Our Sustainable Journey
Owner, Penny Streeter OBE champions two causes: women in business and environmental sustainability. As a keen conservationist, her ongoing efforts to preserve the natural environment through responsible business and tourism practices are visible in the management of our courses, the maintenance of the estates’ rich heritage and in the vineyards through our membership with Sustainable Wines of Great Britain.
Mannings Heath Estate is committed:
To play golf and farm sustainably.
To be a custodian of the land and preserve it for our future generations.
To nurture a culture of respect among the people who work with us.
To promote an environment of dignity, equality and upliftment for all.
To protect the unique and valuable biodiversity of our winelands and woods.
To safeguard the rich heritage of our English Estate.
ON THE GOLF COURSES
Both the Kingfisher and championship Waterfall Golf Courses are maintained to be in pristine condition throughout the year. This creates many challenges for our greenkeepers and staff.
How We Rise to the Challenge:
Using a verti-drainage system, spiking and slitting all our mowed areas helps increase the growth of bent grass in our greens and rye/fescue grass on our fairways.
Deep aeration allows roots to search for water more easily through open areas (fissures and tiny holes) in the soil structure created by our processes.
This allows water to penetrate through the profile giving us firmer, free-draining playing surfaces.
By using cultural methods, such as soil aeration, we can maintain and continuously improve soil conditions and facilitate air circulation.
By building healthy soil and promoting healthy practices, we can avoid the use of chemicals and fungicides.
Maintaining dry surfaces during the winter months and boxing off grass clippings throughout the year also helps.
Over the years, we have reduced our fungicide application frequency from around seven applications per course, per year, to only three or four applications annually.
In the near future, we plan to implement a washdown area for machinery, using only recycled and or rainwater.
IN THE VINEYARDS
Wine and golf work very well together as a concept; we believe it will attract new members, visitors and tourists to the area.
The Roots of Our English Wine Journey:
Farming under the strict guidelines of the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW). This ensures that we farm with environmentally friendly methods and without any harmful pesticides or chemicals.
All sprays are applied under the instruction of relevant specialists, to ensure we use only the friendliest products where possible and adhere to all safety protocols.
We operate a weather station on the farm to micro-manage our programmes. It gives Downey Mildew and Oidium pressure indicators, which allow us to plan vineyard sprays according to disease pressure and avoid unnecessary treatment.
We make use of biological control agents to eliminate Mealy Bug, which is the vector of the roller leaf virus.
No usage of any harsh insecticides or Organophosphates.
Use drone images, as well as satellite images to determine stress areas in vineyards, to attend to these areas and adapt irrigation and fertiliser programs.
Straw and organic mulching on stress vines, young vines and areas that we need to improve the water retention capacity of the soil.
Slow-releasing fertilisers, to avoid contamination of natural water sources with uncontrolled release of nutrients.
Planting of Cover crops (such as wildflowers) to improve organic material status in the soil; suppress weed growth and reduce the usage of herbicide; increase water infiltration and better moisture retention; limit runoff and evaporation to benefit water supplies.
Owl boxes are used to control rodents without any chemicals.
Our future plans:
We plan to implement a wash-down area for the machinery using recycled and rainwater only.
As well as continuing to use fungicides sparingly and simply letting animals and plants thrive in their natural environment.
Keep an eye on our social media and our website as our sustainable journey continues.