Looking after parks and outdoor

PUBLIC MAINTENANCE CARE OF PARKS AND OUTDOOR AREAS BY DANIEL TOOK, HEAD OF PROFESSIONAL PRODUCT MARKETING FOR KARCHER UK

Taking care of parks and outdoor areas is a mammoth task for local authorities and service providers. Lawns must be cared for, weeds managed, paths and parking areas maintained, all making flexible, tailored equipment imperative.

Weed killing

Weeds should be deprived of their breeding ground to prevent spread. Pollen settles in dust and dirt, leading to dandelions, thistles, etc. Regular sweeping is the most effective prevention method, but the work should be timed around the grass growth season. If surfaces are well-swept, fine dust pollution is also reduced, but the frequency required can impact personnel and machine costs.

If regular sweeping is not possible, there are other ways to prevents weeds without chemicals. If weeds are still small, hot air is appropriate. Air is heated to 450°C via a gas burner, and the plants are literally dried up. Handheld appliances or attachments for municipal machines are available, but only to be used if no fire hazard exists for adjacent greenery or wooded areas.

Hot water can be used for taller plants. Heated up to temperatures of up to 99°C it develops a certain depth effect down to the root, destroying the plant. Similarly, steam can be used, but does not penetrate to the root, so requires repetition. These methods are ideal for water-bound paths, such as gravel, where sweepers cannot be used. Well-established weeds with deep roots, really require the mechanical performance of a sweeper with a weed brush. This functions independently of the composition of the underlying surface, but brush arms and the connection between attachment and vehicle must be resilient.

Green areas

When lawns take up a lot of space it is important not to mow too low. Leaves on the blades of grass transport moisture from root to tip and without them, the grass dies.

Rotary mowers are often used and are well suited for park areas, roadside greenery, sports fields and playgrounds, as they have a high area capacity and offer an adjustable cutting height. Front mowers are agile and offer a good view of the attached appliance. The mowing deck is easily accessible and quick to assemble. Medium mowers are ideal because of their unchanged driving characteristics with a mounted deck and the shortness of the system. Straight cutting marks are far easier to implement. Lawn sweeping machines pick up the cuttings from the ground via a roller and throw them up overhead into a container. Grass suction devices are connected to the mower and suction off the cuttings into the waste container using a vacuum blower.

To maintain borders, trees and bushes, battery-powered handheld devices are best. Battery-powered brush cutters, chain saws, leaf blowers and hedge cutters are up to 50 percent less noisy and do not release any emissions. They also generate up to 80 percent fewer vibrations, depending on the manufacturer, making handling easier and less stressful for the blood circulation. They are also compact, making precise work easy in narrow, winding areas.

Sweeping in outdoor areas

Sweeping is not just sweeping. The choice of machine and accessories must suit the underlying surface, type of dirt and size of the area or paths. The classic riding sweeper suits individual areas such as car parks, open-air swimming pools or outdoor areas around multi-purpose halls. The side brush sweeps edges and corners and the collected street dirt is absorbed by the main sweeping roller.

Whether the machines are batteryoperated or driven by LPG, petrol or diesel depends on the application area. Smaller areas can be managed with battery-operated machines.

Municipal or vacuum sweepers sweep the dirt together via side brushes, after which it is absorbed by the suction nozzle. Larger areas can be processed rapidly and longer distances in road traffic are manageable with driving speeds of up to 40 km/h. Municipal machines are suitable all for seasons, as the cab provides driver comforts such as air conditioning.

The more flexibly accessories and appliances can be combined for a specific fleet, the more efficiently outdoor spaces can be managed all year round.

TILERS TOOLS RISES TO THE CHALLENGE TO CREATE A COMPLETE LANDSCAPE INSTALLATION SYSTEM

As winner of the Service Provider of the Year last year from The Association of Professional Landscapers, the team at Tilers Tools continued to have lots of contact with their friends in the landscape profession and were still holding training days until CV-19 put them on stop temporarily. Invariably during the discussions, the topic of the best way to install porcelain was always the subject for lively debate and it was clear there was no standout system.

Well, there was a challenge that the team at Tilers Tools just couldn’t ignore. Come up with a stand-out installation system.

They set out to discover what landscape professionals were looking for, then visited a number of manufacturers of adhesives and grouts. Tilers Tools quickly settled on two manufacturers, one to formulate the hybrid cement mortar mix and the primer which works with it and the other manufacturer to produce high quality grout that can be used in heavily trafficked areas. The formulations went through extensive testing and tweaking in the laboratories to settle upon the very best system – in the laboratory. But the real tests could only be done on site.

The first test of the mortar mix and primer on site took place on an outdoor area being created by Chris at Sandstone Supplies. Chris has many years’ experience as a landscaper so his input was invaluable. The test went extremely well, but there were still a couple of improvements to be made. Then the products were ready for real-life testing and a couple of very capable landscapers, Paul at Signature Landscapes and Craig at Taylor’d Landscaping, and their clients, volunteered to be guinea-pigs.

Following very positive feedback, the test was rolled out. Over the months since testing began, the products have been given a resounding thumbs-up from everyone using it. A guaranteed system, simple to use, which holds up well and forms a solid monolithic bond between flags, mortar and sub-base and delivers these benefits in an economic way was clearly going to be a winner. The grout, Part C, is first class too. The grout is hybrid resin cement based but with a formulation that ensures it is UV solid, has flexibility to resist cracking, can be used on joints up to 20mm wide, is waterresistant and can be used in areas subject to heavy traffic. It’s simple to apply and easy to clean off. The FUGA-PAVE Flex CH grout comes in the five most popular colours, light grey, medium grey, anthracite, Jasmin and limestone.

The FUGA-PAVE ABC system is so versatile. While it was designed with porcelain flags in mind, ABC is also suitable when installing natural stone and cementitious products, including blocks and pavers. Part A, the hybrid cement can be used with building sand as a strong mortar when building walls.

Why would you specify anything else?

Look out for FUGA-PAVE ABC at your local landscape supplier.