Germinal will be
focusing on its upgraded range of landscaping mixtures at this year’s
FutureScape Scotland show, incorporating ScotHort, at the Royal Highland
Centre, Edinburgh, on Thursday 6th
September.
There will be a
particular emphasis on the inclusion of new-for-2018 creeping perennial
ryegrass cultivar, Zurich, which offers increased wear tolerance and fast sward
recovery.
Zurich scores 6.5 for
live ground cover and 6.3 for visual merit, making it one of the
best-performing creeping perennial ryegrasses on Table S1 of the BSPB’s
Turfgrass Seed 2018 booklet. It is a fine-leaved variety that also
exhibits high resistance to insects and nematode attack due to naturally high
endophyte levels, as well as good persistence and a creeping growth habit which
aids sward recovery.
Zurich now
features as standard in three of Germinal’s landscaping seed mixtures; A3
Embankments and Drought, A18 Road Verge & Embankments and A19 All Purpose
Landscaping.
“A3 has
traditionally been the industry’s go-to seed mixture for stabilising
embankments due to its high percentage of creeping fescues and bentgrasses
which bind the soil together,” explains Richard Brown, Amenity Sales Manager
for Germinal. “The addition of Zurich gives this popular seed mixture the
added benefits associated with a perennial ryegrass: speed of establishment,
the ability to germinate in colder temperatures, and the ability to rapidly
recover from damage caused by excessive wear. For A18 and A19, the
addition of Zurich further enhances the ability of these mixtures to recover
from wear with minimal intervention.
“Zurich exhibits an
excellent creeping habit, which binds manufactured soils together quickly and
effectively thereby preventing gully erosion and loss of soil. It’s
ability to self-regenerate gives added protection during the winter and slowly
helps damaged swards to repair themselves with minimal additional physical
intervention. It also makes the improved seed mixtures more effective in
cooler temperatures at the beginning and end of the growing season.”
Germinal’s landscaping
seed mixtures can be ordered online from the company’s new website which also
contains all the information landscape architects need to optimise the
performance of their amenity facilities: the website includes complete
specifications and usage guides for Germinal’s Grade ‘A’ range of landscaping
grass seed and wildflower mixtures for everything from low maintenance
reclaimed land to saline road verges, shaded habitats, fine lawns and an array
of natural habitats.
All
product details can be easily cut and pasted into external documents, making it
simple for landscape architects to insert them directly into the appropriate
project specification.
“As well
as constantly investing in research and development to bring first class grass
and wildflower seeds and turf care products to the landscaping sector, we are
also conscious of the constant need to provide the industry with the latest
news and advice,” Richard Brown adds.
“The new
website has therefore been developed to make it easier for new and existing
customers to keep abreast of our developing range of products and to enable
them to specify the most appropriate products to suit each site’s individual
requirements.
“We’ve
populated the new website with a collection of advice guides and video
resources covering a range of useful topics from simple over-seeding and sowing
‘how-to’ guides, to more detailed explanations of the importance of key success
factors such as soil pH, the use and application of macro and micro nutrients
and how to physically manage recently renovated and established swards and
amenity landscapes.”
The
website also contains a selection of standardised fertiliser plans – written
and designed by Germinal’s FACTS (Fertiliser Advisers Certification and
Training Scheme) qualified experts – to enable everyone from novice gardeners
to professional turf growers to get the best results from their amenity
facilities.
The new
website also features a ‘Product Selector’ tool which has been designed to make
it as easy and simple as possible for landscape architects to find the most
appropriate grass or wildflower products for each project’s specific needs.
A range of
CPD resources and seminar details has also been added: landscape architects can
contact their local Germinal technical specialist who will be happy to visit
them to provide more detail on a range of topics such as how to establish and
maintain wildflowers and understanding the latest plant nutrition protocols.
