Mr Lawn visits Tillers Turf
- denton49
- Jul 16
- 3 min read
Synopsis – Visit to Tillers Turf, Newark
15 July 2026
Please forgive me if I’ve misunderstood any details — there was a huge amount to take in.
I visited Tillers Turf in Newark with the UK Lawn Care Association to learn about their large‑scale turf production and, in particular, their Premier League‑level hybrid pitches.
Managing Director Simon Hutton and his team walked us through their systems, methods, and the impressive scale of their operation.
Tillers supply turf to residential homes, parks, golf courses and major sporting venues, but we were fortunate to be shown their hybrid turf production used for multi‑use stadiums, where concerts, events and matches generate significant revenue for surrounding economy.
The hybrid system uses a synthetic carpet containing 3% artificial fibre, which reinforces the natural grass and provides the stability that prevents footballers from getting muddy knees or needing shirt changes. The carpet is topped with 38–40mm of sand and then seeded with Diploid and Tetraploid ryegrass, chosen for strength, recovery, ground cover and colour. They do not stripe the production fields, as striping is done only once the turf is installed in the stadium to avoid leaving a chequered pattern.
Maintenance of these pitches is extremely intensive. They are cut daily using a mix of cylinder and rotary mowers, and verticut once or twice a week with all debris collected. It takes around three to four hours for one person to cut a full pitch.
Feeding is carried out through both spraying and granular applications.
Their non‑hybrid pitches are grown on a 90% sand and 10% loam rootzone, seeded with 100% ryegrass, and grown on a plastic base to maintain consistency. Robotic mowers are not used because clippings must be collected; they avoid any organic matter build‑up to keep the base as clean as possible.
Some of these pitches are now being sown on site with hybrid fibres 180mm deep into the ground.
They emphasised how even a two‑week difference in sowing can dramatically affect results, and explained that stadiums require proper drainage and periodic root‑zone refreshes to maintain performance.
Tillers always grow contingency pitches in case of accidents or unexpected demand.
Interestingly, they saw better germination in February than in March or April this year. They now seed heavily from November through February, as long as the ground is firm enough for machinery. Their soil is free‑draining, so seed will not rot; if it doesn’t germinate for three weeks, it simply doesn’t matter. Their philosophy is that it “won’t grow in the bag,” and with seasons changing, they are sowing earlier and shi
fting focus later in the year.
Selective herbicide isn’t applied before May because doing it too early means it must be repeated. Insects are not a major issue for them because the soil is turned frequently, preventing long‑term build‑up.
They also renovate turf awaiting sale by stripping it back to the carpet, removing all vegetation, thatch and slime, topping up with clean sand and reseeding. Diploid ryegrass provides strength and recovery, while Tetraploid brings colour and coverage.
***DO NOT TRY THIS ON YOUR LAWN***For dealing with annual meadow grass (poa) on some stadium pitches, they apply a small percentage of Roundup, relying on the broader leaf of poa to absorb more glyphosate than rye. The aim is to knock back the poa without killing the rye — but this is strictly a professional stadium practice and absolutely not something to try at home.
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