SportsTurf

June 2015

SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.

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S oil compaction is a common problem on bermudagrass ath- letic fields. The compaction of soil takes place over time, with each traffic event adding to the compaction. As soils become compacted, soil bulk density increases, macro-pore space (air filled) decreases, and water infiltration rates decrease. As a result of the compaction, turf cover is reduced, and player injury potential is increased. Therefore, due to the negative effects of compacted soils, cultural practices are necessary to alleviate soil compaction. Historically, core cultivation has been the primary management practice used to alleviate soil compaction and surface hardness. However, core cultivation is only one method used to relieve com- paction. Some cultivation techniques use water, air, sand, or other soil amend- ments to relieve compaction. These techniques work by injecting the amendment into the rootzone. These tools have been used for several years as alternative cultivation techniques. One example is the HydroJect manufactured by Toro. The HydroJect reduces soil compaction by injecting high pres- sure water into the turfgrass rootzone. Another tool used to relieve compac- tion is the new air injection system. The air injection system has been developed to release high volumes of compressed 18 SportsTurf | June 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com INCORPORATING AIR INJECTION SYSTEMS ON COMPACTED NATIVE SOIL BERMUDAGRASS FIELD SCIENCE ■ BY KYLEY DICKSON, DR. JOHN SOROCHAN AND ADAM THOMS Figure 1. Air2G2 on a hybrid bermudagrass athletic field in Knoxville, TN in 2014.

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