Green space cultivar and nutrient focus at Saltex
Turf care specialists, Germinal, will this year be focusing on two key areas of green space maintenance at this year’s Saltex exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham on 2nd and 3rd November: maintaining a healthy soil profile through the use of self–sustaining cultivars, and examining the efficiency of soil nutrient programmes.
AberSustain
– self–sustaining seed mixture for green spaces
AberSustain is a self–sustaining grass seed mixture that is perfect for open parkland areas, domestic lawns, roadside verges and green roof spaces. Featuring five UK–bred varieties, AberSustain creates a sward which is tolerant of low nutrient and drought conditions and which can actively bind and improve the soil’s structure. The inclusion of a white clover cultivar enables AberSustain to generate the majority of its nutrient requirements, making it the ideal option for landscapers and landscape architects looking for an environmentally and economically sustainable grass sward.
AberSustain contains the following cultivars, all of which have been bred for UK–specific conditions at Aberystwyth University’s Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS):
- AberAce (5%) White Clover: with an exceptionally high stolon density, AberAce is able to fix 150kg of nitrogen per hectare per year. This eliminates the requirement for additional fertilisers in amenity areas with a low to medium intensity usage and helps to reduce overall maintenance costs. AberAce is also able to improve soil structure by putting down extensive roots which not only bind the soil, but also increase porosity and decrease soil bulk density. This in turn can improve the movement of nutrients within the soil profile, thereby enhancing overall sward health.
- AberNile (20%) Perennial Ryegrass:the unique ‘Stay–Green’ quality of this cultivar ensures the sward maintains a good visual appearance throughout the year. This deep rooted variety also displays exceptional drought tolerance.
- AberFleece (45%) Sheeps Fescue:as the foundation of the AberSustain seed mixture, AberFleece exhibits a very short vegetative growth and will not exceed 140mm when left un–mown. It also produces a dark green, year–round colour and is tolerant to low nutrient and drought conditions.
- AberCharm (20%) Slender Creeping Red Fescue: produces a very dense, compact sward with exceptional summer and winter greenness. Inherently fine leaved, drought and disease tolerant, AberCharm helps to bind the sward together.
- AberRoyal (10%) Browntop Bent: gives exceptional shoot density to help bind the sward and adds to the overall visual appearance with good winter and summer greenness.