10 years TerraCottem turf
13/05/2020 - 00:00
It was at the 2010 Bigga Turf Management Exhibition, Harrogate (UK) that TerraCottem turf, our turf specific soil conditioner was launched internationally.
Parent product, TerraCottem universal, had been successfully used in largely horticultural and landscaping settings for over 15 years and was put back into research and development to find a solution specifically for the turf industry, resulting in the creation of the new TerraCottem turf.
As all TerraCottem soil conditioners, it is based on the TerraCottem principle, a mixture of more than 20 hydroabsorbant, growth stimulating and nutritive components that work in synergy to improve soil quality and plant growth.
Central to this formulation was the inclusion of zeolite, a 100 percent natural volcanic mineral renowned for its very high Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) or ability to hold onto nutrients and prevent them from leaching beyond the roots.
TerraCottem Turf’s benefits have also been boosted by the addition of humic acids which have a hugely positive effect on soil structure, improve and optimise the uptake of nutrients by plants and increase the microbiological activity to name but a few benefits. They help the sward make better use of the nutritive elements, and, in turn, promote better grass growth.
During this decade our turf specific soil conditioner has been the subject of various studies both on warm and cold season grasses:
- a three year trial on the long term beneficial effects of TerraCottem turf at the sports grounds facilities of University Ghent, Belgium;
- a master study titled “Suitability of potential soil conditioners for sports sector” by L. Nachtergaele also at Ghent University;
- a trial on kikuyu grass on sandy soil affected by nematodes at Melville Reserve, Melville, Australia by Sports Turf Technology Pty.,
- etc.
TerraCottem turf has been used worldwide in premier league pitches and training grounds such as Manchester City Training Academy (UK), Bayern Leverkusen’s Youth football centre Kurtekotten (Germany), PSG’s Ooredoo training Centre (France), MTK Budapest’s Hidegkuti Nándor Stadium (Hungary), King Abdullah Stadium (KSA), City of La Plata Stadium (Argentina) and Estudiantes’ Jorge Luis Hirschi Stadium (Argentina).
The soil conditioner has also been incorporated into the root zone of council and school sports grounds, ovals, baseball fields and golf courses. Although TerraCottem turf was originally designed for golf and sports turf applications, 92 per cent of its overall sales last year was generated by the landscaping industry for use in ornamental lawns with award winning parks such as the Commonwealth Park, Gibraltar’s first ever park and countless private lawns both in the Northern and Southern hemisphere.
TerraCottem turf not only promotes root growth and increases the soil’s CEC, its hydroabsorbant polymers increase the soil’s water holding capacity, making the grass more resistant to drought stress. Carol Devos, TerraCottem’s director explains:
“When we started the business water availability was a problem limited to certain types of climates. With climate change, we are facing a global water crisis. Look at Belgium, a country that used to have frequent and abundant rainfall throughout the year. This is the third winter in a row where there hasn’t been enough rainfall to build up the water reserves. With just 120 grammes of TerraCottem turf per square meter, the soil’s water retention capacity is increased allowing water savings up to 50 percent during many years.”
