Rolawn Limited is a

turf Sod is the upper layer of turf that is harvested for transplanting. Turf consists of a variable thickness of a soil medium that supports a community of turfgrasses. In British and Australian English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', ...

grower and landscaping supplier based in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

. Rolawn has developed technology to extend the

shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a s ...

of turf. In 2017, Rolawn commissioned independent research by the

STRI Group STRI, formerly the Sports Turf Research Institute researches, advises, constructs and maintains turf and artificial sports surfaces. It is headquartered at a research site on the St Ives Estate near Bingley, UK and has research and design hub ...

into the rooting capabilities of thinner cut younger turf, which found that it showed deeper, denser more vigorous rooting than when cut older and thicker.

History

In 1975, Rolawn was founded in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

before moving south to Elvington near

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. In 2017, Rolawn's Head Office moved to

Seaton Ross Seaton Ross is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately west of the market town of Market Weighton and north-west of the village of Holme-on-Spalding-Moor. I ...

. Nigel Forbes was a politician, soldier and chairman of Rolawn from 1975 to 1998. In 2008, Rolawn was involved in litigation with Turfmech which it accused of infringing Rolawn's

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

in the design of a

mower A mower is a person or machine that cuts (mows) grass or other plants that grow on the ground. Usually mowing is distinguished from reaping, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for harvesting grain crops, e.g. with reape ...

. The matter was settled out of court. Turfmech agreed not to pursue the 'wide mower' market.

References

{{Reflist Companies based in York Horticultural companies of the United Kingdom Gardening in the United Kingdom Lawn care