Headland Programme Rejuvenates Sixways Surface
The Sixways 12,000 plus capacity stadium is the home of Worcester Warriors rugby union premiership team, and is a year round, multi-use venue located close to Junction six of the M5 Motorway.
The playing surface was in a very poor condition aggravated by a mal-functioning drainage system and a wet 2012. The old drainage system was installed in 1996 but was too deep to cope with the clay based soil. Head Groundsman of four years standing, Martin Knight, had it replaced in April 2013 with a new efficient system.
Head Groundsman Martin Knight uses Headland products to establish a strong and healthy sward.
To bring the playing surface back to full potential quickly Adrian Masters, of Headland Amenity, was asked to recommend a full nutrition programme after the drainage work was completed.
His suggestion called for the application of Headland C-Complex 4–3–4 as a pre-seeding fertiliser to encourage root and shoot development. This ensured availability of all primary, secondary and micronutrients from one granule, together with humic acid and a high carbon loading. The ground was seeded three to four weeks later and sand mastered to a depth of 300mm. The surface was then again treated with C Complex before being overseeded once more.
A structured programme of nutrition, using Headland products was undertaken over the following months to establish a strong and healthy sward. Headland’s growth regulator ‘Clipless’ was then applied to further improve sward density and help reduce mowing frequency by restricting leaf elongation.
The televised second home game of the season against Harlequins had TV pundit Matt Dawson, Harlequins player Danny Care and coach Connor O’Shea, making compliments about the playing surface. Harlequins No 8 Nick Easter was so delighted with the playing surface he even felt compelled to share his thoughts on Twitter.
Martin Knight, “When I joined the club there really was no managed pitch treatment programme in place, so in conjunction with Adrian we quickly established our current regime, based on regular attention or ‘little and often’ and we still work to that original plan. Our playing surface has to cope with between 35 – 41 team matches a season, around 60 training sessions, plus summer concerts and other similar events, but I have to say I have been more than pleased with the results from the various Headland products.”