were unable to host vital matches, we were delighted to put all our resources into helping two valued clients,” continued Bretton King. “There were difficult decisions to be made and tight deadlines, but the team effort was marvellous. Snow clearance is not normally in our portfolio of maintenance services, but we are flexible enough to be able to respond quickly and the experience has been valuable for the future.”

In a deal cemented at the recent BTME show in Harrogate, Ecosolve Ltd has taken delivery of two new pieces of ground maintenance equipment from Campey Turfcare Systems.

The Dakota Turf Tender 420 Top Dresser and Vredo Compact 218 disc seeder will expand Ecosolve’s Turfcare division which recorded a healthy increase in winter sports pitch maintenance during2009. Ecosol Turfcare operates a multi-dimensional contracting service from complete renovation, to solving a specific problem on rugby and football pitches. It offers drainage and aeration, new construction, and numerous ways of maintaining and improving sports turf to ensure the highest possible standard during the season.

” Ecosol Turfcare continues to grow,” says Ecosolve MD, Bretton King. ” The equipment that Campey had to offer will enable us to improve our efficiency and continue to provide the type of high quality service that we and our customers demand.” The Dakota Top Dresser has a side conveyor that will work alongside Ecosolve’s sand slitting equipment and the Vredo Disc Seeder will improve the efficacy of the overseeding operation, giving optimum conditions for maximum germination and establishment percentages.

Campey Turfcare has been supplying Ecosolve for six years. Says MD Richard Campey, “the creation and maintenance of high quality turf can only be achieved using the correct equipment and a properly focused contracting operation. Providing Bretton with the latest Dakota and Vredo models underlines that special relationship and is important for both our companies if we are to continue to meet the needs of contemporary turf care.”