Sport & Leisure
There is no better surface to play many sports on than natural grass. It can be managed to produce a range of surfaces – from golf greens and tennis courts to race tracks and rugby pitches – each made of a different and specific mix of grasses.
Children feel the urge to roll down grassy banks; people love to picnic in parks. Vibrant green grass can lift the spirits. A world without grasses would be brown and unimaginable.
My grass year in pictures!
My grass year in pictures! I have seen some amazing grass this year – on farms, in gardens, in the countryside and in one of the temples of British sport! Here is a snapshot of some of these wonderful grassy places and events…
Wow! Grass! – in places you don't usually find it…
Just discovered this cool company which installs real grass at events and venues including York Minster for the Rose Dinner earlier this month. More than 900 guests attended, held to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and to raise money for the York Minster Fund. Guests walked and dined on a carpet of grass.
Kraków’s football pitch transformed for England’s Euro 2012 bid
The amazing rejuvenation properties of grass in sporting venues have been highlighted once again in Poland this spring. Despite the coldest winter for 40 years, with knee-high snow followed by heavy rain, the sparse and uneven surface at Hutnik Nowa Huta football club in Kraków has been improved beyond recognition, in time for England’s finest to prepare for their Euro 2012 matches.
What do a rugby club, a maze and a canal boat have in common?
The answer is grass! Even on holiday on a canal boat last week I couldn’t stop finding reminders of the different and ingenious ways we use grass in our everyday lives. After negotiating the six locks at the end of the Kennet and Avon canal we moored next to Bath Rugby club – right next to the gate by the grass pitch.
Horses prefer silage
Horses given a choice of silage, high or low quality haylage and hay, all made from the same grass crop in a trial in Sweden strongly favoured the silage.
Dr Cecilia Müller from the University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, told an audience of farmers and horse owners at an event run by The British Grassland Society in Shropshire last week, what happened when horses were offered equal amounts of each conserved forage for two hours a day over five days
Nothing beats real grass
Natural turf remains the preferred playing surface for most sportsmen – be it a kick about in the local park or Champions League action at Old Trafford.A paper from the European Seed Association sets out some reasons why…