cause of the increased trucking costs, more rolls, and our soil
loss. The cost can be outweighed by the benefits.
What's the price value of faster playability? Our native soil is
around 90% sand; if you purchase high quality sand soil and
placed an inch over a football field, the cost would be around
$6,000.
TOM KEEVEN,
Heartland Turf Farms, Columbia, IL
From our perspective, you are spot-on with your first question. It is really just a matter of "how soon." I believe that if one
has the time to wait, they should opt for regular-cut sod. On a
proper sod installation, done during the right growing season for
that particular grass, the field should be usable in 3 to 4 weeks. I
have seen it done in as little as 2 weeks—regular-cut, bermuda
sod on a sand-based professional field.
You are correct in identifying the major issues with thick-cut
sod. It is difficult to perfectly match the rootzones of your sod
vs. your field. With thick-cut sod, you are increasing the
chances of "sod interfacing," where the roots tend to stay in the
sod layer. Especially on sand-based fields, which are often quite
nutrient-deprived, you probably have better nutrition in the
sod layer. While the thick-cut sod allows you to get by in the
short term, you may be replacing it again soon due to improper
rooting.
Here's our perspective as a sod farmer: We'd like to be farmers,
not miners. Thick-cut sod depletes the soil on the farm, and
farmers need to charge for that. Thick-cut sod should be priced
significantly higher. Plus, you are going to require extra trucking,
up to three times as much, to carry the extra weight.
That being said, we realize that there are many instances
where there is not time to wait. In these instances, thick-cut sod
is a great tool to keep a field playable at a high level. Many high
school fields see a high amount of events from multiple sports.
Often these campuses also lack the land area to spread out the
traffic. In recent years, many schools have turned to artificial turf
as the answer. Instead, they could keep a top-level natural grass
field by budgeting a partial replacement of thick-cut sod during
the season. If you plan ahead with a local sod grower, the replacement could take place in as little as a day, keeping your downtime at a minimum. Even with the added cost of thick-cut sod,
you should still spend less than you would on artificial turf, and
have a natural surface that the players would appreciate. ■
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