John Mascaro is President of Turf-Tec International
This 2-inch area of yellow turf located along the stadium's 95-foot infield
arc caused the Sports Turf Manager at this field to be concerned. After
further investigation he found that the bermudagrass rhizomes had crept
slightly into the infield mix and caused poor water movement into the
clay. He also noticed there were several low spots in this area that hold
water. In addition the irrigation water used at this ballpark tested at 658.56
PPM total soluble salts. Since the water was pooling in these low areas,
the salinity readings in the soil where the turf was yellow were 202 PPM
of sodium as opposed to 65 PPM for the rest of the outfield. So the com-
bination of turf encroachment, low spots and below average water qual-
ity resulted in some toxic conditions on the turf edges. The Sports Turf
Manager also realized that this condition only occurs when the team is in
town so he attributed it to the saline water creeping into the turf keeping
it wet and heating up the turf crowns, causing additional stress. After the
season is over he plans on removing some turf, fixing the grade issues
and then installing a big roll of bermudagrass along the arc edge. He is
also looking into soaker hoses along the arc to leach the salt if needed.
Photo submitted by Andy Beggs, Head Groundskeeper for the El
Paso Chihuahuas in El Paso, TX, the AAA affiliate for the San Diego
Padres.
John Mascaro's Photo Quiz Answers from page 27
www.stma.org October 2015 | SportsTurf 33
If you would like to submit a photograph for John Mascaro's Photo Quiz please send it to John Mascaro, 1471 Capital Circle NW, Ste # 13, Tallahassee,
FL 32303 call (850) 580-4026 or email to john@turf-tec.com. If your photograph is selected, you will receive full credit. All photos submitted will
become property of SportsTurf magazine and the Sports Turf Managers Association.
