At Environmental Turf Technology Ltd we are justifiably proud of the technical backup that we provide, it is an integral part of the company philosophy. All support and advise including test results are confidential between the Course Manager and the advisor.

Staff Training

All Environmental Turf Technology staff are highly trained both in traditional aspects of agronomy and in the latest concepts from around the world. Our advisors are trained in order that they can provide you with the highest levels of support. However the very nature of greenkeeping indicates that on occasion an advisor will come across a problem that they have not encountered before and consequently they do not know the answer to, should this occur, your advisor will seek the solution from our extensive list of agronomic consultants from the United Kingdom and around the world.

Soil Testing

The soil testing and reporting procedure employed by Environmental Turf Technology is widely accepted as being the most comprehensive within the golf course industry. The testing is detailed in order that we can ensure that Course Managers are not wasting valuable resources on nutrients that they do not require. Detailed testing is also environmentally responsible, as application of the correct levels will assist in the reduction of leached nutrient. One of the most important tests we conduct is a measure of the soils cation exchange capacity; this is a measure of how much nutrient the soil will store. Sandy rootzones have a low cation exchange capacity typically 1-4, whereas clay or high organic content rootzones have a much higher measure. It is pointless applying large quantities of fertiliser to a soil that will not retain it, it is far better to apply little and often.

All the nutrients required for the healthy maintenance of fine turf are interrelated and a shortage of one can affect the take up of another nutrient, as an example of this manganese assists in the uptake of nitrogen so a deficiency of manganese will mean that you are not achieving the results you should from an application of an NPK fertiliser. The health and well being of the turf is frequently limited by the element that is in the shortest supply. However it is important to remember that en excess of one nutrient can also lock up another, excess zinc can lock up phosphorus and iron.

An additional feature of our soil analysis programme is that we are able to identify problems before they cause damage to the sward, in numerous golf courses we monitor the salt levels on a regular basis, at others we monitor the iron and sulphur to ensure that black layer does not become a problem.

Justus von Liebig (1803-1873), the distinguished German scientist, worked out his law of the minimum, best illustrated by the short staved barrel.

In essence it stated that turf couldn't grow beyond the soil's ability to provide all of the elements needed by the plants and that the elements in shortest supply in relation to the turfs needs would become the limiting factor in plant growth.

Thus, if manganese is the element in shortest supply in a soil and this supply is short enough to be the growth-limiting element, no matter how much nitrogen, phosphorus, potash, or other plant food elements may be available, the turf would not grow beyond the limits of the soil's manganese supply.

This is the philosophy behind Environmental Turf Technology's nutrition policy.