How Southampton Solent University manages 13 hectares of land

By Alistair May 10, 2017 03:41 Updated

Groundsman David Ember of Southampton Solent University, along with three others, has around 13 hectares of grounds and sports facilities to take care of. So when it comes to a nutritional regime they need help – and they need it to be simple and effective. Headland Amenity’s Alex Hawkes has been supplying just that.

“We’re home to approximately 12,800 staff and students located near to the city centre and the maritime hub of Southampton,” explains David. “We have a diverse set of grounds including three rugby pitches, two full-size football pitches, a 3G pitch and smaller soccer pitches used for five, seven and nine-a-side games. The flagship for us is our stadium pitch, which is home to Team Solent who currently play in the Wessex Premier League.”

The pitch will host approximately 60 games this year which is a heavier schedule than in previous years. Despite the stadium pitch being the only surface with a primary drainage system installed, David was having significant problems with the pitch holding water and turned to Headland’s Alex Hawkes for advice. “I asked Alex if there was anything we could try to get the water away from the surface quicker and he suggested we try Terafirm.”

Terafirm soil penetrant works by reducing the surface tension of water, minimising lateral water movement and facilitating drainage. Terafirm also acts to speed surface drying and open up pore space within the soil during dry down by accelerating natural soil contraction. David again, “Using Terafirm has made a significant difference. At its worst it would take anything up to five dry days to drain away the water from a heavy downpour. Now with the same conditions the pitch would be playable the following evening.” In addition to Terafirm, David also uses Headland’s 20/20/30 programme and Xtend 10-10-10 on the stadium pitch. “Xtend is applied as part of our renovation work to aid seed germination and establishment. With it being a slow release fertiliser it works well for us as it means we don’t have to be going out and putting fertiliser down every month – that’s just time we don’t have.” On the outer pitches, Multigreen is used in March and again in October, along with C-Complex during renovations.

Final word from David, “Alex is always on the end of the phone when we need him and thanks to his advice we’re now in a much stronger position to better the quality of the surfaces we can offer our students.”