The combination of Rigby Taylor’s world-leading turf care products and Rob Froud’s expert groundscare routines have transformed the playing surfaces at Bryanston School.

Improvements have been made to such an extent that not only are Rob and his team regularly complimented on the presentation and playability of the pitches, but usage rates have also risen to the extent that certain pitches are in use every day of the year at the co-educational independent school.

“When I was appointed head groundsman [aged 23], it was clear to me that the pitches could be turned around simply by a concerted effort of fundamental turf maintenance routines combined with the appropriate products,” says Rob.

With 14 years’ experience as part of the school’s grounds team, joining as a trainee after a work experience spell as a 14-year-old, in the interim before becoming head groundsman Rob gained his NVQ Levels 2 and 3 in sports turf.

He was appointed deputy head groundsman in 2008 and a year later took on the mantle as head groundsman and immediately focused his full attention on the pitches at the 60-acre site in Blandford Forum, Dorset. “We had what could be fairly described as ‘passable’ playing surfaces. But I wanted them to be top of the class! I wanted to make my mark.”

Rigby Taylor’s area technical representative Marcus Hewitt and Rob got together and devised a plan of action, starting with line marking – the use of Impact XP paint with two iGO spray line marking machines, rather than ‘burning’ the lines in – and quickly progressing into revising the fertiliser plans, based on Activate R (a biostimulant with humic acids that increases rooting and plant health), for the cricket outfield and rugby pitches.

Rob is finding that with Impact XP, which won the Queen’s Award for Innovation, he has speed of use, ease of application, long-lasting bright lines and cost savings. There’s no measuring or mixing and no waste, and a 10-litre drum will mark up to eight standard size pitches.

Rigby Taylor’s R9 seed was introduced to the cricket pitches and tennis courts, and R14 to the rugby pitches. Even the ornamental lawns at the front of the school were addressed:

“We wanted to create a ‘wow’ factor as soon as anyone entered the school,” says Rob. “So, out went the former programme of just mowing these areas and in came basic lawn care routines (scarification, aeration and the use of decent seed – R8). The lawns were turned around in no time.”

These products – from a company at the forefront of supplying innovative products for the successful management and maintenance of turf surfaces – are being used successfully across the school’s seven rugby pitches, three cricket squares and outfield, six grass tennis courts and ten ornamental lawns. The school also has 15 hard/tarmac/astro tennis courts and two sand-based astro surfaces for hockey and tennis, plus an athletics track.

Rob is in no doubt that it has been the introduction of the new and improved fertiliser routines plus the new grass seed mixes that have helped transform the pitches – in conjunction with regular vertidraining (four or five times a year for the rugby pitches, and monthly in-season for the tennis courts and cricket squares) and topdressing.

Interestingly, the main rugby pitch – which used to resemble a mud bath due to compaction – has received regular doses of a rubber-based topdressing at rates of six tonnes per application. Coupled with regular aeration, this pitch is unrecognisable to what it used to be.

And that, says Rob, is essential when you consider that there is often only a two-day turnaround of this pitch between summer and winter sports!

“The main rugby pitch sits on the cricket outfield and, because of demand, we usually have to start marking out the rugby pitch during the Friday lunchtime break during the last cricket match of the season. The posts will then go in over the weekend, as soon as the cricket match is over.”

The R14 100 per cent perennial ryegrass has given Rob a pitch that not only recovers quickly from heavy usage and provides year-round colour but it also presents a cleaner cut. R14, which comprises the Columbine, Poseidon, Duparc and Berlioz 1 cultivars, offers a host of advanced and unique specialised characteristics including rapid establishment and high tolerance to wear and disease, plus all-year-round colour.

For the new-look cricket pitch, which has three squares, Rob is hopeful that the ground will be considered for minor counties games, after the pitch was re-laid in 2012. After extended periods of wet weather, the pitch – which sits on very chalky ground – has now bedded in nicely, he says.

“It would be great to create a little bit of history on a pitch that was established in 1928!”

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