Gilba Solutions Pty Ltd – Sports Turf Consultants.

Independent Sports Turf Consultants.

Jerry Spencer established Gilba Solutions in 2013 as a Sydney-based independent turf agronomists. They are now one of the premier sports turf consultancies in Australia, and based in Bowral, NSW.

Gilba Solutions provides independent sports turf consulting services in Australia on all aspects of turf industry management to produce the best possible sports turf surfaces with a focus on fine tuning turf maintenance practices with a focus on turf management plans to produce the best possible playing surfaces.

Sports field managers, turf facilities, golf courses and stadiums all make use of our expertise in turf and soil. We work closely with turf producers, turf managers, Local Government Authorities, and Universities throughout Australia.

Since 2013, we have grown from being Sydney based sports turf consultants to become wholesalers of agricultural products and suppliers of professional sports turf products.

Our product range includes soil-wetting agents, turf fertilisers, grass seed, turf pigments, turf pesticides and pest control products. New grass seed varieties include the US varieties Slugger 3GL and Intense perennial ryegrass, both of which were top cultivars in the 2021 NTEP trials. We also have Reserve 2 which is a winter active perennial ryegrass out of NZ.

Innovations as Sports Turf Consultants.

• Alzon Neo-N 46. European Dual inhibited N. Umaxx at a lower cost!
• Sirlflor a long term non burning slow release fertilizer;
• Vertmax Duo the most advanced turf pigment on the market.
• Scrubwet penetrant;
• Voltage MSO – improve your pesticide performance in weather extremes
• Warhead Trio herbicide. An alternative to Bow and Arrow and Spearhead herbicides;
• Tribute Selective herbicide;
• Manta Ray pH buffer;
• Cortex Duo knockdown and residual total herbicide – THE glyphosate alternative;
• Proforce Recondo 100WG herbicide, a Monument herbicide alternative;
• Proforce Duke 100WG herbicide, a Destiny herbicide alternative;
• Lexicon Intrinsic is an innovative turfgrass fungicide with plant health benefits;
• Segway pythium fungicide is the best option for pythium disease;
• ProForce Pistol Fungicide and
• ProForce Scarlet Trio for the control of seven turfgrass pests, including ground pearl.

Recent Weed Profiles.

• Sowthistle.
• Horse Purslane.
• Bittercress.
• Black Medic.
• Painted Spurge.
• Stinkvine.
• Minnieroot.
• Amaranthus.
• Praxelis.
• Tridax Daisy.
• Blue Heliotrope.
• Oriental False Hawkweed.
• Pigweed.
• Mossman River Grass
• Petty Spurge.
• Spear Thistle.
• Swinecress
• Mouse Ear Chickweed
• Bitter Gourd
• Buchan Weed.
• Caltrop
• Capeweed
• Carrot Weed
• Catsear
• Cleavers.
• Cobblers Peg.
• Creeping Buttercup.
• Common Chickweed
• Creeping Charlie
• Creeping Mallow
• Creeping oxalis
• Cudweed
• Dandelion
• Dock.
• Fat Hen.
• Field Bindweed.
• Fleabane.
• Gazania
• Heal All
• Hydrocotyle.
• Japanese Knotweed.
• Kikuyu Grass.
• Lambs Tongue.
• Little Ironweed.
• Oxeye Daisy.

Our philosophy as Sports Turf Consultants.

Our philosophy as sports turf consultants and turf agronomists, is that you need the best possible information to develop a turf management plan. Our experience in problem solving and turf and soils, means that we have the expertise to create the best possible playing surfaces without breaking the bank.

We are independent turf consultants and have no affiliations with any other companies. As part of this philosophy we have a regular turf blog and an ongoing R and D program.

Turf Blogs.

• Regulate 200 PGR for ornamentals, hedges and Poa annua management.
• Improvements in Sports Turf ryegrass cultivars.
• Autumn broadleaf weed control.
• Stadium turfgrass management for off-season events.
• Turf Nutrient Management.
• Fertilizer Strategies for High Performance Turf.
• Grass seed for oversowing couch.
• 2024 Research into soil surfactants.
• Insecticide resistance.
• How to ID and manage scarab beetles in turf.
• Not all granular gypsum is the same.
• The impacts of Climate on weed control.
• Research into biostimulants & bioactive compounds.
• Weed Identification chart with treatment options, weed ID photos etc.
• Urease Inhibitors in Turf.
• Nitrication Inhibitors in Turf.
• Fungicides and thatch.
• Potassium Fertilizers.
• The affect of water quality on ethephon.
• Biostimulants in turfgrass. Part 2 of this blog.
• The role of blue light in shade.
• DIY pest control.
• Soil wetting agents and soil organic matter.
• Salicylic acid for plants.
• The use of green grass paint and turf pigments on golf greens.
• What do indicator weeds tell us?
• Soil wetting agent research 2022/2023.
• Factors that can affect turf herbicide performance.
• Mediterranean vs Continental turf type ryegrass.
• Identifying and managing Ground Pearl.
• Identifying and managing Pythium.
• Lawn fungicides.
• Fungicide resistance.
• A free herbicide resistance chart.
• Spray adjuvants for sports turf.
• New granular pre emergent herbicides.
• Sulfonylurea herbicides.
• Flood management for turfgrass;
• Overseeding and successfully transitioning warm season turf.
• Research into the best soil wetting agent on the market.
• The science of soil aeration.
• Reasons for pre-emergent failure.
• Turf combination fungicides.
• Generic vs branded Turfgrass chemicals.
• How to control nutgrass.
• How to choose the best fertiliser.
• How to manage turf in shade.
• Turfgrass disease identification.
• The use of biostimulants in turfgrass; How biostimulant use in turfgrass can produce better turf.
• How to use pre emergent herbicides.
• How to control winter grass.
• How turf pigments work.
• Using turf fungicides preventatively.
• How to effectively use light.

Case Studies

Our case study section covers topics such as dealing with Aquatic Weeds at Federal GC, blue green algae control and when is soil aeration required for high quality turf?

For more information about our professional sports turf consulting services, please contact us.

Milestones as Sports Turf Consultants

• 2013 Jerry Spencer establishes Gilba Solutions as a Sydney-based independent sports turf consultant.
• 2019 appointed the Australian agent for SeeGrow Turf Grow Lights and Turf Fans.
• 2020 accepted onto the NSW Local Government Procurement Panel (LGP), the tender body for Local Government Authorities in NSW.
• 2021 are appointed to the ACT Government Authority seed panel and launch Vertmax Duo advanced turf pigment.
• 2023 licence production of the advanced pigment Vertmax Duo to Prograss Bio for manufacture and distribution in the UK and Europe on sports fields and golf courses.
• 2024 Gilba Solutions sponsors the IGFH 2024 Turf Pesticides Manual.