Northwest Turf, Ormskirk, Lancashire

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North West Turf

Matt Van Druten, reporting: On June 26, the group visited Northwest Turf, a local turf farm. We were shown around by Ian Mercer, an experienced manager/partner of the firm. The company currently owns 300 acres of land and leases another 300 or so acres. They've grown quite a bit from the original 40 acres back in 1989. On this land, the company plants seed, grows the grass and collects it in strips of sod to sell to golf courses (about 30% of the business and primarily during winter), landscape companies (65% of the business especially in spring and fall), and the general public (5% of the business, often during summer). Only cool season grasses can be grown in England. Turf production fields are sown in the spring and autumn. Even spring sowing can be risky, but has been done lately because of wetter-than-normal summers. To grow efficiently, each acre of turf requires 150 pounds of seed, most of which has come from the United States.

The company owns two machines which each cut different size turf strips. Each machine can collect 6000 meters (1.5 acres) of turf in one day. Most of Northwest's land is considered "good" soil and is made up of 85% sand with a deep, black color signifying high organic matter content. The rest is fair and is made up of mostly clay. Fertilizer mixtures are similar to those in the U.S., made of mostly nitrogen and potash. Synthetic cultivars are the most common type of turf sold by the company.

Currently, Northwest's sales are up 38% from a year ago. Ian attributes most of this to the expansion of the London suburbs, just one of the many spots in the country that they ship turf to. Within a couple of years, he hopes to have more than 1000 acres of land growing turf for the company. Northwest Turf stands proudly next to a strong guarantee: If a customer finds a single weed or blade of foreign grass in their purchase, they receive their order for free. A seed supplier recently provided seed lots that contained 1.2% contamination of non-lawn turf; this may not sound like a large number, but the presence of grassy weeds was very noticeable. Such attention to quality has helped the company grow and gain a good reputation. Ian and the business he helps run are very professional, knowledgeable, and customer-centered. I definitely learned more than I thought I would about turf in a short two hour experience.

See what Northwest Turf was like in the Spring of 1999, when visited by our colleagues.

You can visit Northwest Turf's own website.

North West Turf

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North West Turf

Matt Van Druten, reporting: On June 26, the group visited Northwest Turf, a local turf farm. We were shown around by Ian Mercer, an experienced manager/partner of the firm. The company currently owns 300 acres of land and leases another 300 or so acres. They've grown quite a bit from the original 40 acres back in 1989. On this land, the company plants seed, grows the grass and collects it in strips of sod to sell to golf courses (about 30% of the business and primarily during winter), landscape companies (65% of the business especially in spring and fall), and the general public (5% of the business, often during summer). Only cool season grasses can be grown in England. Turf production fields are sown in the spring and autumn. Even spring sowing can be risky, but has been done lately because of wetter-than-normal summers. To grow efficiently, each acre of turf requires 150 pounds of seed, most of which has come from the United States.

The company owns two machines which each cut different size turf strips. Each machine can collect 6000 meters (1.5 acres) of turf in one day. Most of Northwest's land is considered "good" soil and is made up of 85% sand with a deep, black color signifying high organic matter content. The rest is fair and is made up of mostly clay. Fertilizer mixtures are similar to those in the U.S., made of mostly nitrogen and potash. Synthetic cultivars are the most common type of turf sold by the company.
Currently, Northwest's sales are up 38% from a year ago. Ian attributes most of this to the expansion of the London suburbs, just one of the many spots in the country that they ship turf to. Within a couple of years, he hopes to have more than 1000 acres of land growing turf for the company. Northwest Turf stands proudly next to a strong guarantee: If a customer finds a single weed or blade of foreign grass in their purchase, they receive their order for free. A seed supplier recently provided seed lots that contained 1.2% contamination of non-lawn turf; this may not sound like a large number, but the presence of grassy weeds was very noticeable. Such attention to quality has helped the company grow and gain a good reputation. Ian and the business he helps run are very professional, knowledgeable, and customer-centered. I definitely learned more than I thought I would about turf in a short two hour experience. See what Northwest Turf was like in the Spring of 1999, when visited by our colleagues. You can visit Northwest Turf's own website.
North West Turf
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