www.stma.org February 2015 | SportsTurf 19
How do you know if your lip is
unsafe? First of all, it's pretty obvious to
the naked eye if you have a raised area at
any turf/dirt transition area. There will
be a "hump." If you can't see it, you can
always feel it. Put your foot half on the
dirt, half on the turf. If your foot is level,
life is grand! If you feel the bump, you
have work to do. At the higher levels of
infield maintenance, watching batting
practice tells a lot. As ground balls travel
through the infield, is the ball staying
down? If it "jumps up" every time it
moves from grass to dirt or vice versa,
again, it's time to go to work.
The best place to start is at the start.
In the off-season, determine where
your area of concern is. If the turf is
high and your infield mix low, strip off
your infield conditioner or topdressing
and raise your dirt. Adding material in
bulk and laser grading the entire skin
is suggested, but if you don't have the
budget, "cheat" by adding some mate-
rial along your edges. Bring in a roller
and with half of the drum on the dirt
and the other half in the turf, smooth
and compact that edge until it is flush.
We roll again in the spring after our
winter freeze and thaw before we put
the conditioner back on to make sure
we have "baby's bottom" edges going
into the season.
If the transition zone of your turf
area is raised from the ongoing battle
with your infield material moving into
your edge (from wind or water ero-
sion or dragging too close to the edge)
taking out that "bump" requires more
time, effort, and the proper equipment.
Unless you want to extend your inside
or outside edge by simply cutting back
the sod and grading away the excess
dirt, using a sod cutter to strip the turf
is suggested. Once the turf is pulled
back, you can remove that compacted
soil (again with your sod cutter or
grading blade), and bring that elevated
area back to flush. Replacing the same
stripped sod, laying new sod, or seed-
ing the area, will get that "bump" out of
your way.
Now that you have done the work to
have a flush edge, MORE work will keep
If you can't see it, you can always feel it.
Put your foot half on the dirt, half on the turf.
If your foot is level, life is grand! If you feel
the bump, you have work to do.
