Council groundsman ‘works smart’
Niall Gibb is not the only local government Head Groundsman who is increasingly faced by the conundrum of a growing workload and reduced budgets. But it is clear that his award-winning turf management routines – and the playing surfaces and open spaces in his charge – are not suffering, thanks to his clever combination of continually working ‘smarter’ with his dedicated team of grounds professionals and the use of a top-of-the-range portfolio of consumable products.
Based just outside Southampton, Niall and his team of four are charged with maintaining a range of Fawley Parish Council sports facilities at a number of sites that are regularly/heavily used. These include five full-size football and rugby pitches, two junior pitches, a cricket pitch and three all-weather five-a-side artificial surfaces, as well as various open space areas.
In addition, as part of Niall’s plan to increasingly offer the team’s skills on a commercial contract basis – to bring in much-valued additional revenue to the council’s budget – the team is also contracted to maintain the sports fields at three local schools and a golf club.
“The task never gets smaller or easier,” he says, “but by carefully planning our schedules and using products from Rigby Taylor – the company at the forefront of supplying innovative products for the successful management and maintenance of turf surfaces – we are not only managing to stay on top of it all but we are also freeing up time to actively seek and complete additional contract work.”
Niall joined Fawley Parish Council in 2011, after a career that started as an apprentice greenkeeper in his native Scotland. There he embraced spells at a number of golf clubs before briefly moving into landscape gardening (following in his father’s footsteps). He then joined Glasgow Rangers FC as a skilled groundsman and, after 18 months or so at the club’s training ground and at Ibrox Stadium, while browsing the IOG website he saw the parish council position advertised.
“It was a big decision to move to Hampshire but I really wanted to get back into team management,” says Niall. “The remit here has grown year on year, at the same time as budgets have been continually cut, but I constantly review all that we do to ensure we employ best practice at all times.
“In tandem with this, of course, every purchase we make (capital equipment and consumables) needs to be subject to quotes and on that basis I then make decisions on which products offer us the best value-for-money.”
He continues: “I first used Rigby Taylor products at the golf club where I served my apprenticeship. I trust these products; they’re cost-effective and they’ve never let me down. Also, the Rigby Taylor back-up is good and the company’s technical representatives know their stuff.”
Niall uses R14 CR creeping rye grass on his football and rugby pitches, and R9 cricket rye for the cricket squares, complemented by Delta fertiliser on football and rugby (12-4-8 and 8-6-6) and Maintain PGR, a growth regulator. He finds that the seed mixes are ideal for his sites and the wear and tear they encounter.
Impact XP line marking paint – which won the Queen’s Award for Innovation – applied by iGO machines, is used on all pitches. “There’s no doubt that the ready-to-use XP paint produces lines that are longer lasting; in some cases two weeks at least,” he adds.
“Using the iGO machines is also saving a lot of time; we simply load the machine with a 10-litre drum of XP – there’s no mixing, measuring or wastage – and use the red and gold nozzles in sequence for starting/initial applications and over-marking, respectively. After use, the machine is simply rinsed through.” A 10-litre drum of Impact XP can mark up to eight standard size pitches without being re-filled.
Niall continues: “Because of the location of our pitches (built on what were gravel pits) we have some of the driest playing surfaces in the area – they’re very free-draining – so it’s a constant battle to keep the pitches up to standard. But by regular and professional maintenance routines based on frequent mowing, slitting and vertidraining, complemented by a set of excellent consumable products, we are able to consistently present high-class playing surfaces.”
Going forwards, Niall is increasingly adopting an environmentally-friendly approach, following his early successes with soil biology studies and the use of compost teas. “The initial results have been a reduction in Npk levels, reduced thatch less levels and the elimination of pesticides”.
The strategy will include more Euroflor wild flower seed planting (Euroflor mixes, supplied by Rigby Taylor, have already been successfully applied) “to produce stunning, colourful displays that will also help reduce grass cutting on banks and open areas, for instance”. Also on the agenda are plans for the grounds team to be involved in the establishment of more allotment plots and an orchard, for example.
In addition, Niall hopes to be able to make more of his ‘How to improve your pitch on a budget’ presentation, like the one he made last year for the Hampshire FA. “I really enjoyed the event and the feedback was pleasing,” he says. “I’d like to do more of that, to continue to put something back into the industry.”