Very Brown

After having a break from scarifying, thanks to the August Bank Holiday, Joss has spent yesterday and today back on the main quad lawn. Truck loads of thatch have been taken down to the compost heaps as the height of the scarifying blades are continually lowered.
By the end of the day, Joss has finished scarifying and will, over the next two days, aerate, seed and feed the lawn with an autumn winter fertiliser.

What Has Happened To The Lawn?

Since the work on the lawn started, both visitors and staff have been concerned at the sudden change in the appearance of the grass. The team decided to put a notice up to explain:

WORK IN PROGRESS

As you walk through the cloisters to view the main quadrangle, you may be asking yourselves, ‘Why the lawn ahead of you is looking so brown?’
This is not due to the very dry weather we have had over the last few months, but a process called ‘Scarifying’.
Scarifying is an extremely beneficial procedure, removing the layer of dead grass and thatch that have built up over the years, allowing water and nutrients to, once again, reach the grass roots.
As we approach autumn, it is the perfect time to scarify, as it will allow sufficient time for the lawn to recover, taking advantage of the reasonably warm temperatures and increased rainfall. Once the scarifying has been finished the lawn will be over seeded and this will soon germinate.
Unfortunately, the lawn will look a bit of a mess for a few months, but will be restored to its former glory.

Two Men, Two Mowers.

Kieron and Joss spent the day, the first of many over the next few weeks, working on the lawn in the front quad. Their task to scarify the lawn, removing all the thatch that has built up over the years.
Joss, using the Dennis mower that has had its cutting cartridge replaced with a scarifying cartridge, starts on the lawn first. Kieron, following behind with the Allett mower, picks up the scarified grass that has been pulled up from the lawn. This process will be repeated again and again, the heights of the cut reduced after each completed lawn cut, so far the cutting height has been reduced from 16mm to just 8mm.

Team Work

Ady had a new helper today when spraying a few of the weedy paths in the college. Usually accompanied by Graham, Callum put on the BananaMan suit and learnt how to apply weed killing chemicals next to grass. Using a large board, Callum placed it on the edge of the path to protect the grass, being careful not to tread on any area that had been sprayed.

After A Rain Break

For the second year running rain has interrupted the cutting of the yew hedge columns in the Provost's garden. Kieron started trimming the columns on Wednesday, but by midday on Thursday had got soaked from a continuous heavy downpour and was unable to finish them all. The sun returned today so was able to finish them all, as well as the small curved yew hedge by the Provost's lodgings, maybe next year we will get a few dry days and complete the task uninterrupted.

The Mist Unit

With September fast approaching, the month we start taking cuttings, it is time to give the mist unit in the greenhouse a deep clean.
The top layer of dirty sand is removed and the water pipes lifted in order to clean them thoroughly. Ali mixes a bucket of hot water with Jeyes Fluid, rubber gloves on and armed with a scrubbing brush, begins to remove all the dirt and grime that has built up over the last twelve months.

The mist unit nozzles are removed and allowed to soak in the Jeyes Fluid mix before being washed off with clean water and replaced. (The pictures above and below show the nozzles before and after their deep clean).

The wooden surround is scrubbed until all the algae has been removed and hosed down until clean, then allowed to dry. Whilst all the pieces of the unit are drying, an inch of new sand is placed in the unit to cover the under soil heating cables. A kettle of boiling water is poured through the hose, that connects the tap to the water pipes, to remove any algae that may have built up in the hose during the hot summer.

Once all the pieces are reconnected, the mist unit is tested and is now ready for the many hundreds of cuttings that are about to be taken.

4 Tonne Bags and 2 Wheelbarrows

Ady, Callum and Ali have spent the day working in the Provost's rose garden. The Geranium 'Brookside' and 'A.T Johnson' have finished flowering and flopped all over the grass paths and borders, so needed to be cut back. The numerous weeds were dug up, expired rose flowers removed and the soil moved back away from the metal edging until finally, with 4 tonne bags and 2 wheelbarrows filled, their work is finished.