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.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/30215
Q&A Never stop learning BY DR. GRADY MILLER Professor, North Carolina State University Questions? Send them to Grady Miller at North Carolina State University, Box 7620, Raleigh, NC 27695- 7620, or email grady_miller@ncsu.edu Or, send your question to David Minner at Iowa State University, 106 Horti- culture Hall, Ames, IA 50011 or email dminner@iastate.edu. Q Curious Coach Coach, I think this is a great question. I would like to start by saying that I respect the job that you all are doing. I realize that tak- ing care of fields is probably not your first passion; that you would rather be spending your time teaching students or coaching a sport that you love, not fussing over turfgrass conditions. But that fussing makes a difference as there is no doubt that a field manager’s attention to detail influences how the field looks and plays. Regardless of how good you want your field to look, I think the first concern should be to deliver a safe playing surface for the student athletes. My good friend Floyd Perry has always said that sports turf managers should follow three rules for field safety. First, apply the best techniques given the facili- ties budget and equipment. Sec- ond, do it regularly and on schedule. Third, document that you are doing so. I believe these are good pieces of advice for anyone managing a sports field. Let me begin the comparison between fields with the construc- tion differences. Natural grass fields such as the ones here at North Car- olina State were built using pre-de- termined soil specifications to 46 SportsTurf | May 2011 I’m a teacher, coach, and part- time field manager at our high school. I’ve never had any formal training in turfgrass management but I read magazines on the subject to learn more and pick up tips when- ever I can. I know there are no magic potions out there to make our field look like your University’s fields. But I was wondering how the practices and products we use compare to those used by a University or even a pro- level facility. Attached is my general program that I have been using the past several years. How far off are we? maximize water infiltration and minimize soil compaction while balancing agronomic qualities for turfgrass growth. The soil mix re- duces the chance for rained out games as well as making the sta- dium fields more resilient for host- ing more events. While most native soil fields such as yours can usually get by with less irrigation and fertil- izer, they require more aggressive aerification to maintain a softer sur- face and reasonable infiltration rates. They also need a taller center crown to promote more surface flow of water rather than relying on subsurface drainage. A second, related comparison is field use. The University has several [football] fields that are used for practices. This allows concentrated wear to take place on these fields rather than the game field. We also have separate practice and game soccer fields for those sports. Un- fortunately, you do not have that situation; therefore your primary field gets wear and compaction from the combined events of two sports. I know your athletes are not quite as big or as fast as college ath- letes, but the time spent on the field by all the athletes adds up just the same. When comparing cultural prac- tices, the first one that really jumped out was the differences in summer management. Your plan indicated minimum summer man- agement with irregular mowing schedules, limited fertilization, and minimum weed control. This pro- gram may not maximize the field’s conditions in preparation for late August use. In our case, summer is the period of time we most inten- sively manage the field since it pro- vides the ideal temperatures for growing bermudagrass. So the in- tensive cultural practices in sum- mer allow us to start the fall season with our turf in the best condition and health possible. Our summer program generally includes twice monthly fertilizer applications at appropriate rates and a 3-4 times per week mowing frequency to ensure a dense, strong turf stand in the fall. We do not need to apply herbicides to our sta- dium field, but the practice fields (subject to wind-blown seed) are on a pre-emergence herbicide program to minimize any unsightly weeds and reduce unnecessary plant com- petition for light, fertility, and water. Herbicide selection and ap- plication timing is critical because we do not want to interfere with fall overseeding of perennial rye- grass. Most of the fertilizer and pes- ticide products you are using would be similar in our program. One product difference I noted was the paint you use. Rather than use aerosols, we use a bulk paint that is designed to be painted on turf. While we occasionally use aerosol paint around the field for set-up marks, we primarily rely on bulk paint applied through airless sprayers for lines and logos. With this paint, not only is there less chance to damaging the turf, over the long term it is significantly cheaper. So you are correct in that there are no magic potions. Our trained turfgrass managers use many of the same products you use. The great- est difference is that maintaining turfgrass is their primary job so they have time to more intensively manage the fields. In addition, their training and experience allows them to make timely decisions. These decisions may be needed to respond to a pest problem, irriga- tion issue, fertility need, or a wear pattern. Responding in a timely manner with the appropriate prod- uct application or management practice usually results in safe and attractive fields. Never stop learn- ing. It can only improve your fields. ■ www.sportsturfonline.com