May 2024 :
Study tour with DCM Organic Fertiliser & AmeriTurf agronomy.
Environmentally Friendly Greenkeeping in Belgium 🇧🇪
In the world of golf and sports turf management, maintaining uniformed, green, and healthy landscapes is essential. Traditionally, this has been achieved using chemical fertilisers, herbicides, fungicides, also pesticides. However, the growing awareness of environmental and health concerns has led to a shift towards a more environmentally friendly greenkeeping approach. Last week we travelled to Belgium to explore the principles and practices of sustainable, environmentally friendly turf management, offering a healthier alternative for both the environment and the people.
We spent some time at KV Mechelen, a 17,000-seat stadium from Belgium’s top Football league, the pitch looked fantastic after a long season, with strong grass coverage & good rooting. Sticking to a strict program, Ground staff over-seed more often at low rates to out compete any risk of disease & apply DCM Mini-Gran 14-4-7 & 8-3-12 along with wetting agents & seaweed.
Check out our Organic Fertiliser section to learn more about these products, a short video has also been uploaded, providing a full product overview.
We also visited Brabanste Golf, a club on the outskirts of Brussels. The club have a strong membership of over 900 and cater for visiting golfers, regional tournaments & sponsor events. A busy club with high expectations. The Green-staff work closely with DCM, with a similar approach as the football club on tees, aprons & front of house lawns. DCM Mini-Gran 9-0-9 is applied to greens along with regular oveseeding, granular wetting agent & seaweeds. They also apply low N organic liquids from DCM in between granular feeds if necessary.
Away from the picturesque turf & sports facilities we also visited Scientia Terrae Research Institute who are partners with DCM, over 20 staff are constantly working on new products & in particular most of their time this year is on liquid formulations for turf & horticulture. A really interesting visit and great to see DCM pushing the boundaries with Organic based solutions for the future
Conclusion
In Belgium, environmentally friendly greenkeeping is more than just a trend it’s part of daily life for sports facilities, it is a responsible approach to turf management that benefits the environment, human health, and the longevity of our green spaces. By adopting sustainable practices, we can enjoy lush, vibrant landscapes while protecting our planet for future generations.
At BTME 2025 we will be exhibiting alongside DCM & Evert Verstreken (European Business Development Manager)will be present throughout the show to answer any questions and offer excellent support & advice to all visitors.
Thorntrees Amenity Team