Green Space

Any area of land which has at least some coverage of vegetation, which might be grass, heather, shrubs or trees.

  Greenfield Site

Any natural area, such as agricultural fields, grassland, or woodland, that has not been used for development works. These areas will typically be found in the countryside and may often be found as ‘green islands' within urban areas.

  Ground Conditions

The environmental condition of a soil and grass surface. Typically, this would consider conditions for the area such as: wet/dry, drought conditions, slippery/good grip, frozen/not frozen, snow cover/no snow cover, ground being firm/soft, amount of debris present, presence of slopes and their gradient, presence of watercourses, drainage / manhole covers, trip hazards, any contamination. The condition of a ground would be determined as part of a risk assessment prior to carrying out any work.

  Ground Cover

The percentage of a surface which is covered by vegetation. This is typically determined during assessment of a turfgrass surface using a quadrat. Vegetation can typically be categorised into desirable grasses; undesirable grasses; weeds; moss and algae. Ground cover can also indicate the amount of bare area present as this will be the inverse of vegetation coverage.

  Grounds Maintenance

The care of natural turfgrass surfaces (amenity or sports), artificial surfaces, hard surfaces, ornamental plantings, naturalised plantings, shrubs, hedges and trees with the purpose of providing an appropriate surface and/or environment for the desired outcome.

  Grounds Management Framework

A framework with five levels which identifies pitch standards and with accompanying skills and knowledge requirements desired to manage a pitch to the defined level. The levels are: • Elite (Level 5): International and premier/premiership leagues. • High (Level 4): Professional leagues. • Advanced (Level 3): Top-level grassroots sport as well semi-professional leagues. • Good (Level 2): Grassroots sport. • Basic (Level 1): Grassroots sport. Surfaces which do not meet the minimum standards for a basic level 1 pitch would be classified as inadequate and potentially unsafe for play to take place.

  Growing Season

The period of the year when significant plant growth occurs. In some parts of the UK plant growth may actually continue all year, although for several months the actual amount of growth is minimal, and this is not typically classed as part of the growing season. The traditional growing season is from April to September, with slow growth in March and October to November. Little growth occurs during December to February.

  Guarantee

An assurance that what has been stated will be honoured. Groundstaff will often guarantee that a surface will be safe to play on and to a defined standard, subject to a few disclaimers for conditions which are often outside of their control such as weather and some ground conditions, vandalism, pest or disease attack, and that the surface has not been overused and exceeded its carrying capacity.

  Hard Litter

Any material, such as tree branches, glass, stones, metal etc. which is present on a turfgrass surface and which can be classed as a hazard for turf maintenance purposes because they can cause harm to an individual or bystander if ejected from a machines working mechanism or they can cause damage to the machine itself.

  Hard Porous Pitch Maintenance

A popular artificial sports surface, especially during the 1950s and to early 1980s, until synthetic surfaces arrived on the scene. It was quite common as a school facility, particularly where a joint use arrangement existed between a school and an adjacent sports centre. Use would typically be reserved for school usage during the day, until about 5pm and then the surface would be available at evenings and weekends for adult and non-school. Hard porous surfaces were an early form of MUGA and were a suitable general-purpose surface between a grass pitch, which may have relatively poor drainage,

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