COMPETITION TIME
To celebrate the new-look tennis club we have partnered together as local businesses to offer our customers the chance to win our Tennis & Garden packages.
1st Place Competition Prize
Free adult membership, lawn care, and strawberry plant pack2nd Place Prize Winner
Free tennis lesson and 1 x lawn care product of choice3rd Place Runner-Up Prize
1 x pack strawberry seeds, tennis balls and 1 x grass seed
HOW TO ENTER
To enter simply visit our Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/Gordale.Garden.Centre and answer the question on the competition post at the top of the page. All entries must be submitted by 1sth July 2021 when the winners will be announced.
As it’s Wimbledon season we wanted to focus on getting outdoors and enjoying the warm weather and what better way than to take in some exercise at your local tennis club?
If you’re unfamiliar with Pinewood, it is a friendly and affordable club set within Heswall (Wirral) in a lovely setting that has been around since 1967. They welcome new members, from beginners to more experienced players, and compete a few times a year in the local tennis league as well as 1 Men’s summer league team and 2 winter league teams.
They have a brilliant head coach, Joanne Trataris whose years of experience and friendly manner make lessons fun, exciting and competitive no matter what age or skill level.
They also offer friendly games on Thursday evenings which is a great chance to get practice in competitive playing and socialise with other club members.
For those that haven’t visited before, the club has 4 all-weather hard courts and a brand new refurbished clubhouse including the Pinewood Deuce Bar, kitchen, and upgraded changing facilities.
Physical Health Benefits of Tennis
Mental Health Benefits of Tennis
- Increases aerobic capacities.
- Lowers resting heart rate and blood pressure.
- Improves metabolic function.
- Increases bone density.
- Lowers body fat.
- Improves muscle tone, strength, and flexibility.
- Increases reaction times.
- People who play tennis tend to score higher in self-esteem, optimism and vigor and achieve a lower stress, anxiety, confusion, anger, and depression score.
- Tennis is a sport that requires constant tactical thinking and alertness. This activity in the brain can lead to the forging of new connections between nerves, and thus facilitate a lifetime of continuous brain development.
- Tennis beats out inline skating, golf, and most other sports when it comes to developing positive personality characteristics. Competitive tennis has been found to burn more calories than cycling, inline skating, and aerobics.
Lawn Care
We have multiple mixes that will give you that world class Wimbledon look! If you want the real thing, it is said that the grass seed used on the Wimbledon courts is 100% perennial ryegrass – and it just so happens that we have a 100% perennial ryegrass mix, made up of 3 different cultivars to provide an ornamental lawn that is also hardwearing.
Players at Wimbledon may be well used to an 8mm lawn, but for us at home it may be a little bit too short! For an ornamental lawn, the ideal mowing height is 25-40mm, this helps to protect the lawn from drought during the warmer months, as the longer blades retain the water. The courts at Wimbledon are mown three times a week, but we suggest that you mow the grass when it reaches around 30mm, to maintain the 25mm and give it adequate time to grow again. As a general rule, new seedlings should be mown when they reach around 5-7cm – this means they have grown well enough and are established to get their first cut without being damaged. To get those statement stripes, make sure to use a rotary mower that has a rear roller. Stripes are actually made by how far you bend the grass, and show up as different colours due to the reflection of the light. Use a fence as your guide for starting your stripes, heading in one direction and turning back in the opposite direction to create that stunning stripe effect.
Ornamental lawns need a lot more care and attention than your typical general use lawn, so watering is essential. If it is another boiling hot summer like last year, a sprinkler may be the best way to keep your lawn efficiently watered. Water new seedlings once a day to keep them moist and avoid when it is raining – a quick test to see if your lawn needs to be watered more often is to drive a screwdriver into the soil – if it can reach up to 6-7 inches it is sufficiently watered, so continue your same routine – if it can’t, you need to increase your watering / frequency of watering, or perhaps ‘doubles up’! At Wimbledon, watering becomes more restricted to firm up the surface for the players – however, unless you plan on channeling your inner Serena Williams or Andy Murray on your lawn – you can maintain your watering schedule as normal.
Gordale Strawberries
It wouldn’t be tennis season without some succulent, sweet strawberries and cream to enjoy this Summer. We currently stock a beautiful hybrid variety that produces larger, higher quality fruit and can withstand harsher conditions and go longer between watering. Strawberries are incredibly easy to grow. Strawberry plants can be grown almost anywhere – in borders, containers or hanging baskets. And of course the fruit is extremely popular – home-grown strawberries taste delicious and are great value too! Water frequently while new plants are establishing. Also water during dry periods in the growing season. Try to avoid wetting crowns and fruit as this can promote disease. In early spring, apply general fertiliser such as Growmore at a rate of 50g per sq m (2oz per sq yd). During the growing season, give strawberry plants a liquid potash feed – such as a tomato feed – every 7 to 14 days. Netting may be required to protect from birds. If squirrels are a problem, protect with wire mesh. In May, protect your bed with fleece if overnight frost threatens developing fruits.
