How GDT react to temperature rises - turfing processes for Summer 2023

A note from George Davies :

I hope everyone is well and has been enjoying the last few weeks of wonderful weather, a lot has happened in the last month, and as you may have guessed our industry lives and breathes in line with the fluctuations in weather.

So, what has been going on in the turf world? On the production side, the frantic levels of grass growth we saw during May have come to a grinding halt, with hardly any turf farms irrigating anything until the 19th?of May. Since then, every irrigator in the country has been running 24 hours a day to keep the young sowings growing and to keep the turf fields nearing harvest wet and in perfect condition.

With the warm dry easterly wind, it has meant that evaporation rates have been extremely high, and most farms will put on 15 – 20mm of water every 2 – 3 days depending on the soil type, the air temperature and the wind speed. Just to give you an idea:?At 30 degrees and a wind speed of Zero, the soil will lose 6.8 mm of water a day. At a wind speed of 9 metres/second (20 mph), the soil will lose a massive 12.8mm a day.?But with windy and normally gusty conditions, it is never an even spread with some areas getting a lot more and some areas getting a lot less. Turf production is not an easy gig...

Turf cut heights have been raised to protect the base of the grass, and all clippings have been vacuumed off the sward to reduce the level of sod heating. Fertiliser applications have been reduced to slow the grass down to increase its shelf life, while growth regulators have been applied to help further reduce the grass growth and prolong the shelf life. Some of our suppliers are now harvesting from 1 am in the morning for us to provide you with the maximum shelf life possible. We have been monitoring turf roll temperatures on a daily basis now for the last 3 weeks to gauge what is happening (in the middle of the pallet) to help us understand the level of shelf life we can expect from the turf, and therefore do all we can to deliver you the best turf possible for you to complete your project.

In a nutshell, we have all been thinking outside the box continuously for the benefit of our customers. We might look like a Swan swimming gracefully, but underneath we are paddling at the fastest pace we possibly can.

In terms of heat waves, 2024 is set to be the hottest year on record as a result of the El Ni?o climate pattern. Though we'll touch more on that next month... as that needs a newsletter of its own.

What's happening at GDT??

• George and James Warren from Made in Blue have been out and about visiting a range of GDT customers, you can check out the above-pictured case study in more detail here.
• We held our annual GDT BBQ on Sunday 25th June. As always, it was a great day, and we were lucky enough to have beautiful weather for the occasion.
• Two George Davies Turf teams entered the Olney Raft Race this Sunday, with our BOTH teams taking 1st place finishes! Well done to all of our rafters, it really goes to show the teamwork and camaraderie we apply to all things GDT.
• We're proud to have sponsored Hana Leonard 's creation at the #HamptonCourtPalaceFlowerShow which started this week, with the garden being awarded a Silver Gilt Medal ??

• And finally, we will be exhibiting at GroundsFest 2023 on the 20th of September at Stoneleigh Park - so be sure to come and say hello if you're attending.

Customer Testimonial

"I had a delivery of 100+ rolls of turf delivered to my job last week and not only were the staff on the phone extremely helpful, but the delivery driver was incredibly helpful. Anytime I'm turfing there is only one company I will ever use, and that's George Davies Turf".

?????????? J.D. Landscapes

In case you missed it...

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???Create a meadow lawn with our range of Wildflower Turf.