Have you ever considered how the grass is maintained to keep its lushness in your local park? Have you wondered how football and cricket pitches, or lawn tennis courts, are looked after? Have you thought about the amount of punishment turf suffers in  sport and the problems this causes professionals charged with keeping the playing surface in the best condition possible?

As a turf care professional, from selecting the the right turf grass, to maintaining, renovating and repairing turf, you need the appropriate skills to provide a valuable service. This Advanced Certificate in Turf Care Management will help you to get them.

Designed to meet industry needs in many turf management areas, this is a very comprehensive program.

There are four disciplines of specialisation in the course:

1. Turf Care
2. Sports Turf Management
3. Turf Repair and Renovation
4. Turf Grasses

Turf Care provides a sound foundation in identifying, selecting, growing and and managing turf for business and non-business purposes. It will take you approximately 100 hours to complete and will help you gain the basic principles of caring for turf, both for general lawns and turfs and also sports turfs.

Sports Turf Management builds on the basic sports turf management knowledge to develop an ability to maintain sports turf. The course is applicable to the maintenance of all sports turf situations including: bowling clubs, cricket and football pitches, golf courses plus other sporting areas.

Turf Repair and Renovation will help you to develop the skills to diagnose and competently treat problems encountered in looking after turf, plus to renovate and replace old lawns and turf.

Turf Grasses covers the attributes of the more popular varieties and which to use in gardens, nature parks, sports playing surfaces and in urban green areas of towns and cities etc. It is ideal for you if you’re a  gardener or horticulturist, needing a variety of turf solutions at your disposal.

Learning Goals: Advanced Certificate In Turf Care Management VHT022

1. Determine the range of grasses and other species available for turf culture (Part A)
2. Determine the range of grasses and other species available for turf culture (Part B)
3. Determine appropriate procedures to establish turf
4. Explain the management of soils for growing different types of turf
5. Explain the weed management of turf
6. Explain the management of problems, including pests and diseases, in turf
7. Determine general maintenance practices used in turf management
8. Determine irrigation maintenance practices used in turf management
9. Plan the development of different sports turf areas
10. Develop management strategies for the care of established turf
11. Develop plans to establish ornamental turf
12. Select turf varieties to suit different sports surface requirements; including different climates & soil types.
13. Select turf varieties to suit different sports surfaces (eg. lawn bowls, fairways, greens, league football, cricket)
14. Identify turf blends, their application and reason for use.
15. Explain alternative procedures for sports turf maintenance, used for different types of facilities.
16. Explain specific wear problems and solutions for the five types of turf facilities
17. Evaluate procedures being used to maintain different types of facilities.
18. Determine the resources required to maintain a selected sports turf.
19. Develop management plans for different types of sports turf facilities.
20. Explain the management of a turf nursery to produce a reliable supply of sod.
21. Explain the irrigation and drainage requirements for sports turf fields and lots more.
22. Compare the characteristics of different turfs with reference to hardiness, pest & disease resistance, tolerance to play, suitability for different applications, etc
23. Explain different turf problems (including; soil problems, pest & disease weed, environmental, etc)
24. Explain the effect of various adverse situations on the physiology of turf plants.
25. Carry out turf consultancy, conducting site inspections and giving appropriate recommendations.
26. Develop solutions for the repair of damaged turf.
27. Identify the cause of deteriorating condition in a selected turf
28. Explain different repair techniques for control of problems identified.
29. Compare different solutions for the problem identified.
30. Develop turf renovation programs for different types of turf facilities
31. Compare renovation programs for different turf facilities
32. Identify when renovation becomes economically prudent for different facilities and lots more.
33. Recognise the characteristics that differentiate turf grass cultivars one from another, in order to make choices about what cultivars are appropriate for different turf applications.
34. Describe the characteristics, culture and uses of Fescue grasses as a turf.
35. Describe the characteristics, culture and uses of Bent grasses as a turf.
36. Describe the characteristics, culture and uses of Rye grasses as a turf.
37. Describe the characteristics, culture and uses of Blue grasses as a turf.
38. Describe the characteristics, culture and uses of Couch grasses as a turf.
39. Describe the characteristics, culture and use of Buffalo and Zoysia grasses.
40. Describe the characteristics, culture and uses of various warm condition grasses as a turf.
41. Describe the characteristics, culture and uses of various cool condition grasses as a turf.
42. Explain the dynamics at play when different varieties of turf grass grow together.

Note: each module in this Advanced Certificate is a certificate in its own right, and may be studied separately.