Turfgrass Management

I am just about done my first semester of the turfgrass management program here at the University of Guelph and I have had some great times. This program has taught me so much about the turf industry, stuff I never thought I would know about and because of this I leave this program with so many opportunities.

In this program I have learned so much to do with the industry and how much time and effort goes into it. There are many jobs I can get with this diploma, an opportunity I did not have before. This course is the most renowned program for its subject matter in the world and people come from all over to be in this class and to take home all the knowledge it provides to its students. In my experience I have learned that so many things deal with this industry. We would go on weekly field trips to golf courses and sod companies and even the Ontario Seed Company. This was great in my opinion; if we did not have any of this stuff or this program, people would not know as much and our society would not have as good of farmers and industry people. Without our farmers we would not get our nourishment; a lot of people don’t realize that when they buy from the impersonal supermarket of our day.

This program is such an important one at the University of Guelph and I feel privileged to have had such a good time. So far I would highly recommend this to all people who read these blogs and are considering going to this program. You will learn so much in this class and how great and fun it is. I hope all you readers will want to come join us in the fun!

Jadrian

Hard Working Superintendents

How hard do super intendants work? I would say that they have some of the toughest jobs around and although some people may say it’s not that hard of a job, they don’t understand the amount of work and the background know-how  they have to do. Some may do more than others, and people never even realize it.

As I was saying, a lot of supers work more than they really have to, passionate about their work. Some put in more effort then you would think; they might do the mechanical work, which saves a lot of money for your golf course. Other things they do is repair equipment on the golf course such as maybe the sprinkler system (necessary for maintaining that perfect ‘golf lawn’ look). Supers may do a lot more than the normal amount and they do not get a lot of holidays. Some even work every day of the week and with no days off even in winter and out of season. 

I have a friend that is a super and he works every day with very little holidays he is now attending the turfgrass program at the University of Guelph with me so  he can become a better super. That just goes to show how much effort he puts in and I am sure there have been more just like him that have done this in the past. There are a lot of supers that came to the turfgrass program to be better supers so before people say they don’t work hard they should think again and maybe talk to a super to see how super they are!

Till next time,

Jadrian

Alan White

Today we had a guest speaker by the name of Alan White in our Turf Industry class.  He told us all about his experiences in the industry and the ups and downs of his career.

Alan White grew up working on farms and local golf courses, the beginnings of his knowledge of turf. He developed a passion for the outdoors and was set on preserving it for all. He decided to base his career on this moto.

He started by completing a Turf Manageer short course and went from there. Alan is now the president of Project EverGreen Canada, and owner of Turf Systems Inc. based in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.  He established Turf System Inc. in 1991. They focus on serving the greater Toronto area, providing professional lawn care and irrigation services, with a long term view of the environment. They’re sales average to more than a million dollars annually. They serve both residential and large commercial properties, providing for everybody. They have the utmost  respect for the environment, and their most mportant pat of operations is being a good neighbour.

They use central irrigation equipment, and take advantage of dispatching and fleet management. This is the marketing key to lawn care success.  They even provide the additional services of aeration, topdresing, overseeding, dethatching, soil testing, soil amendment, hand weeding, site management and irrigation repairs. This makes them unparalleled in the industry, as their customer- based policy is something they live by.

They maintain beautiful landscapes that any customer can enjoy.

Thanks, till next blog,

Jadrian

A Successful Symposium

This past Friday, November 27, a symposium was held at the Cutten Club called “Doing More With Less: Turf and Tough Times.” Guest speaker’s came in to talk about the industry and educate students on how to succeed in the turf-grass industry during a time of limited resources.

The three guest speaker’s were Keith Bartlett, Ron Schiedel and Tom Hsiang. Keith Bartlett is the superintendent of St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto which is hosting the 2010 Canadian Open. He spoke about how it was million dollar investment which also required a very large amount of time and energy.  Ron Schiedel is the president and co-owner of Green Horizons Group of Farms which sells sod and other products related to the turf industry. He inspired us to be innovators of the future and taught us that embracing change and advancement will aid us in “tough times.” The last speaker was a University of Guelph plant pathologist named Dr. Tom Hsiang who spoke about turf diseases and how to prevent these.

In my opinion, this was a very successful symposium. Lots of people were there and were interested. Their interest and concern was evident in the questions asked. All three speakers showed up and were interesting and successful individuals who spoke about their topics in a way that was easy for the audience to understand. Their jobs were also very different and so we were taught about a wide variety of turf industry related topics. We also learned that to make money you have to spend money as was the case with preparing for the Canadian Open. We were also given an opportunity to connect with industry professionals. Overall, it was a very successful event.

The turf grass class of Guelph university is having a symposium this Friday November the 27th

any one who is in the industry is more then welcome to come if you send a email before the 26th to wallacea@uoguelph.ca can come

i would be bale to get you a spot at a table. This also includes guess speakers and people from are class which will be doing beat the clock speech

 

so rember this friday if you wanna come just email me and ill get you in any one from the industry is welcome hope to see a lot of people there

thanks till next blog jadrian

 

Also at this   symposium there will be free coffee and a lunch buffet all of this is free so just come, If u do whant to come there is a dress code you must where

a dress shirt and tie cause of the rules at the cutton club so like i said dress nice. Also there is no cell phones or i pods aloud in this symposium due to a other rule

at the cutton club. there is also going to be prizes giving away. There will be 8 jackets up for grabs so get your tickets at the front door when you come in

all the prizes have been donated by a classmates golf course back home if you win a prize you could always say thank you to Brad Anderson

This week we went to the islington golf course and we saw some cool stuff. They were puting a new sprinkler system in witch was cool.  We got to see how they worked. And what they were doing the golf course was about 23 ackers big witch is a far size golf course for in Toronto. The ilsington Golf course was mad in 19 23 and has had some major changes since then.

Some if the changes n the golf course were cuting down trees for legal problems. there was a man who lived on the T 3. So he complanied to the city witch in the end brought it to court in the end they had to figure out a way to stop the balls from going in to his yard. so they came to the idea that they had to put a fence up. Trees had to be cut down for this fence. Four MAPLE TREES.The neighbours complained to the city that they did not want the trees cut down. But in the end they did cut them down to put up a 80 foot high fence with a net to catch the balls so they did not go in the gentelmans yard

This was not the only problem the golf course had. They also had a main road right on the side of there T 15 witch also raised problems. they are in the process of moving the hole to a diffrent loaction on the golf course. in the end i thought this was a very nice and beautiful course thanks for reading my blog thanks jadrian wallace

sod

Sod is a integral component at any turf grass related industry.  It is used in sports, agriculture, parks, landscaping ect.  Without sod, it would be much more expensive and time-consuming to create nice even fields and lawns.

Sod is mainly used for little parts on grass such as dead areas.  As I said earlier, the good thing about sod is that it doesn’t cost a lot for one piece.  If you need a four foot area of sod, it would only cost you about fifteen dollars.  With this sod, you can get the job done quickly and efficiently.  In the end, it will look nice for a low amount of money!

Sod can be purchased at an hardware store.  Many individuals use sod on their properties at home but it is manly used in the golfing and landscaping industry.  It is universally used and benefits a lot of people.

In Ontario you are not able to use cosmetic pesticides. There are over 95 cosmetic pesticides that are banned in all of Ontario. And you ask your self why that is? Well one of the causes, there is a lot of harmful things in them that can ruin the environment. Also they are harmful to other things such as children and animals. So by taking these pesticides off the market, we can save money on health care because children and animals will not become ill from these products. Therefore we can put that money into other things such as education. But then you ask yourself, by cutting these products out would that not help make the recession worse .Yes it would. This is because it would put people put of a job they would have otherwise had. It would also be harder to sell your house because there would be weeds on your front lawn and no one wants that. So less homes would be sold witch would not help the recession at all. So in the end if you think to yourself, is a this good thing or a bad thing, well it all comes down to what you think. Some people think it is great that we are getting rid of pesticides while others would say no, in my opinion I think it is not as bad at it might seem because we can always come out of a recession. One factor that remains, many of these pesticides will continue to cause illness in people and animals. But that’s just my opinion. Some people will say different things.

Thanks for reading my blog, Jadrian

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