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/560546
The strength for the sod to hold together is supplied by the synthetic base." Sorochan also sees growing the XtraGrass sod on plastic as an advantage. "The sod grower can select the root zone mate- rial to match the soil profile of the site. Root development is typically tighter in sod grown on plastic. The harvested sod would travel a shorter distance, so trucking costs would be reduced. The sod should have a better 'shelf life' as well." Graff says, "Up to this point, the solutions to problems with these hybrid fields were limited to a full field installation, either of the product or a straight natural turf field, a switch to synthetic turf, or a continuing struggle with existing condi- tions." That's true with another concept, also introduced overseas, DESSO GrassMaster natural grass that is installed on a sand- based field with subsurface drainage. A specialized installer "sews in" artificial turf fibers that loop from just above the soil surface to a depth of 7.87 inches. It has been used at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, home of the NFL's Denver Broncos, since the initial field installation but will be replaced in 2015. With XtraGrass, replacement can be limited to sections, such as the goal mouth, a sideline, or the lacrosse creases. For replacement and repair, XtraGrass can be cut out and rolled up like regular sod. It can be moved to another area and rein- stalled. It can be replaced with XtraGrass sod cut to the same depth. Graff says, "It takes no special tools or equipment or skills; just the same folks doing the same work." Sorochan adds, "I would think some of the facilities would want to be maintaining more XtraGrass sod on plastic as replacement turf for those high wear areas. The worn sec- tion that was removed could be laid out on the plastic for rejuvenation and recovery, allowing the field manager to keep switching the sod back and forth." Once established, maintenance is similar to a totally natu- ral grass field. Graff says. "Coring is not recommended, but you can use solid tine aerification, either shallow or deep tine. That was not an option with the SportGrass system." Sorochan adds, "We'll be working with needle tine aera- tion on it. With the smaller tines we can do closer spacing than with the standard solid tines. We'll be tracking how that affects the degradation of the backing and how it impacts the root development of the natural grass." Graff states, "We'll be sharing and comparing research notes with the Europeans as well." Graff says the anticipated life is 8 years or more and that one of the initial European installations is being replaced this year after 12 years on that field. ■ ST Suz Trusty, co-editor of Turf News from Turfgrass Producers International (TPI), wrote this article. Thanks to TPI, Suz, and Turf News for permission to reprint it. www.stma.org September 2015 | SportsTurf 23 Natural grass roots are shown extending down through the synthetic backing.