Our new Director of Grounds, tells of the work undertaken and the plans he has for King's Bruton...

Over the summer, the Grounds team have been busy doing lots of things to improve the grounds and gardens.

Football Pitch

We have renovated Farr football pitch, which we scarified in 2 directions, then over-seeded and top dressed with a 50/50 sand soil mix. It has been fertilized with a granular feed and then followed up with a liquid feed and pre-growth regulator to try and thicken the sward. This will all help with durability and will hopefully, play well and true.

Cricket Squares

Similarly, we have renovated the cricket squares, adding in clay loam and using a dwarf rye grass seed, and we have re-instated a cricket square on Farr Field.

Rugby Pitches

All our rugby pitches have been fertilized with a granular feed.

Prefects' Lawn & School Grounds

We have renovated the Prefects' Lawn and have slightly changed the look of the front of the Basil Wright Building, where a yew hedge is going to be planted as soon as bare root hedging becomes available. There have been lots of smaller tasks undertaken, but the goal has been mainly to tidy the whole school and make a conscious effort to reach all areas more regularly.

Future Improvements

In the future, we hope to continue our renovation of sports pitches. More regular grooming of our surfaces will also be undertaken. We move into our disease prevention program on fine turf areas over the autumn and winter, and this will hopefully, keep all surfaces clean and healthy ready for next spring. Leaves will be our next big task around the School, keeping the grounds tidy and safe for everyone on site.

I must say a big thank you to the Bursar, Louis Tuson and the Headmaster, Ian Wilmshurst, who champion our Grounds Department, and understand the need for good reliable machinery which makes our workload manageable. My Grounds team are fantastic, it’s been a steep learning curve for myself, whilst also still looking after Hazlegrove, thankfully, I have great lads with me who are more than competent to deal with anything we are asked to do. In time, more and more improvements will be made all over the School to enhance how we look and also to give our pupils the best possible playing surfaces.

Graham Kitley - Director of Grounds (King's Bruton & Hazlegrove Prep School)