While the cricket season at Hertfordshire’s Aldenham School may not be long in duration it is intense, with students and community clubs using the facilities for training and fixtures between Easter and early July.

A programme of Johnsons J Fairway has been praised by the team at Woodbridge Golf Club, after delivering tried and trusted performance for more than a decade. Such is the consistency and quality of results from the 100% fescue blend on the fairways, Course Manager Paul Lawrence is now employing another 100% fescue mix from the Johnsons Sports Seed range on the clubs 27 greens as they seek to improve drought and disease tolerance.

For contractors Avon Sportsground Maintenance, when it comes to the overseeding of bowling greens it’s the fine fescue and browntop bent blend of J Green that is sown every time! Delivering hardwearing but slow growing surfaces, the mixture from the Johnsons Sports Seed range is used on all 47 greens in the Bristol and Bath area currently under the remit of Owner Matt Phillips and his team.

When previous attempts to get a practice putting green back into play at Vicars Cross Golf Club in Cheshire had failed, in stepped new Golf Course Manager Richie Stephens, armed with the J All Bent mixture from Johnsons Sports Seed. A few short months from seeding, and with some favourable assistance from mother nature, the USGA spec green was in business – with the programme then implemented on the construction of a new chipping green that enjoyed similar success!

Ticking the boxes for wear tolerance and fast germination, J Premier Pitch from Johnsons Sports Seed has impressed during its debut season at Dartford Football Club. Under the supervision of Head Groundsman Jay Berkhauer and the team at Jordans Sportsground Solutions, J Premier Pitch was chosen due to a tight six-week renovation window, delivering a quality surface for the first game of season and demonstrating great resilience, despite challenging conditions, ever since.

J Premier Pitch from Johnsons Sports Seed has been described as a ‘game-changer’ for Northampton Saints Rugby Club, delivering outstanding resilience, weartolerance and overall turf quality at both the stadium and new high performance training centre. As one of just three clubs in the Premiership with an all-natural pitch, expectations and demands on the turf are high – but with the right seed, feed and maintenance programme in place, the team lead by Head Groundsman Andrew Miller are delivering on every front.

The Johnsons Sports Seed catalogue for 2024 has landed – bursting at the seams with sustainable seed solutions for sports and fine turf applications. In-field trials and the results from DLF’s leading global ‘Disease Watch Programme’ has led to two new mixtures and more than 10 new formulations making this year’s portfolio stronger, more resistant and more reliable than ever!

The exposed location and sandy loam soil profile of Cardigan Golf Club mean the links course is subject to harsh conditions, yet the greens and fairways have never performed better according to Course Manager Stuart Adams – who attributes the improvements in visual merit and plant health down to the bespoke seed programme delivered by Johnsons Sports Seed.

Following another year of extensive trials and research, Johnsons Sports Seed return to BTME with a bolstered fine turf portfolio – including two brand new mixtures and five new formulations for 2024. Created to address two of the biggest issues currently facing the industry, drought tolerance and disease resistance, visitors can find out more about new Johnsons J Sustain-Fairway, J Ultrafine Rye 100 and more by stopping by stand 126 in January.

While only launched in the summer of 2023, the new hard fescue J Sustain-Fairway mixture from Johnsons Sports Seed is already making a strong first impression at the birthplace of The Open Championship. Delivering quick germination and coping with the challenges of the undulating links course, Prestwick Golf Club have commended the blend of top-rated cultivars and the role they’ll play in futureproofing their fairways.

A trial of J Tee from the Johnsons Sports Seed range has now been rolled out course-wide at Knutsford Golf Club in Cheshire, after solving a number of issues on their heavily shaded tees. The combination of high footfall and a lack of sunlight caused by trees have previously posed a number of problems when it comes to the maintenance of the small tees, which Course Manager David Jones now claims to be a thing of the past thanks to the ‘second to none’ results from the J Tee mix.

J 4Turf 25 from the Johnsons Sports Seed range is ticking the boxes of wear tolerance, quick establishment and fast recovery for the team at Stratford Racecourse – as the track finds itself in the midst of a packed eight-month summer race season. Head Groundsman Sam Linley has been relying on the tetraploid blend for the last two years, with the deeper rooting and harder wearing perennial ryegrasses providing outstanding strength to the highest areas of wear and tear around the track.

Market demand for a blend of resilient Fescue cultivars and high percentages of native Hard Fescue has seen the introduction of J Sustain-Fairway from DLF. J Sustain-Fairway is the latest in a strong line up of fairway mixtures from Johnsons Sports Seed which already includes J Fairway, J Rye Fairway and J Premier Fairway, offering a range of sustainable options to suit all needs and budgets.

When it comes to a cricket pitch, there’s not much that Richie Woodmason, owner of Willow Turf Care, doesn’t know about them - whether it’s playing on them or maintaining them! One thing he is certain of, is that when he needs a grass seed that is going to germinate quickly and deliver hard-wearing results capable of withstanding the demands of the modern season, he turns to Johnsons Sports Seed. Following his own extensive research, it’s Johnsons J Premier Wicket that ticks all the boxes for Richie, seeing it employed on 41 of the 42 renovations he completed last season.

The unique hilltop location of Maesteg Golf Club in Wales provides a challenge to golfers and greenkeepers alike, the picturesque playing surfaces nestled in a valley with its very own microclimate! These conditions demand flexibility and durability from the grass seed, to cope with extremes of both moisture and temperature, and its mixtures from Johnsons Sports Seed that deliver just that. Deputy Head Greenkeeper James Matthewman explains how the combination of J Fescue, J All Bent and J 4Turf from DLF are retaining better coverage and plant health than ever, keeping them fungicide free for over four years.

We asked James Matthewman from Maesteg Golf Club a series of questions about his life as a Deputy Head Greenkeeper & how he overcomes the challenges that face his throughout the golfing season.