January 2011 saw the return of the annual Limagrain UK amenity grass seed conference, this year held in Dublin. During the conference there were exciting announcements made about new mixtures for 2011. Limagrain are the largest plant breeder and seed development company in Europe. Their MM and Designer grass seed ranges have a proven track record in producing high quality swards and are used in many of this country’s and Europe’s top sporting venues.
During the conference, announcements were made regarding new formulations for some of the MM sports seed mixtures and new landscape and sports seed mixtures featured in the Designer range. The details of which can be seen below.
Following the conference, a trip to the AVIA Stadium was organised, the site of the old Lansdowne Road Stadium. The 50,000 capacity AVIA Stadium hosts all manner of sporting events including international rugby, international football and rugby union along with every groundsmans problem events, music concerts.
The top layer of the pitch was constructed with Fibre Elastic Rootzone, an 80 / 20 mixture reinforced with Polypropylene and Elastane fibres, increasing pitch stability and reducing divoting. Following this, the final surface was sown with Limagrains MM60 winter sports seed mixture.
New MM amenity sports seed formulations include:
MM50
This ryegrass mixture is used on cricket squares, golf tees and fairways. This year sees a reduction in the number of perennial ryegrasses from 4 to 3 which now include 40% Malibu, 40% Venice and 20% Pontiac. The mixture works well for high wear areas due to its quick recovering nature and produces a fine leaved sward, tolerant of close mowing.
MM60
MM60, one of Limagrains best selling sport seeds is used on Football and Rugby pitches; the mixture can be found in some of Europe’s top stadiums. This year sees a slight adjustment to the winning formula with the introduction of a new Ponderosa cultivar in replacement for Sanremo; which will improve performance to the already excellent seed mixture.
New Designer seed mixtures for 2011 include:
Equipaddock
This seed has been developed to produce grazing and cutting ley for horses and ponies. The ryegrasses in the mixture produce a dense sward and good yield. The fescue and meadow grass cultivars enable the grass to repair itself in areas of close grazing or heavy treading.
Quicksport
New addition to the Designer winter sports mixtures, Quicksport. Fast germination and a fine, dense, hard wearing sward make this an effective and economical sports seed for use on both Football and Rugby pitches.
Outfields
As the name suggests, Outfields was developed for use on Cricket outfields, but is also effective on general sports fields. The mixture, consisting of 50% ryegrass, 45% fescue and 5% bent produces a fine leaved, dense sward.
Elite Green
The Designer ranges first attempt at a 100% Bent golf green mix. Elite Green produces a fine, dense sward tolerant of close mowing and is highly disease resistant.
Fine Tees & Fairways
To accompany the existing ryegrass Tees mix, Fine Tees and Fairways is a non rye mixture producing a fine, dense sward, which will recover quickly from divoting.
