unique two grass appearance to it. While the field maintenance crew and administra- tion did receive a fair amount of question- ing regarding the appearance of the field, the first year was considered a relative suc- cess given the weather. During the winter months, we covered the field with protective growth tarps and managed in the same fashion in the spring as it was in the fall. Following the women’s lacrosse season in April 2010, we fully com- mitted to the bermudagrass establishment and sprayed the entire field with Monument (Trifloxysulfuron-sodium) in an effort to kill off the Kentucky bluegrass and provide the bermudagrass with a competitive advan- tage. Due to the lower than expected bermudagrass stand, we sprigged an addi- tional 300-400 bushels per acre of Patriot into the field in order to speed up the con- version process. The mowing height was adjusted to ½- inch and we focused the fertility and irriga- tion programs solely on growing and developing the bermudagrass. Revolver her- bicide (Foramsulfuron) was applied a month after sprigging to control any rogue bluegrass plants. Fortunately, Summer 2010 was one of the warmest on record in the Blacksburg area and the bermudagrass thrived. At the start of the fall soccer season in August 2010, we had 100% bermuda- grass coverage and our coaches, players, and administrators were thrilled with the results. This renovation process was a very chal- lenging and educational experience. While it might not fit the needs of all facilities, it does provide an affordable alternative to completely resurfacing a field and the strat- egy has been used successfully in what turned out to be essentially “single season”’ conversions for fields at Bridgewater College (Bridgewater, VA) and the University of Louisville. Not only did we deliver a cost ef- fective renovation process that has reduced our annual maintenance costs (seed, herbi- cide, and fungicide), but we improved the speed and quality of our playing surface without removing the field for use for weeks/months at a time. ■
Nick McKenna, CSFM is sports turf man- ager for the Virginia Tech Athletics Depart- ment.
www.stma.org
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