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/409813
50 SportsTurf | November 2014 www.sportsturfonline.com Q&A with Dr. Grady Miller So what are field renovation options that we can do ourselves to keep the costs very low? — North Carolina C atawba Valley Community College faculty Jimmy Abernathy was asked to address this ques- tion for a fall NC-STMA meeting. Jimmy is not just an instructor at a community college. He also operates his own turf care company in addition to taking care of the college's athletic fields. So when Jimmy is not teaching, he can often be found working on campus fields and in the community. Since he practices what he preaches, he was a great resource to answer this question. We all know there are many different approaches to renovating athletic fields. The extent of a renovation is usually based on a combination of the existing field con- dition and the availability of funds. Almost every field manager dreams of standing on their troubled field with a pocket full of money as they talk to their certified field builder sitting on an idling bulldozer ready for action. Most wake up from that dream realizing they will be tackling the renovation job in-house with a limited budget. Whenever the renovation requires that all the existing vegetation be removed and soil pushed around, it is a big job. Big equipment and knowledge on how to use it, combined with chemicals for plant removal plus soil amendments, irrigation, drainage, fertilizer, and new grass can push a renova- tion budget up into the six figures. At this NC-STMA Chapter meeting, Jimmy highlighted several low-cost options for long- and short-term renovations using pictures from jobs he has personally com- pleted. The two least expensive options he presented intrigued me. One of them in particular—"the ryegrass renovation" continued to have me thinking well after the meeting. So I thought I would share renova- tion concepts he presented with SportsTurf readers. Jimmy mentioned that in his experi- ence a lot of troubled fields are overrun with weeds but still have patches of decent bermudagrass. It may be a common or a hybrid type of bermudagrass, but it is still a surviving strain of bermudagrass. Considering this situation, Jimmy's sug- gestion was to take inventory of what is growing on the field during the active grow- ing season (grasses, weeds, sedges, etc.) and then formulate a plan of how to get rid of the undesirable weeds. If you are doing this yourself and are not comfortable with pesticide selection or use, then solicit help from a person or company that can work with you. Once the field has been cleared of weeds, push the existing bermudagrass with increased fertility. With nighttime tempera- tures in the 60s bermudagrass will spread very quickly. But if the bare ground open areas are large after removing weeds, then targeted seeding, sprigging, plugging, or sodding bermudagrass in some of those areas may be necessary. Something as sim- ple as using a shovel to extract chunks of grass from the sidelines to transplant in the middle of bare areas can be very inexpen- sive and effective at speeding up total field coverage. This renovation method would benefit fields used in the fall or spring. If in-ground irrigation is not available then laying pipe on the surface combined with salvaged heads from various sources, may be used to supplement rainfall. Often permission can be granted from the local municipality to attach this temporary system to a nearby fire hydrant for the grow-in. The least expensive renovation he described was a "ryegrass renovation." It was the one that really got my attention. This method is designed to provide a qual- ity field for just the springtime of the year (may also have limited benefit for fall use). While this may seem counterproductive, I began to see its significance during his pre- sentation. Most of our K-12 schools and community colleges do not use their fields in the summer. In some cases these fields are not even maintained during these off- months. With summer being the primary growing season for bermudagrass, without some fertilization and routine maintenance, these fields can easily degrade and become a weed patch. When school starts in the fall, the unruly field is scalped down very low. This is often harsh enough to take care of many of the broadleaf weeds and some of the crabgrass. Then perennial ryegrass seed is spread and established in the stubble. Using irrigation will enhance establishment if the fall is dry. Today's perennial ryegrasses are hardy and make a super attractive playing surface. The remnant weeds and bermudagrass serve to hold the field's soil in place until the ryegrass is up and growing. Then the field is managed intensely as a ryegrass field. The result is an attractive, playable sports field ready for spring play for the cost of six to twelve bags of seed. It should be stressed that this renovation program will only address the turf covering the field, not any soil-surface imperfections, drainage issues, or low spots. If there are field issues that results in the field not being safe for play, then those should be addressed first. Enjoy your field. ■ Part-time field? 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 Horticulture Hall, Ames, IA 50011 or email dminner@iastate.edu. Professor, North Carolina State University