IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE
12 SportsTurf | May 2016 www.sportsturfonline.com
FIELD SCIENCE
Five-day old HGT variety of Kentucky bluegrass
BY BRIAN WINKA, CSFM
GROWING GRASS IN THE
#NOTRANSITION ZONE: NEW IDEAS
F
or years, those of us who are fortunate or unfortunate to work in
the transition zone, we have dealt with the issues that come with this
transitional area. We are fortunate because we can grow both warm
and cool season turf grasses, but unfortunately neither one grows
exceptionally well. Sports turf managers in the transition zone deal with
extreme weather conditions on both ends of the spectrum. In 2013-15 we were hit
especially hard with an extremely cold winter followed by a very mild summer.
For those of us trying to keep bermuda fields alive in these conditions, it was one
of the worst scenarios possible. If you are managing high-use fields this can be a
gamble each season. So what can we do to
help protect our investment?
For many of us in the transition zone this
means we are overseeding in the fall, which
happens to be the busiest time of year for use
on our fields. We are attempting to get newly
seeded grasses established in the middle of
football, lacrosse and soccer seasons. If you
work at a Parks and Recreation facility like
I do, then there are no road games and there
is play on the fields every day from either
practices or games. Seed usually germinates
The Chesterfield Valley
Athletic Complex
has nine soccer fields.
We went from
a little over 2000 hours
of use in 2010-11
to close to 9000 hours
of use in 2014.
Fraze mow, topdress and seed.
