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/60100
THE SWAMP Original construction date: 2007 Size: 44,000 sq. ft. Total hours used: 340 Variety(s) of turfgrass(es): Celebration bermudagrass Overseed: Prior to overseeding we verticut and sweep the field. I hire an outside company to perform this. We overseed with a perennial ryegrass, Interlude, at a rate of 600lbs per acre. We use a starter fertilizer of 18-24-12 at a rate of 200lbs per acre. We apply the rye in one direction on the first application, then come back 3 days later and apply the second round in the opposite direction which gives a cross hatch planting to the field. Drainage: French drain every 10 feet I added more biostimulants, soil conditioners, and we installed the crushed brick warning track which doubled my maintenance cost for 2011. We installed a 10-foot wide warning track around the entire perimeter of the field. The track was composed of crushed brick and we used 50 tons of material. We had to move 17 sprinkler heads away from the fence, 10 feet across the warning track, to the edge of the new grass line. My sports turf class per- formed the work on spreading the crushed brick and moving the sprinkler heads. We hired a third party to move the brick with a Bobcat onto the warning track. This new addition added 30 hours of labor our yearly total of 430 in 2011. The softball field will go completely unattended during the off season from last year because we do not have a sports turf class this year. I have gone through three teachers in 3 years. The first two could not handle class room management and left education totally. The last teacher was moved to the district office as a science interventionist for the district. Adam works on the fields alone. I have several student volunteers this year who help, but are limited in there ability to run equip- ment. Adam is also my football equipment manager and must be at all the football practices and games. With only two of us working on the fields we just don't have enough time to keep up with the base- ball and softball until fall sports are over. We must, unfortunately, use a triage approach to management. Adam keeps the grass cut, but does not have time to work on the skinned area and warning track. I also encountered a problem with my central irrigation system that feeds our fields from a 3-acre pond. I noticed the fields were turning brown and started a check procedure to see what was wrong. My pump was not working so I knew the problem had to be with the intake valve. I discovered that we had a problem with water weeds clogging the 4-inch intake valve and shutting our pump down. I had to don my chest wadders and have two of my students follow me into the pond in a 14-foot john boat. Adam Davis was my "Bay Watch" lifeguard in the event I went under. I must also mention the fact that we have four alligators in this pond that migrated in from the surrounding swamp. When I went in they came up within 20 yards to watch me. My kids in the boat were scared I would turn it over and they would fall out and get www.stma.org SportsTurf 39