ALS Presentations

ALS are Amenity Land Solutions. They claim to be environmentally aware with products that work with rather than against nature.

Integrated Pest Management – James Grundy

James’ presentation concentrated on Leather Jackets and Chafers. The pesticide solutions are now (or soon will be) banned – his answer to the problem is Nematodes.

They should not be treated as a simple replacement for Insecticides – you have to learn about the life cycles to achieve optimum treatment.

Click here to see a diagram showing Leather Jacket cycle

And here for Chafer cycle

Nematode product is not cheap -£63 for Leatherjacket and £82 for Chafer each pack to treat 500 sq metre.

The ideal is to treat the affected area in such a way that enough of the pests survive to keep your Nematodes alive. If the pests all die then the Nematodes die out as well so you have to buy more each reoccurrence. It’s not clear how to do this.

Treatment requires some planning, preparation and record keeping – click here for part 1 of a guide from ALS and here for part 2

Biostimulants and Turf Nutrition – Dr Russell Sharp

Dr Sharp’s company make products for the enhancement and management of crops – in this case he concentrated on grass. These products are often rebranded and sold through dealers – for example the ALS “Maxwell” brand.

He explained how more complicated mixes can give better results than simple NPK products.

I have to admit most of the presentation went well over my head. The one thing that stuck was that apparently as we now have hardly any coal fired power stations our rain is no longer acid – so we should think about feeding turf some sulphur as this is no longer delivered by the rain.

Finally,

ALS mainly deal with golf courses, but are keen to talk to cricket clubs. They are currently supporting Alex Kegg at Chester BH. If you have problems you think they might help with they are happy to talk – contact Ian.Somerville@amenity.co.uk or 07966 287667