TR - June 2018

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MIKE JIGGENS

BY DENISE STOPPLEWORTH

By Mike Jiggens

Respect the sun, watch out for ticks

Now that the growing season has (finally) arrived in most of Canada following a winter season that didn’t want to leave the stage and stuck around long enough for an encore or two, we have the usual concerns associated with outdoor work.

With rising temperatures, increased humidity, rising pollen levels and the everpresent power of the sun come ticks, mosquitoes, allergies and the threat of skin cancer. Left unchecked, all of these can add misery to a profession that is supposed to be enjoyable. People purposely choose to work in the turfgrass industry because of their love of the outdoors, but it’s important for them to realize the potential dangers they may encounter while working out of their “office.”

Number one on the list is arguably the sun. It’s always there and it’s always powerful. Some days it can be more powerful than others when the UV index is hovering at about nine. A recent tweet showed a golf superintendent sporting a number of angry red marks on his face that he was having checked by a dermatologist for carcinoma. This, he said, was the result of three decades of working outdoors.

Whether or not he regularly applied sunscreen, he didn’t say. Sunscreens work well, but they can’t be applied only once

to provide protection over the course of an eight-hour workday. They need to be reapplied and then reapplied again to get through a typical day, especially on the face, which tends to be more sensitive than uncovered limbs.

Some will argue that it’s just as dangerous to be smearing chemicals into the skin, and they would rather take their chances with sunburn and skin cancer. There are “natural” sunscreens available that don’t contain some of these controversial chemicals. These are at least better than going unprotected. But if it’s the choice of the worker to go without a sunscreen product, a wide-brimmed hat should be considered at the very least.

Some will argue that it’s just as dangerous to be smearing chemicals into their skin

It’s easy to suggest outdoor workers wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants while working outside. Sure, they offer good protection against the sun’s rays and can keep mosquitoes and ticks at bay, but they’re also going to be extremely uncomfortable on hot days. Discomfort breeds unproductivity.

Having to work in areas known for populations of biting insects as well as being in f ull sun can be a challenge. Wearing light coloured clothing will certainly be more

comfortable in the sun and will be less attractive to mosquitoes. Perhaps more importantly, ticks can be spotted much easier against lighter-coloured clothing than against darker fabrics.

Just when we thought we heard everything we care to hear about ticks, along comes a report out of Manitoba that tells us there are two emerging illnesses associated with ticks we previously knew little about. Lyme disease isn’t the only concern anymore. One of them, called Borrelia miyamotoi, is similar to Lyme disease with fever, chills and headache among the primary symptoms, yet rashes are not common. The other emerging illness is called Powassan disease, aka the deer tick virus, which causes vomiting, seizures and long-term neurological problems.

T hese insects cannot be taken lightly. They pack a punch much greater than their size. When working in the vicinity of taller grasses or wooded areas, periodic checks need to be made by workers to see if any ticks have attached themselves to clothing or exposed skin. Then they must be detected and properly disposed of before they are given the chance to do their dirty work.

Staying out of such areas when possible is the best approach, but it’s never a bad idea to be prepared if the job calls for it. Protection and comfort must go hand in hand. In the end, it’s all about common sense. We’re being told it’s going to be more of a challenging season tick-wise.

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Golf course, landscaping firm reopen after flood

Some businesses in Fredericton, N.B., including a golf course and landscaping company, are back up and running as floodwaters have sufficiently receded.

Both Carman Creek Golf Course and Wetmore’s Landscaping, Sod and Nursery Ltd. had been out of commission while the city’s worst flood since 1973 raged.

Even though water levels exceeded those of 1973, the flood’s aftermath wasn’t as bad as in previous years, some report.

Emerald ash borer moving northward

The emerald ash borer is likely to migrate further north than originally expected, a study from the University of Waterloo suggests. With fewer days of extreme cold associated with climate change, the insect can survive in more northern regions.

Previous predictions didn’t look outside the natural range of ash trees, but it was a popular species planted in many municipalities, including the Waterloo area.

It was thought it would be too cold in many parts of Canada for the insect to survive, but it’s warmer under the tree bark where the insect spends the winter.

Manitoba awaits ‘loosened’ pesticide ban

Manitoba’s cosmetic pesticide ban, implemented in 2015, was supposed to be given a new framework last year that would have loosened the ban somewhat, but it is still yet to happen.

One lawn care professional says when that’s accomplished it will be too late to address the current weed season.

“You have to order your product pretty far in advance,” Tim Muys of Green Blade Lawn Care said.

the last year flooding was this bad in Fredericton

Toronto landscaping firm helps to increase bee populations

Restorative Landscapes, a Toronto-area landscaping firm that specializes in permaculture, is designing bee-friendly environments to help populations of the insect thrive. Pollinator and eco-friendly flowers and greenery are replacing cement planters and hanging baskets in the city’s retail area.

Permaculture, or permanent agriculture, is a system and design approach that either imitates or directly relies on features and patterns of natural ecosystems.

Andrew Roy of Restorative Landscapes has been working with the Mount Dennis Business Improvement Area since the beginning of May to plant species that are friendly to both people and bees and are relevant to the BIA and community’s residents.

He said the initiative is both “different and robust” and is being embraced by the people.

Most of the plants are considered

2015, the year Manitoba implemented its cosmetic pesticide ban

ideal for bees, including goji plant, nasturtium, cosmos, thyme, dill, sage, kale and borage.

“The idea of planting pollinator plants is very important – every little part we can play is important to our ecosystem,” Brother Fekade, who worked for a community garden project in Toronto, said.

Roy has been an ecological gardener for about 20 years. He and his team will monitor the various plants to gauge which ones work best in attracting bees. He said the borage is one of the best.

“Bees love (borage),” he said. “It’s a survival plant, an edible flower. It’s one of the best for bees.”

Also involved in the project is Nancy Rychel of the Roseland Horticultural Society who is overseeing the Mount Dennis Garden Network and co-ordinating volunteers.

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The varied tasks of the turf manager

Working with user groups, knowing when to call rainouts are part of the job.

By Mike Jiggens

Sports turf managers have common responsibilities no matter where they work in Canada. Yet their jobs can differ significantly, depending on the quality and quantity of fields in their care, whether they are caring for natural or artificial fields, whether the fields are privately owned or are administered by the municipality, and depending on the level of communications between the manager and the fields’ user groups.

The challenges of three distinctly different management scenarios were outlined in April at Sports Turf Canada’s 31st members’ forum and annual general meeting at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ont.

Those in attendance at the forum heard from Robert Heggie, head groundskeeper at Toronto’s BMO Field and KIA Training Centre; Joe Breedon, outdoor recreation facility co-ordinator for the City of Barrie; and Frank Cain, facility and business development manager at the University of Guelph. Although all three are charged with maintaining playing surfaces at the highest possible level of quality and dealing regularly with their main users, each possessed a distinctly different personal challenge.

BIGGEST CHALLENGES

Heggie said the biggest challenge he faces is explaining to people why grass doesn’t grow in February.

“The team (Toronto FC of Major League Soccer) wants to start early, the team wants to go late…” he said, referencing the FC’s earlier than normal season opener this year, which was played in late February.

“You give them all the warnings and everything they need to know, and they decide to make their own decisions, and when things don’t go right they seem to forget everything you’ve taught them in the past five years.”

Having to re-educate people is one of the most common aspects of his job, Heggie said.

“What you think is common sense to a turf manager isn’t common sense to everyone else.”

Breedon, who was named at the forum by Sports Turf Canada as its sports turf manager of the year, said he has developed a positive relationship with Barrie’s user groups over the years.

“We meet a couple of times during the winter, so I’m spoon feeding them information about why we do things, not overloading them but giving them little bits of information why we wait until May, why we need the turf to have a certain temperature for repair…,” he said. “That’s one challenge that’s slowly getting better, but there’s always a pushback, especially from the rep teams from baseball and football.”

Another challenge Breedon faces during the season

Sports turf managers study the artificial turf surface at Tim Hortons Field.

is the scheduling of maintenance days so that fields can be closed for routine work. He considers himself fortunate that field bookings can be light enough to find the time necessary for maintenance days scheduling without it negatively impacting teams’ timetables, their fees or programs.

“They’ve seen the results over the last 10 years with better quality turf,” he said.

Even though maintenance days are scheduled so that one field one day of the week is taken out, it can be tough to accomplish because baseball, softball and slo-pitch are thriving in Barrie.

Because of its more northerly location in comparison to the Toronto area and other metropolitan areas in southern Ontario, Barrie’s spring start is a little later than other communities, yet there is some pressure among the city’s sports groups to begin their seasons in late April. Most years, it works, Breedon said, but it’s always a struggle to have fields ready for when users wish to begin.

Cain said the biggest challenge he faces at the university is that the institution oversees its natural grass fields and client expectations are higher than what the physical resource department can actually meet.

“Because revenue is such a big issue right now, we have involved the community into our campus way more than we ever have in the past,” he said. “Our use is way up, so the challenge is maintaining the natural grass fields.”

Six artificial turf fields, including one indoor playing surface, are among the fields under his jurisdiction.

In spite of what some users may believe, the artificial fields are not maintenance-free. Challenges, Cain said, include the need to communicate with user groups and upper management at budget time to convince them certain equipment is needed or that a grass field may have to be shut down for a summer so that it can be remediated.

“Nobody wants to hear that,” he said. “I work in an environment where – come April – exams start. Most of the people at the University of Guelph think it’s the off-season. We don’t have an off-season in our industry anymore. It’s tough to keep people motivated to ramp up for another four months.”

The industry is significantly changing, Cain said, and it’s difficult to get people to understand what the turfgrass manager does. He said finding someone with the right attitude and then training him for a skill is the key.

HANDLING RAINOUTS

When it comes to calling games because of rain events, people in Breedon’s position often work outside their normal hours. A cutoff time for calling rainouts has been implemented in Barrie, but there is more flexibility with rep team games that are played at the city’s spor ts complex which houses 10 ball diamonds, six football/soccer fields and one rugby pitch. A team may visit Barrie for a baseball game from as far as Hamilton, arriving in the city at 5:30 p.m. for a 7 o’clock game. If it starts raining at game time, measures can be taken to try to get the game in such as applying “quick dry” products to the infield.

Breedon said he has a bigger budget to work with at the complex fields than at the various other fields scattered throughout the city and can use the products accordingly. All slo-pitch and other local league games will be canceled elsewhere in such a scenario so that staff can concentrate on rep league games.

In Barrie, two shifts operate seven days a week.

“We’re kind of unique with our sports turf division,” Breedon said. “We have somebody working all the time, and that’s three or more people working.”

When he’s not working, Breedon has a “right-hand

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“I’m spoon feeding them information about why we do things, not overloading them”

man” on the job to take care of such decisions as canceling games due to poor weather.

Users of the sports complex in Barrie pay a little more to play there than they would at fields elsewhere in the city because such tasks as lining and painting of the surfaces are done for user groups.

“We do everything,” Breedon said. “They just show up, do their thing and leave.”

Cain said that in Guelph, its website is updated daily at 2:30 p.m. to let user groups know if a scheduled game was to be canceled due to rain. User groups are urged to check the website if there is any doubt. If a game is called due to rain by 2:30, and a user group is caught on the field, bylaw officers are notified. When games are canceled due to rain and duly noted on the university’s website, fields are closed by 2 o’clock. Groups caught on the fields afterwards are warned at first, but matters could escalate if repeat offences occur, he said.

“ The system works fairly well, but we’d run into the problem that if there was a game later in the afternoon and someone was traveling from London to Guelph and I make the call at 2 o’clock and they’re on the road… It’s not a perfect system, but you do what you can.”

Cain said some field users just don’t get the concept of canceled games when rain is present. If soccer was played in the rain, goalmouths would be lost in no time and would prove costly to repair, he said, adding there is a greater risk of players getting injured in wet conditions.

Outgoing Sports Turf Canada president Tab Buckner interjected with an anecdote from policies in place in the Township of Langley, B.C. where he is operations manager. Natural turf fields in the west coast region are closed only in the fall and winter. For baseball, user groups cancel

their own games and will look after much of their own minor maintenance. Municipal staff tackles major maintenance work as well as any necessary renovation work required during the season. Some baseball groups mow their own infields and do their own field lining.

Buckner said he’s fortunate that most of the newer fields in Langley are sandbased “because we have to deal with rain 365 days of the year.”

Natural turf fields are closed for soccer during the fall and winter, giving way to artificial fields. The municipality’s website is updated by noon on Fridays, letting user groups know if they are closed or under a “discretionary” status.

WORKING WITH USER GROUPS

Breedon said he meets twice annually with Barrie’s user groups – in November to recap the past season and in February to review permits and last-minute changes prior to the coming season.

“ They present us with challenges they might have, not just at the complex but around the city itself,” he said.

It’s at the November meeting when user groups submit their requests for the following season’s tournaments. Although he has developed good relationships with the various league conveners over the years, he said it’s challenging for him to occasionally deliver bad news.

Cain said the university enjoys a good relationship with the City of Guelph and meets with user groups a couple times each year. It’s at these meetings when the groups are told a particular field might need to be closed and programming reworked.

“It’s important to have those user groups meetings because you can tell them their fees are going up and all that kind of stuff beforehand so there are no surprises when they start calling the booking office,” he said. “You’ve got to

have those meetings to communicate, especially if you’re making a rule change.”

FIELD USAGE

Major League Soccer began its season in late February, but Heggie’s first window of opportunity to regrass BMO Field didn’t come until late May, at the outset of the World Cup break. The 2017 season didn’t finish until Dec. 9, and the field was without greenhouse storage of sod that would have cost $200,000.

“So we decided not to re-sod, and the season started early,” he said.

Heggie said he’s technically three years behind when sodding the field.

“You’re buying three-year-old technology when you buy sod because it takes three years to grow the field,” he said.

When sod is installed, Heggie said he overseeds with newer technologies of bluegrass.

Grow lights were running at BMO Field since Jan. 28 to get it ready for the Toronto FC’s first home game a month later, plus another seven events and four training sessions by the middle of April.

Cain said he would love to have an “old school” policy in place that allows four hours of daily play on natural grass fields separated by two hours.

“The reality is that doesn’t happen,” he said.

The university installed a number of artificial turf fields to attract more business. Natural fields are used all summer by the community and are “pretty much destroyed” by the time students return to campus in the fall. The artificial fields accommodate intramural sports among the students in the fall and meet the safety and playability expectations that the beaten up natural fields cannot.

Depending on the playing level of the team, games will be reserved for the natural grass fields. But their usage is limited, Cain said.

There are no artificial turf fields in Barrie that Breedon oversees, and only three of the city’s fields are lit. The playing season for the fields spans May 1 through the Friday of Thanksgiving weekend in October. By the beginning of September, half of Barrie’s turf fields close, leaving the other half for bookings.

Those in attendance at the forum learned that in Hamilton the fee structure for user groups is more community focused. The idea is to get as many people as possible onto the fields to promote health and wellness. User fees are consequently subsidized.

LINE PAINTING, FIELD SAFETY

On Fridays at the sports complex in Barrie, foul lines on baseball diamonds are painted immediately after the fields have been mowed. Rugby and football fields are usually painted the day before a scheduled game. A three-person crew takes a full day for football field painting and a half-day to paint a rugby field. User groups are responsible for their own field lining outside the city’s sports complex fields, but will be provided guidance when needed.

Heggie said the U.S.-based Sports Turf Management Association published a basic guide that outlines potential safety hazards on sports fields, including sprinkler heads, tripping hazards and foreign debris. Prior to each game played at BMO Field, a game day report is made, including safety checks. With six members of his staff having graduated from the University of Guelph, keen observations are made to detect anything that might have gone wrong.

“ We’re always documenting and making sure we’re checked for safety because if a $7-million athlete breaks his ankle, it’s my fault,” he said.

When the field was examined in January, Heggie considered it below standard and recommended to Toronto FC officials that no game play should take place in February. Even though the field was soft and play took place, no one was injured.

“If someone gets hurt at that point, that’s not my fault,” he said. “I raised my voice and if they want to continue because they know best, then they know best.”

Natural turf fields are subject to wear and may be shut down for limited periods of time for needed repairs.

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With synthetic turf fields, safety and playability are the main concerns, Cain said. If both meet standards of acceptability, teams can play. Testing for FIFA certification involves evaluation of G-Max surface hardness and friction correlation. Many of the same tests can be applied to a natural turf field, he added.

“If you went out and did a G-Max test on a field in the middle of August and you hadn’t had rain in two weeks and it’s a non-irrigated field, it might be like playing on concrete,” Cain said. “If somebody gets hurt on that field, the lawyer will show up with somebody who’s an expert, with a Clegg hammer, and check your field the next day.”

He said if there is proof that a field is not within an acceptable G-Max rating, and it was opened for play, a liability issue exists.

“If somebody gets hurt on the field, the lawyer will show up with an expert”

Cain offered some advice to municipalities considering installing new artificial turf fields. He said when the low bid is accepted, it often means the municipality is getting older technology, cheaper yarn and “cheaper everything,” but it all comes down to how it is specified.

“The important thing about any sports field is the sub-base,” he said. “What you put on top of it should be designed for what you’re going to use if for.”

If an artificial field is intended for football, there are surfacing types that are better suited for that sport, Cain said,

adding the same is true for a field intended for soccer or as a multi-use facility. He said the problem is that a municipality’s purchasing department puts out a specification based on the opinion of a consultant who often “just happens to sell turf.”

Once an artificial field is installed, it boils down to the maintenance put into it, Cain said.

“The maintenance issue that a manufacturer will put on the field for you in order for you to maintain your warranty will wear the field out in five years,” he said. “So you end up over-maintaining it, over-grooming it and doing way too much work to it, and you wreck the turf yourself.”

Artificial turf is not maintenance-free, Cain said. In fact, he added, it involves just as much attention as a natural turf field.

PARTING WORDS

Asked to make a parting remark, the three panelists offered three distinctly different words of advice.

Heggie said it is important to never stop learning and to attend as many industry-related conferences and educational sessions as possible, recommending in particular the annual STMA conference. He said it is also important to stay in touch with university academicians and to give back to the industry.

Breedon said he is personally upgrading his computer aptitude and tries about every 18 months to learn new skills beyond those required for sports turf management, yet which may be somewhat related. He is also an advocate of social networking.

Cain said it is a good idea to think ahead to the next potential job advancement. For example, a current supervisor might want to study some management training so that he will eventually be more adept at budgeting. Sharing knowledge with others will also aid the overall industry, he added.

Know how fungicides work first

Disease management strategies can be made simpler when understanding what you’re facing

By Mike Jiggens

Understanding how fungicides work and knowing what part of the plant should be targeted will greatly assist golf course superintendents with their spraying programs, an audience of superintendents was told in March during a Syngenta-sponsored forum in Milton, Ont.

“ When you understand how these get into the plant and how they work their way through, it might make you understand a little bit more of your disease management strategies,” Syngenta turf and application specialist Ryan Beauchamp said at a Hollywood-themed presentation at the city’s Cineplex Odeon theatres.

Surface coverage is the key with contact fungicides, he said, cautioning that water volumes, sprayer set-up and nozzle selection must all be correct for maximum effect. Establishing good coverage is the end goal.

When targeting the pathogen, achieving good foliar coverage is imperative.

Different strategies are required to effectively control specific diseases. For crown rot anthracnose, the objective is to reach the stem base with a little higher water volume.

“It makes a big difference on how much water you put out to make those chemicals work right,” Beauchamp said.

With summer patch or take-all patch, the objective is to target the plant’s roots or underground tissues.

“You need more water again, or nozzles that can deliver that water into the right area.”

Selecting the right nozzle for the job is an important consideration, Beauchamp said, recalling that during his previous career as a golf superintendent his knowledge of proper nozzle selection was limited at first.

He said that by placing water-sensitive

paper near the target and then spraying, the resulting pattern will help to decide whether spray droplet size or water volumes need adjustment.

A trap that superintendents can fall into easily is thinking that calm days without wind are ideal for spraying, Beauchamp said, adding many are apt to think a foggy day is ideal.

“When it’s foggy, it’s not windy which means it’s a great spray day,” is what some superintendents are inclined to believe, he said.

Often, a fungicide’s label will state: “Do not apply in periods of dead calm.” Beauchamp said there is a relationship with air and wind in spray droplet management, “and you really need it to get up a little bit, but not a lot.”

A wind speed target of three to seven miles per hour is ideal, he said.

“This is more ideal to spray and put the droplets where you want them to be.”

Those who attended Syngenta’s turf forum in Milton, Ont. donned 3-D glasses to watch the Cineplex screen during portions of the day’s presentations.

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“It’s not the chemical’s fault. It’s the fault of that mixing tank.”

Dead calm conditions, on the other hand, create a challenge, he said. During periods of dead calm, an inversion layer is present with cool air atop warm air atop cool air.

“It acts kind of like a lid, and when it traps that with that fog – when that fog’s there, there’s no wind, it’s not moving – you do not get convective overturning of the air, allowing the drops to actually hit the target where you want.”

Under calm conditions, up to six times the amount of droplets are moved off target and don’t hit their intended mark. The efficacy of the product is challenged if the fine droplets miss the target. With a standard TeeJet red nozzle under foggy conditions, the anticipated efficacy or day’s control won’t be achieved with finer droplets, Beauchamp said, adding a switch to the white nozzle will produce better results under such conditions. It will take more tanks to get the product out, but more days of control will be realized.

Beauchamp advised to watch for environmental clues that suggest the best spraying conditions. Neither strong wind nor still calm are desired.

Tank mixing

When mixing spray tanks, it’s easy to “bung up” the sprayer quickly if it’s not done in the correct sequence. Fertilizers and other chemistries should not be put in first, he advised. Water-soluble packs and clean water are the first things to go in.

Caution should also be exercised when mixing in fertilizers with boron, he added.

“It affects the breakdown of the water-soluble packs immensely. Quite often they don’t even break apart at all, so you get a big puke of chemical coming out of your nozzle if it does break down a half hour after you get out on the golf course.”

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Beauchamp said there are ways to save money and squeeze more out of maintenance budgets by the means in which tank mixing is done and how sprayers are used. If 10 per cent can be saved on a $50,000 chemical budget, that $5,000 can be earmarked for something else.

Over-agitating can lead to “shearing” chemistries “right off,” he said.

“Don’t over-agitate chemistries.”

If using a nurse tank with a high-pressure tank atop it, chemicals should not be used, Beauchamp said. It should be designated for fertilizer use only.

If too much oil-based product is put into a tank, invert emulsion will occur, the product can’t be used, and the tank will have to be dumped.

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“It’s not the chemical’s fault. It’s the fault of that mixing tank. The company that makes that mixing tank is not going to tell you that.”

When dealing with patch diseases, the advice is to apply water. Whether it’s summer or take-all patch, the control product is put down and it’s “drenched” in.

“That’s what you’re told, but can you dial it in a little more? Do you do it with irrigation or do you do it with your sprayer?”

If the advice is to drench in the product, one might be inclined to turn on the irrigation system. With summer patch, 2½ to five gallons of water would be expected.

Water pH levels

Beauchamp discussed water pH and how much it mattered. If the water pH falls into the ideal range, the pH level probably doesn’t matter, he said. But once outside the acceptable range, the stability of the product in the tank will be compromised.

“Do you do it with irrigation or do you do it with your sprayer?”

“It means it’s not going to be stable in your tank for that long.”

The ideal pH range is five to seven. Beauchamp suggested water should be tested beforehand as well as after chemistries have been added because they can change the pH in the tank and affect another product from getting the efficacy needed.

Product delivery

How the product is delivered to its intended target has an impact on how well the product will work. Nozzle spacing, boom height, nozzle type and output, ground speed, pressure and water-carrying volume are important

The

considerations. A product may seemingly go wrong, but there may be other explanations, he said.

Nozzles set 12 inches from the ground don’t meet the ideal height, but, on undulating turf, there will be instances when they are a foot above ground. Nozzles pointed straight down toward the target, with forward movement of the sprayer, discharge droplets vertically that mainly hit one side of the target leaf. That might not matter as much with systemic fungicides, but it does matter with contact products.

“So when you get that happening, you’re basically getting 50 per cent more deposits on the front of the target versus the back,” Beauchamp said. “Do you think that’s going to make a difference on the efficacy of your control of contact fungicides?”

XC (extra coverage) air induction nozzles work differently. The rear angle hits the target differently based on forward speed. It gives better coverage on the leaf – front and back – and makes contact fungicides work better by allowing the use of lower water volumes.

Beauchamp investigated why a product didn’t work as expected during the spring season a number of years ago. Disassembling the sprayer, he found the filter system full of silt. The bottom of the tank was also filled with silt. It was discovered that the year before, water had been pulled directly from a creek to fill the sprayer. The golf course had all winter to clean everything out, but chose to carry on in the spring.

Turf: a Grassroots Production

The day also featured presentations by Syngenta’s Scott White and Dr. Michael Agnew, senior field technical manager for Syngenta Turf and Landscape.

White spoke about the next generation of turf protection while Agnew offered a three-dimension look at turf diagnostics. Several slides were projected onto the large theatre screen while attendees viewed the images with three-dimensional glasses to digest the full scope of his presentation.

The speakers outlined some of Syngenta’s newest products, including the fungicides Secure and Instrata II. They are, respectively, used to control dollar spot and snow mould. Both are registered for use in Canada.

To learn more about these products, visit www.greencastonline.com/product/secure-fungicide/overview and https://www. turfandrec.com/products/effective-snowmould-control-with-low-amount-of-activeingredient-4832.

FROM A BATTERY.

Quiet diesel engine a first for truck

In field tests, pickup truck remained quiet both while idling and when towing uphill

By Howard J. Elmer

Quiet. That word describes, perfectly, the new 3.0L Power Stroke diesel just introduced by Ford. I’ve driven it, stood beside it while idling and floored it uphill while towing – it is eerily quiet. This trait, plus the power it makes, now available in the F-150, makes this introduction a true milestone in the history of the F-series. And, as of today, you can order this diesel engine in your new halfton – a first in the 70-year life of the brand.

If you do – here is what you’ll be getting. This new engine (under development for several years now) uses V6 graphite/ iron block architecture, a variable geometry turbocharger, a 29,000-psi injection fuel rail and aluminum pistons. It displaces 3.0L and makes 250-horsepower at 3,250 rpm and 440 foot pounds of torque at 1,750 rpm. It does use DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) along with a particulate filter and high-pressure cooled exhaust gas recirculation technology to reduce emissions.

Ford’s SelectShift 10-speed automatic transmission is the other half of this new powertrain. It’s already in use with several of Ford’s engines and has been getting good reviews. This non-sequential transmission is also part of the fuel economy

improvements that Ford is seeking. This effort also includes the auto stop/start feature that is now standard on all F-150’s – gas or diesel.

Ford is claiming a fuel consumption number of 10.8 L per 100 kilometres city and 8.0 L per 100 kilometres on the highway for the 3.0L. So, while these numbers are light, the capabilities of this dieselequipped truck won’t be. To start with, the published torque number is currently best in class as is the towing (up to 11,400

pounds) and the payload (up to 2,020 pounds). With this new Power Stroke in the stable, the F-150 now offers customers an unequalled choice of six engines.

The recent first drive of this diesel was as impressive as the numbers suggest. I found it strong, efficient and very well paired with the SelectShift transmission. I towed with it and drove it with payload – the quiet, as I already mentioned, was impressive. But then so was the vibration and harshness – as there wasn’t any. The

The Ford F-150 is quiet when idling and while towing loads uphill.

Howard J. Elmer of PowerSports Media Service & Truck King Media Group is based in Norval, Ont. He is among those who test drive the entries in the annual Canadian Truck King Challenge.

Canaada’s s professional turf and grounds s maiint n enance industry employs maany sharp, yooung individuals who have embraced e the latest in technollog o y, y have sounnd ideaas for the future and who are natural born le l aders.

Turf & Rec’s inaugural Top 10 Under 40 promotion n rec e ognizes s thhe e first cream of the crop in the industry. These individuals – all undeer r thhe e age of 40 – have already y left their mark in the industry. They include golf course e superinntend n ents and assistants, an equipment techn h ician, a landscaping g general mannaager, an n indduustry su s pplier, a university commmu m nications offi o cer and an inventor!.

E Each has come to grips with the e challeennges facing the industry today and has come up with practical ideas to movve e the inndust s ry forward in these channging n times.

Turf & Rec salutes 2018’s class of the “top 10 under 40.”

Wade Borthwick k

Eqquipm p ent Technician Uplaands Golf Cluub, , Vicctoriaa, B C .C

Br B et e t Fi F nl n ay ayson

Di D re r ct c or r Of f Gr G ouundds s Mainntetenanancnce

Goolf lf BC, C Victooria, a, B.C C

Ma M rk k J l ul u l

We W st s er e n Ca Canadian a Man a aggerr,

Targget e Spe p cial a ty Produ d cts,

Teechchnicaal S Supp p or o / t/ t D Develloopmpmen e t

Tuurf r Fueel, l, Cal a ga gary r , Al A ta

Travis Olson

Su S perint n enndeent n Kamlooops p Gol o f & Counntry y Club

Kamlloo o pss, , B. B C. C

Cameron Shaw

Coommuniccations s And Outreacch

Co-Orddinnator

Universi s ty y of f Guelph, , Ont. t

T-Jay Creamer

Assistant Superintendent Victoria Golf Club

Victoria, B.C.

Saam Ge G leynynse se

Ge Geneneraral Ma M na nageger

Pr Pres e ti tige ge Lanandsdscaape p Ser e i vi v ce c s, s Ltd d Kelowna, , B.C C

Jo d rdan Kit t h chen n

Asssosociciatate e s supeerinttenndent t

Ha H mi m lt lton o Gol o f & Co Coun u tr try y Club

Pr Pres e iden e t TarpDevil, Puslinsch, Ont

Le L as a ha a Sch c wa w b

Su S peeri r nttendeent

Pheasa s nt Run n Goolf f Cl C ub

Sharronon, , On O t. t

Ca C m Watt t

Assiist s ant t su s peri r ntendeent t

Redwoods Gol o f Course s

Langgle l y, B.C C

We encourage our readers to begin thinking about worthy candidates for selection in 2019. For more information, including criteria for selection and an online nomination form, visit www.turfandrec.com/top-10-under-40.

torque comes on as soon as you start to roll and pulls strong and straight through the gears. The strength here is evident, not just from the feel, but also from how the transmission handles the power. With 10 gears you might expect the tranny to hunt or drop several gears when the accelerator is mashed. Not so. Even during floorboard acceleration it drops at most two gears, most often just one – it’s that strong. As for backpressure, it, too, is even, quiet and strong, holding just about any gear while coasting down long grades. As for the fuel numbers, I beat them. Driven gently this engine can easily best the numbers that Ford is claiming.

Overall, this introduction and my first drive of it, was a smile inducing success. I suspect that the truck buying public will also feel the same way about this newest F-150 engine option.

So, while Ford’s new small diesel is certainly welcome, it does beg the question – what took them so long? Watchers of the brand (like me) have been pestering Ford about bringing in a small diesel for years.

Normally, in trucks, they lead in the trends. First with an aluminum body; first with a 10-speed transmission; first with a flat rear floor; first with an integrated tailgate step; first with a factory trailer brake controller; and the list goes on.

Yet in this one area they let Ram, GM and even Nissan do it first. Those companies have been offering small displacement diesels in 1500-series trucks for several years now – and doing very well with them.

The F-series, sold a total of 896,764 units in 2017 (everywhere). It’s the single most popular pickup truck in Canada for more than 50 consecutive years. Looking at just these numbers and even without knowing much about the auto business you can easily see trucks are Ford’s bread, butter and desert. So, why take so long to bring the small diesel to market?

My personal opinion: EcoBoost. After its introduction in 2011, Ford repeatedly said that the “future” was all about EcoBoost. They felt that this high compression, turbo heavy, gas engine technology would set them apart. Well, yes, EcoBoost has its place, but as

they have now finally acknowledged, so does diesel.

On the other hand this late arrival may have more to do with the long journey this engine has had to make. For starters it’s built in England and also shares a design history with Jaguar/Land Rover.

Ford’s Dagenham plant, outside London, has produced more than 10,000 million cars and 37,000,000 engines since Edsel Ford turned the first spade of dirt beginning its construction back in 1929.

Today its primary business is building engines, which includes a contract with Jaguar/Land Rover (once owned by Ford but sold to Tata Motors in 2008). This 3.0L F-150 diesel started out as a clean-sheet design that

“I towed with it and drove it with payload – the quiet was impressive”

would power vehicles from both companies, then owners changed and times changed. In the end, speculation aside, it’s a story that ends well. This new engine is impressive.

If, like me, you’ve been waiting for Ford to join the new age of small diesel you may well decide to head down to your dealer and order one. However, as the rollout begins, the new diesel will be only be available as part of the more expense trim packages.

Customers can choose this engine option for 2018 F-150 Lariat, King Ranch and Platinum edition SuperCrew trucks with either a 5.5-foot or 6.5-foot bed configuration, and SuperCab trucks with a 6.5-foot bed. Pricing, with this restriction in mind, will then start at $51,449 and walk up through $77,979.

Now for Fleet customers, 3.0L Power Stroke diesel engines will be available on all F-150 trim levels with SuperCrew 5.5-foot or 6.5-foot bed configurations and SuperCab trucks with a 6.5 foot bed. That means the entry price for Fleet will be $36,749.

IPHC program still working in Toronto

Integrated plant health care program was founded in 2002 in response to Toronto’s new pesticide bylaw.

By Mike Jiggens

The City of Toronto’s parks, forestry and recreation department is dedicated toward delivering safe and functional parkland and providing the economical, environmental and aesthetic recreational values associated with healthy parkland. Helping to meet the city’s mandate is its integrated plant health care program that was founded in 2002 in response to new pesticide legislation Toronto was ready to adopt.

Department manager Doug Smith outlined the program he helped develop and facilitate while speaking at the first annual Nutrite sports turf seminar in Milton, Ont. in November.

He said a formal plan was needed for the city to properly look after its assets that include about 1,600 parks and about 3,000 hectares of maintained turf. Among the city’s sports turf facilities are about 700 sports fields, five golf courses, 14 lawn bowling pitches and 40 hectares

of horticulture areas.

“It was a matter of also having a plan to not just take care of the assets, but how to transition away from pesticides and use whatever tools are left in the tool box and to use them properly.”

The pesticide legislation enacted in 2002 in Toronto gave way in 2009 to a province-wide cosmetic pesticide ban that negated all municipal policies pertaining to chemical control.

When developing Toronto’s integrated plant health care program, what was already in place was used as a means of developing a strategy, including industry standard integrated pest management (IPM). The previous strategy was to manage areas to prevent pests from becoming a problem, promote recovery when pests did become a problem, identify the problems, monitor problems, and incorporate thresholds to determine how many weeds and insects were acceptable and the tolerable percentage of disease.

Once pests were recognized as a problem, solutions such as biological, physical, cultural, mechanical and behavioural could be adopted to reduce them. Chemical treatments were recognized as a last resort. Evaluating treatments afterwards was a component of the program.

The key, Smith said, was to manage areas to prevent organisms from becoming pests and reducing pest populations by including cultural methods.

“That really spoke to us about plant health care.”

From that, it was realized a separate discipline was needed, becoming the integrated plant health care program.

“Basically, our program is a timely delivery of our best plant health care practices.”

The city’s integrated plant health care program emerged from its strategy developed in response to the municipally imposed pesticide bylaw. The program is an active plant management strategy used to maintain turf and horticultural areas. It

Toronto’s city parks, including Dufferin Grove Park (pictured), are subjected to the city’s integrated plant health care program to transition away from pest control products.

involves two tools – plant health care and IPM when pests do become a problem.

The emphasis, however, favours plant health care because of the limited use of pesticides that resulted from the 2009 Ontario cosmetic pesticide ban. Integrated plant health care involves management of all turf and horticultural applications.

ESTABLISHING HEALTHY TURF WITHOUT PESTICIDES

“What’s the goal of integrated plant health care? We want to establish and maintain the healthiest turf possible without use of pesticides and grown from soil with a high degree of natural fertility.”

Smith said the program’s goal is to bring every sports field and ball diamond in the city up to a standard through a prescribed program of integrated plant health care. It involves prescribing the number of times a certain practice is undertaken, when it’s done and its frequency. It is then a matter of customizing programs for each field and each asset, based on its individual requirement and its health, and to reduce the reliance of pesticides to ensure responsibility if chemical treatments become necessary.

Chemical treatments were used during the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto because it was a major international event.

Toronto’s integrated plant health care program is largely dependent upon healthy soils that are deemed the engine that drives plant health.

“Healthy soils grow healthy plants,” Smith said.

The physical, chemical and biological components of the soil require management. Physical components include soil textur e, soil structure and porosity. Chemical components include cation exchange capacity and nutrient availability. Biological components include the soil’s microbiology and what it does to drive oxygen into the soil and making nutrients more available to the plant.

Also included are the specific needs of each field category as well as best mowing practices, fertility, seeding and topdressing.

The city has shifted to a longer-duration fertilizer to achieve more of a release. Two

applications are consequently made on Category B fields from a previous three applications. The strategy is being looked into for adoption on Category A fields.

Smith said having good equipment that is properly maintained is key to delivering

the program. Mowers must have sharp blades. Fields are cut at a height of 2½ inches except for cricket pitches that are shorn to one inch.

Fertilizer spreaders must be properly calibrated to meet prescribed application rates.

“Part of the foundation of our fertilizer program is the use of organic fertilizer,” Smith said.

In the fall, about 180 tons of organic fertilizer is put down on parks and sports fields throughout the city. A combined synthetic and organic program is adopted.

“The principle of the premise is that organics really make your synthetics work harder by the action it does in the soil.”

Smith said the organics help build the soil and make nutrients more available to the plant. About a half-pound of nitrogen is put down. Organic fertilizers are a source of both plant nutrients and organic matter.

“We think of the soil as the engine and the organic matter as the fuel.”

ORGANIC FERTILIZER GENERATES MEDIA ATTENTION

The type of organic fertilizer product used in Toronto contains 72 per cent organic matter content. The odour associated with organic fertilizer generated plenty of media attention when fall applications were made in 2017. People complained the city smelled “like a farm.”

Although the city is responsible for the maintenance of an abundance of fields,

efforts are made to keep up to date with soil testing in spite of the vast number of playing facilities, Smith said.

Getting oxygen into the soil and establishing good seed to soil contact through slit seeding are among the program’s goals.

“It’s only as good as the contract or the tender you have to get materials you need, whether it’s seed or fertilizer or topdressing or whatever. And that contract is only as good as the specifications of that contract.”

Only NTEP (National Turfgrass Evaluation Program) tested seed is used by the city and only from the most recent trials. Different blends are used on different fields, depending on whether the playing surfaces are irrigated or not.

A blend of premium topdressing sand and a six-millimetre screened compost is used in topdressing. Two different blends are used – a 70-30 sand-to-compost blend and a 50-50 mix.

“What blend we use on what field will be driven by the soil test to match the amount of sand that’s already there in the field.”

For non-irrigated fields, the city leans toward the 50-50 blend for better moisture holding capability.

Irrigation is a key component of the program on irrigated fields to control the

amount of water they get, including how much and when it’s done.

Another strategy the city adopts is the placement of permeable covers down the middle of some fields to create a greenhouse effect during the spring.

In spite of having well maintained equipment, the right products, specifications and contracts, the city is only as good as the people it has, Smith said, adding efforts are made to keep employees up to date through in-house training. The city’s parks employees understand the formal program of integrated plant health care, he added.

“They’re not just doing random things out there. There’s a reason for it. We train them not just how to do it or when to do it, but why to do it. Once that understanding comes about, there’s a real connection that comes about. We find the staff really connects with what they’re doing in the field. It’s not just a random free-for-all out there. There are reasons behind it.”

Department workers are always open to new innovations or different techniques, Smith said. Something tried a number of years ago was the pneumatic application of pure compost onto sports fields, a technique that achieved good seed germination.

Organic fertilizer and seed could also be applied at the same time through broadcasting which helped fill aerification holes.

When applying compost in the beginning, the particle size was fine, Smith said, but added it later became too chunky. The practice was ultimately suspended due to the chunkiness in particles, but he said it is important to at least try new things.

The city also conducted a trial using its own liquid compost extract on sports fields as well as liquid kelp.

“We found it difficult to integrate it into our operation. There was too much on the plate already.”

One other issue potentially stands in the way of even the best integrated plant health care, Smith said.

“It won’t be effective if our fields are being overused and overplayed. The best plant health care you can throw at a field, if it’s being overused, is not going to take.”

It’s recognized that natural fields can withstand a limited amount of play without damage, and that’s an important point to get across to user groups, he said.

“We can’t over-permit our fields, so there is a threshold of play. We want our fields safe and playable and healthy, but that can only happen if we’re cognizant of the amount of use that’s going on them.”

A reference guide published by Sports Turf Canada recommends the number of hours on which a field can be played depending on its individual classification that ties in with its soil texture.

“Fields can only handle so much play before they start going backwards.”

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During the 2015 Pan-Am Games in Toronto and area, the use of pesticides on sports fields was permitted because of the Games’ international scope. One of the baseball venues was the Ajax Sportsplex.

Jeremy

Propane mowers gaining momentum

Reduced emissions and increased sustainability give landscape contractors an ecofriendlier fuel

source for mowers

By Jeremy Wishart

In a crowded market, it can be tough for landscape contractors to set themselves apart from other businesses offering essentially the same services. However, with an ever-increasing concern for the environment, and awareness of our individual carbon footprints and harmful fuel emissions, incorporating services that promote sustainability and reduce emissions provides a way for contractors to stand out from the crowd.

Homeowners are becoming curious about ways to reduce the carbon footprint around their home – inside and out. Commercial business owners are also seeking to implement sustainable policies and attract more consumers with environmental awareness.

Contractors who offer services that can reduce emissions are able to meet the needs and gain business from these green-minded customers. In fact, just by taking a closer look at daily practices and equipment, contractors are already getting one step ahead on increasing sustainability, reducing emissions, and gaining new business through green marketing.

Alt fuels growing in popularity

Although gasoline used to be the standard for many contractors, developments in

battery storage and propane EFI engines have made using alternative fuels in the field just as easy as other traditional fuels. Smaller maintenance equipment can now run for multiple hours on one battery charge, and manufacturers have started to focus on selling battery-powered equipment aimed to meet the needs of full-time landscaping operations. Landscaping trailers can even be wired with solar panels to recharge batteries on the go.

The use of propane-powered mowers is continually increasing as more and more contractors observe the fuel’s low total cost-of-ownership, ease of operation, and environmental benefits. In the United States alone, there are more than 20,000 propane mowers in operation – about five per cent of the total commercial mower market in the U.S. The number of mower

models has skyrocketed from just a handful available from a few manufacturers to more than 150 propane mower models produced by 15 manufacturers in zero-turn, wide-area, walk-behind, and stand- on units.

It is also widely known that propane mowers produce fewer emissions than gasoline-equivalent units, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent, NOx emissions by 19 per cent, and SOx emissions by 16 per cent. Propane mowers use a closed-loop fuel system that virtually eliminates spills, too.

Fuel costs with propane mowers are also typically less than traditional fuels, offering contractors upwards of 30 to 50 per cent savings on fuel. Contractors using propane mowers report savings on maintenance as well, because mower

Propane mowers produce fewer emissions than gasoline-equivalent units, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent.

engines see no damage from accidental refueling with ethanol blends. These cost savings can add up enough that contractors can even lower service costs to customers.

Using alternative fuel equipment in the field is better during operation for the surrounding neighbourhoods. Handheld battery powered equipment is much quieter and propane mowers don’t produce disruptive or unpleasant exhaust fumes like gasoline and diesel – a clear benefit to their use in residential areas and near schools, nursing homes, and medical facilities.

Get the word out on clean emissions

There are plenty of marketing tactics that can call attention to the environmental benefits of a contractor’s services. Colourful truck wraps or vehicle decals are a popular marketing tool with which contractors can leverage a green message. Photos of emissions-reducing equipment posted on social media, door-hang informational brochures, direct mailers, or even partnering with local news organizations to highlight ways homeowners can reduce their own carbon footprint can help contractors reach the right customers.

Contractors have multiple marketing options when it comes to leveraging a green message to reach new customers.

Join industry organizations that support environmental awareness

There are benefits to being the first landscape contractor to use emissions-reducing practices in your community, but it can also make sense to join up with other businesses to raise awareness of the opportunities for homeowners and companies to use green services. Contractors may become part of a local environmental organization through a municipality or county, which in turn could glean coverage by local media about individuals and companies involved in reducing emissions.

National organizations, such as the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, can also provide resources on marketing and networking with other contractors

who use propane across the country. The CSL A created a climate change task force in 2014 to examine how landscaping can contribute to climate change discussions, such as promoting sustainable and resilient landscapes, and bringing attention to a landscape’s role in the environment. To bring new ideas and experience into daily business, look for operators and office management staff through Canada’s GoodWork employment site, which lists positions seeking green-minded employees.

Expand your commitment to alternative fuel (and save)

For contractors using or considering using propane mowers, there’s another way to add the cost-effective benefits of propane into daily operation. Propane autogas fuel systems can be up-fitted to

many makes and models of light- and medium-duty work trucks and vans.

Like propane mowers, propane autogas vehicles reduce emissions. In fact, the alternative fuel offers the most emissions reduced for the lowest total cost-ofownership. Light-duty propane autogas vehicles produce 36 per cent less NOx emissions than diesel, and six per cent less NOx emissions than gasoline, as well as 12 per cent fewer GHGs than gasoline. Medium-duty vehicles produce 75 per cent less NOx emissions and 12 per cent less GHGs than diesel. Contractors can also often work with a propane retailer or vehicle OEM to train technicians with the necessary skills to maintain, diagnose, and repair propane autogas vehicles.

For more information on propane mowers, visit propane.com/commerciallandscape.

Aeration improves pond health

There are many benefits to pond aeration, including a reduction in mosquito populations, reducing oxygen stress for fish, and removing toxic gases from water.

By Julia Webber

There are many types of water aeration available on the market, ranging widely in application and price. As a result we are often asked, “How do you choose what is best for me?”

Let’s start with the different types of aeration that are currently available on the market. There are three main aeration methods for ponds and lakes: bubbler systems or air compressors, windmills, and fountains or display aeration. Each of these has its advantages.

Why aerate at all? By adding aeration you will improve the health of your pond or lake and prevent many potential problems. The benefits of aeration are many and they include:

• Reducing oxygen stress of fish, such as summer oxygen swings and winter kill

• Removing toxic gases from your water year-round, which will reduce bad odours coming from the water

• Circulating the water with bubble columns or currents to prevent stagnation

• Improving beneficial aerobic bacteria activity and the decomposition of muck on the bottom. Over the long term this will reduce algae and weed problems as well as sludge buildup that can fill in ponds.

• Reducing the number of mosquitoes laying eggs in the water, resulting in having fewer mosquitoes around. Bubbler systems consist of an electric air compressor, airline and one or more diffusers or air stones. The air compressor should be oil free and continuous duty so that it does not burn out or put oil into the water. The compressor is located at the electrical supply and the diffuser is located in the pond or lake with an airline connecting the two. An experienced pond equipment store should be able to help you find the right number of air stones that each pond requires based on the dimensions and

depth of the pond or lake.

Bubbler systems are used as a form of low capital, low hydro use aeration. These systems usually put the diffuser on or close to the bottom to allow aeration of the full water column. The deeper an air stone is, the more contact time the bubbles have as they rise to transfer oxygen, and the more water they will draw with them. These aeration systems allow a pond to be aerated without adding a visual obstruction to the course. Additionally, airline can be upsized to run for great distances, as line loss is low with air. Running airline rather than electrical to the side of a pond is often far less expensive and easier to do.

Windmills aerate in the same way as a bubbler system by using a compressor to move air through airlines to the diffusers. The advantage to a windmill system is that they don’t require hydro and can be easily located anywhere on the course. Windmills

The pond at the 17th hole at Cordova Bay Golf Club on Vancouver Island is aerated for a variety of beneficial reasons.

Fountains can be used as a backdrop for photos taken at weddings

also add to the visual landscape of the property, but must be located out of the range of fire from golfers to ensure they do not become targets. They are generally higher in capital than bubbler systems but repay themselves quickly with the lack of electrical expenses.

Fountains can be set up in a variety of configurations and the majority of commercially produced fountain kits have a pump mounted directly below a float and use nozzles to produce a display pattern. Display patterns will vary with manufacturer and a wide variety of styles and sizes are available. The electrical cords for these units go from the unit to the electrical supply near the edge of the pond and are protected by a GFCI for safety. Since they move the

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water they do use more electricity than a bubbler system. They are generally more expensive than bubbler systems due to larger motors, longer electrical cord and additional parts.

The biggest advantage to having a fountain is that they add a visual and audible feature to the pond that other aeration methods do not and offer a wide variety in display nozzles to suit the taste of the owner. Fountains can be used as a backdrop for photos taken on the course at weddings or tournaments. They also add a visual appeal to dining, day and night, if lights are added to the fountain.

The type of aeration that is best for each course will depend on several factors such as the availability of power, whether a visual display is desired and the available budget. Regardless of which type of aeration is used, it will always provide a significant improvement to any problems associated with a lake or pond.

Julia Webber is president of Fish Farm Supply Co., www.fishfarmsupply.ca, julia@fishfarmsupply.ca

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Make some noise to grow snow business

Even though it’s summer, it’s time to start thinking about winter success. By Denise Stoppleworth

Snow and ice may be the last thing on most people’s minds during the heat and humidity of June. For landscapers who make their living doing snow removal in the off-season, however, it’s time to turn thoughts toward winter success.

Meeting with manufacturers at the Snow & Ice Symposium this month in Cleveland will help navigate the best equipment solutions, but simply having the right equipment to get the job done won’t result in snow removal contracts and business growth.

There’s the old philosophical question: If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it still make a sound? Well, if a contractor builds the most robust snow removal business anywhere but doesn’t market his capabilities, will it really do well? Probably not.

For success this winter, start making noise now.

IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET MARKET

No sane person would go hunting blindfolded, and yet too often businesses try to hit the marketing bull’s eye without

identifying their target. Even when they have a good idea of their target market, formalizing it in writing often boosts marketing efforts by revealing gaps in that vision of who could be served.

• Geography: Consider where your desired customers live. Are they in the city limits? Are they within a certain radius of a city? Does your business cross provincial or state lines?

• Services offered: Next, define the type of customers best suited to your business. Is that commercial shopping centres or residential neighborhoods? Where will your company experience the most success with your snow removal prowess?

• Characteristics: Think about what your ideal customer looks like. Do they tend to be working professionals who want assistance taking care of snow and ice at their homes? Single parents? Retired couples? Business owners?

DEFINE THE MESSAGE

Sure, a snow removal business should be able to say it offers reliable snow removal – but that’s no different than what the next three contractors down the road are telling

their prospects. So, why would a customer pick one over the other? It comes down to differentiation. The key to determining what makes one business different – and, in the eyes of the customer, better – than the next can be determined with a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis defines your business’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for growth and any threats to that growth.

Once your list is complete, consider what strengths will best help set you apart and sell your services. What does your business do better than any others with whom you compete? From timeliness to pricing structure to ice management, hone in on what makes your business the best choice for a customer.

As part of this, look at how your competition positions its strengths. If Competitor A is well-known for showing up ready to work the moment the snow halts, it’s going to be difficult to come into the market with a message hinged on response time. Marketing a comprehensive approach to removing ice and limiting liability may be the way to go instead – as long as it’s something you’re confident your business does extremely well.

Snow contractors should be thinking about next winter, even though it’s summer.

CHOOSE THE CHANNELS

Once the audience and message have been defined, it’s time to research and determine the best channels for pushing that message to that audience. For example, while millions use social media, choosing to share images of snow removal jobs on Vero – a new-but-growing social network – and expecting to grow customers in the gated retirement community niche won’t be successful. In that case, a targeted direct mail campaign would likely perform better, even if it does cost more.

The options for getting the message in front of an audience are nearly limitless, but pairing the right audience with the best print and digital channels can be challenging. Explore all of the avenues your competition is using to advertise, and consider any others with good potential. It often helps to pull in an expert in marketing or advertising, since they’ll have the tools readily available to compare audience demographics and sizes along with pricing. Most can guide you to the right channels, from using digital retargeting ads to placing a print ad in community magazines.

No matter the audience, though, the odds are they’ll check Google before making any decisions. What comes up if they search “snow removal in Winnipeg?” What happens when they search a particular business’ name? What should happen is your business comes to the top of the SERP, or search engine results page, and a complete Google listing with photos and positive reviews pop up. Then, when they click on the link, they should see a professional, easy-to-navigate website that makes it clear what services are offered and ensures it’s easy to take the next step to request a quote. Those steps should be easy even on a mobile device since that’s the increasingly common way people use the Internet. No matter the platform on which your potential customers are searching, if they don’t see an easily navigable site with the information they need, they’ll keep scrolling until something better catches their eye.

And although a picture is worth a thousand words, sexy images of clean parking lots in the middle of winter won’t cut it for getting potential customers to your website. Web content should be search engine optimized, which means including the terms users are most likely to search for. Those words should be in the copy, coded in the headers, and incorporated in the alt tags on photos. Even if it’s a small site, it’s important to have a clean, professional, search-engine optimized website to serve existing customers and recruit new ones.

If you already have a website, be sure you’re keeping it up to date. Algorithms change, software updates occur, and trends in search terms shift. Without implementing site updates and adding new content that’s optimized to appear in searches, your site – no matter how great it looks – will start to slip in rankings and be less likely to be seen.

Get out there early to market your business well, and you’ll be signing new contracts before the first snowflake falls.

Stoppleworth

Denise

is president of IRONCLAD Marketing,

advertising, public relations and marketing agency based in Fargo, N.D. Turf care and snow removal are among the business sectors it serves in the U.S. and Canada.

Health & Safety

By the CCOHS

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) promotes the total well being of workers in Canada by providing information, training, education, systems and solutions that support health and safety programs and injury and illness prevention. www.ccohs.ca

Stay hydrated working in heat

It’s humid and the temperatures are soaring. You’ve been working hard for hours. You feel dizzy, have a pounding headache, and your intense thirst suddenly reminds you that it’s been hours since you’ve paused to drink something. You may be dehydrated, and that can cause severe health problems if left unchecked.

About 60 per cent of your body is made up of water. Water is essential to human life. You need it to keep your body functioning properly and to regulate your body temperature. It flushes out wastes and toxins, helps digestion, lubricates the joints and eyes, and keeps skin healthy. You can’t live without it.

How you can become dehydrated

When you don’t drink enough fluids to replace the water that you lose through sweating and everyday activity, you can become dehydrated. When the

normal water content of your body is reduced, it upsets your body’s balance of minerals (salts and sugar), which affects the way that it functions. Just a small drop in body fluids will cause a loss of energy in the average person and a 15 per cent drop in body fluids can cause death.

There are several factors that can contribute to dehydration: environment, amount of physical activity, illnesses or health conditions, and diet.

Working outside in sun, heat, and humidity can cause you to sweat and lose fluids rapidly. Heated indoor air also can also cause loss of fluids. Being in high altitudes, greater than 2,500 metres (8,200 feet), may increase the amount you urinate and quicken your breathing, in turn, using up more of your body fluids.

If you do strenuous work or intense exercise that causes you to sweat, you are at increased risk for dehydration.

Working outside in sun, heat and humidity can contribute to dehydration.

You can also become dehydrated as a result of an illness or a health condition. Fever, vomiting, or diarrhea can cause your body to lose additional fluids, as would a condition such as diabetes that causes frequent urination.

Drinking too much alcohol can dehydrate you. As well, drinking sugary soda and coffee or tea to satisfy your thirst yourself can actually dehydrate you even more. These drinks usually have caffeine that can cause you to urinate more. Also, drinking anything loaded with sugar makes your body work harder to process it, causing further dehydration.

Signs of dehydration

Dehydration can be described as mild, moderate or severe. Watch for the following signs.

Mild to moderate

• excessive thirst

• dizziness or light-headedness

• headache

• fatigue or drowsiness

• dr y mouth, lips and eyes

• dark yellow urine

• urinating only small amounts, infrequently (less than three or four times a day)

Moderate dehydration causes you to lose strength and stamina, and is the main cause of heat exhaustion. You should be able to reverse this level of dehydration yourself by drinking more fluids.

If dehydration is ongoing, it can affect your kidney function and cause kidney stones, liver, joint and muscle damage, cholesterol problems, and constipation.

Severe

Untreated mild or moderate dehydration can lead to severe dehydration, which is a medical emergency that requires immediate medical attention. Watch for the following symptoms:

• dr y, wrinkled skin that falls slowly into position when pinched up

• unable to urinate or not urinating for eight hours

• feeling drowsy, disorientated, and irritated

• sunken eyes

• weak pulse

• rapid heartbeat

• cool hands and feet

• seizures

• blood in your feces or vomit

Mental performance and concentration begin to decrease as you become increasingly dehydrated, affecting the safety of yourself and those around you.

What employers can do to help prevent dehydration

Employers have a duty to provide and maintain a safe working environment. Employers can:

• Educate employees on the causes and to recognize the symptoms of dehydration, and instruct them on how to protect themselves.

• Continuously reinforce the messages with ongoing training and visual reminders (posters, for example) to encourage employees to hydrate themselves, and watch for signs of dehydration in themselves and others.

• Make sure there is a buddy system in place so workers can monitor one another for signs of dehydration. People are generally unable to notice their own heat stress related symptoms.

• Make drinking water readily accessible and encourage your employees to drink often, even if they do not feel thirsty.

• Where possible, plan the work so that more strenuous work is done during cooler periods.

• Provide shade or shelters as relief from heat and rest areas for outdoor workers.

• Have an emergency plan in place that includes procedures for providing affected workers with first aid and medical care. This plan is a necessity, especially in extreme environments.

What employees can do to prevent dehydration

The recommended daily intake of fluids can vary depending on the individual and on factors such as age, climate, and physical activity.

• Drink plenty of water to replace the fluids you are losing, at least a cup every 15 or 20 minutes. For most people water is the most efficient fluid for re-hydration. Sports drinks, electrolyte drinks or juice designed to replace body fluids and electrolytes may be taken diluted to half strength with water is an option when used in moderation. For most people, these drinks add unnecessary sugar or salt to your diet.

• Fluid intake should equal fluid loss. On average, about one litre of water each

hour may be required to replace the fluid loss.

• Avoid caffeine and sugary drinks, and NEVER consume alcohol to hydrate.

• Monitor your urine colour. It should be clear to light yellow. If it is darker or

concentrated, you may be dehydrated, and you must drink more fluids. If you or a co-worker show signs or symptoms of dehydration, call for medical help immediately. Severe dehydration can lead to complications and even death.

AD INDEX

Alliance Agri-Turf Inc. Pg.37

Bartlett Tree Experts Canada Division Pg.37

Botanix-Oxford Insta-Shade Inc. Pg.26

Buffalo Turbine LLC Pg.23

Echo Power Equipment Canada Pg.40

Ecolawn Applicator Pg.14

Exmark Pg.16, 17

Fish Farm Supply Co. Pg.23

George de Groot Laser Grading & Excavating Inc. Pg.22

GIE + EXPO Pg.22

GreenworksTools Canada Inc. Pg.19

Gro-Bark (Ontario) Ltd. Pg.18

Husqvarna Group Pg.13

Hutcheson Sand & Mixes Pg.18

John Deere Pg.5, 39

Kubota Canada Ltd. Pg.7

Lawn Life Pg.33

Ontario Seed Company Pg.14

Ontario Turf Aeration Pg.37

Outdoor Supplies and Equipment Inc. Pg.29

Pickseed Canada Inc. Pg.37

Practical Turf Care Pg.37

Progressive Turf Equipment Inc. Pg.31

Quality Seeds Pg.37

RTF Turf Producers Association Pg. 27

STIHL Limited Pg.2

Target Specialty Products Pg.37

The Toro Company Pg.10, 11

Top 10 Under Pg.40 21

Zander Sod Company Ltd. Pg. 25, 35

Fungicide gets Canadian registration New stuff

Professional turfgrass managers in Ontario, limited by the number of pest control products legally available for use under the provincial cosmetic pesticide ban, have a newly-registered product they can add to their toolbox.

Ont.Turf.Aer.:Layout

Affirm WDG fungicide, a product of Nufarm Agriculture Inc., has been registered for use in Canada to control anthracnose, rhizoctonia diseases, fairy ring and snow mould. Derived from a naturally occurring antifungal compound, Polyoxin-D zinc salt 11.3 per cent, the active ingredient in Affirm WDG, is not only a new mode of action to Canada but is part of the new FRAC Group 19.

Under Ontario Regulation 63/09, Polyoxin-D is listed as a Class 11 pesticide, which means ingredients contained in it are considered biopesticides or lower risk pesticides. Because Affirm is listed in Class 11, it does not need to be reported in the IPM annual class 9 pest control product report.

Affirm WDG is effective for preventative control of anthracnose, brown patch, brown ring patch (waitea patch), fairy ring, grey snow mould, leaf spot and melting out, pink snow mould, red thread, waitea patch, and yellow patch.

“Affirm WDG offers Canadian turfgrass growers not only a unique FRAC Group for resistance management but a new tool that mixes well with other actives such as Tourney® for quick knockdown of the diseases listed above plus 21 days of dollar spot control,” Sabrina Bladon, turf and ornamental sales and marketing manager at Nufarm Agriculture, said. “Additionally, our Canadian trials have demonstrated that a tank mix of Affirm WDG plus Tourney® offers industry standard control of grey and pink snow mould.”

With one use rate for all turf diseases and an easy to use 1.09kg packet per acre, Affirm WDG is an ideal choice for controlling disease on golf course greens.

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Duffer

By Rod Perry

Growing older is no picnic… trust me

Ican still vividly recall the day I turned 10. It was my first milestone birthday and was a big deal for me. If someone asked me my age, I proudly said I was 10, as in two digits. My life as a single digit youth was over.

And then there were several other milestone birthdays to come, all of which I looked forward to. Thirteen was next. I was finally a teenager and no longer a child. At 16 I could apply for my driver’s licence. At 18 I could vote and legally get into R-rated movies without adult accompaniment. At 19 I could legally drink and purchase alcohol. At 20 I became a young man and said goodbye to being a teenager.

Fast-forward several decades. I’m now in the latter stages of my 50s and have long given up looking forward to these “milestone” birthdays. The realization that there is less time ahead of me than what I’ve left behind makes me wish I could virtually stop time and perhaps stretch a year into four or five years. Unfortunately, each passing year seems to go by quicker than the previous one.

In body, I’m in my late 50s. In mind, I’m somewhere between 35 and 40. To this day, I might see someone get behind the wheel of a car that catches my eye, and I’ll say to my wife, “Check out the cool car that old guy is driving.” She may happen to know the individual and will respond, “Old guy? He’s about 10 years younger than you.”

I guess I’m the old guy, even though I don’t feel it. I’m sure if I were a fly on the wall, I’d be hearing references made towards me as being an “old guy.”

Looking back at some of my other milestone birthdays, turning 30 wasn’t such a big deal. That number always seemed to me as being associated with a certain level of maturity, and that I might be taken a little more seriously by those who were senior to me.

Mind you, I still remember the adage, “Never trust anyone over 30.”

I dreaded 40 because – to me – it represented the gateway to middle age and it

I’ve always wondered at what age I’ll have to reach before I can honestly say I have one foot in the grave.

had crept up to me much more quickly than I thought it might. I also seemed to turn grey virtually overnight before I was even a couple of years into my 40s.

Turning 50 was just more salt being rubbed into the wound.

Sixty is going to arrive before I know it, and this milestone scares the crap out of me. It means that at the midpoint of my 60s I’ll become – I can barely bring myself to say it – a senior citizen.

I’ve always wondered at what age I’ll have to reach before I can honestly say I have “one foot in the grave.” Will it be 70, or perhaps 80? It’s not something I really wish to dwell on.

The late, great comedian Jack Benny had the right idea, having never aged beyond 39.

With age comes a breakdown of the body. Your eyes start to fail and suddenly you’re wearing glasses. Your hearing starts to falter and you’re outfitted with hearing aids. Arthritis sets in for many of us along with such other conditions as

high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. You’re taking pills for all sorts of things on a daily basis.

The Flintstone vitamins you enjoyed as a child have given way to a variety of horse pills that are meant to keep your medical conditions in check.

Even though we’re all getting older, many of us will take measures to conceal our real age and attempt to fool others into thinking we’re much younger than we actually are. Hair dye, hairpieces, makeup and even plastic surgery are among the band-aid solutions to which we’ll resort in order to hold firm to an age we wish we could be and hope to project to others.

In general, women are much more vain than men. Men don’t wear makeup… at least none of the men I know do. Women, on the other hand, cake it on in layers –seemingly sometimes with a putty knife – in an effort to mask their wrinkles and give their skin a “glow.” I’ve seen some of these women without makeup and they’re barely recognizable. I’ve also seen many women clearly in their 70s who have uniformly blonde hair that you know came out of a bottle. Who are they trying to kid? There are men who are just as guilty, especially with the rugs they glue to their scalp. Even if you’ve only just met these guys, you know they’re wearing a piece because it appears as an island of natural colour amidst a sea of grey.

British poet and playwright Robert Browning once said, “Grow old along with me; the best is yet to be.” Was he referring to all the cool toys we get to play with in our twilight years: canes… walkers… wheelchairs?

I think hockey hall of famer Bobby Hull expressed aging best when he said, “Getting old sucks!”

I used to joke about getting old and all the things that seem to go with it. A loss of fashion sense, wearing Depends and having all sorts of weird medical tests seemed to be par for the course. These things are coming my way and I’m not sure how much longer I can fend them off.

Rod Perry, aka Duffer, is a Niagara-based freelance writer.

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