SportsTurf

June 2012

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.

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FieldScience | ByJim Hermann, CSFM Selecting the right topdressing material job. Soils can vary from very fine, heavy textured clayey soils to very coarse; light textured sandy soils, depending on the loca- tion. Therefore, the same topdressing mate- rial may have different results on different locations. It is important to know the texture of the soil in your rootzone, so start by ob- taining a physical analysis of your soil by a reputable testing laboratory. In addition to the proportions of sand, silt and clay in a soil, the coarseness or fineness of the sand portion, has an effect on the physical I N ORDER TO HAVE A SUC- CESSFUL TOPDRESSING PRO- GRAM, it is essential to choose the right topdressing material for the properties of a specific classification of soil. sistent particle size usually has a higher rate of hydraulic conductivity than a material containing a more diverse blend of coarse, medium and fine particles. A principle to remember: water will move from a coarser textured soil to a finer textured soil more readily than the other way around, provid- ing there is adequate pore space between the particles. Medium size sand with a relatively con- existing rootzone, adequate cultivation is necessary to insure proper incorporation of the material. The more a topdressing mate- rial varies from the existing rootzone in re- When using any material to modify an lation to its texture classification and physi- cal properties, the more cultivation is typi- cally needed. Without adequate cultivation there re- mains a very real potential for layering in the soil. Anytime there is a layer created in the soil, the interface between the layers will have the potential to negatively affect A few reasons for topdressing are: Modification of existing rootzone. • Increase water conductivity • Increase organic matter content • Increase tilth (soil structure) • Increase cation exchange capacity (CEC) Increase success rate of renova- tion thru improved soil seed con- tact. Smooth a rough uneven surface. 16 SportsTurf | June 2012 www.sportsturfonline.com

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