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/726375
FIELD OF THE YEAR www.stma.org October 2016 | SportsTurf 33 January - Monitor fi eld moisture, hand water with hoses if necessary. - Stadium projects, such as equipment maintenance cleaning and organizing garage/workshop area. - Attend National STMA conference - Research new products - Consider changes to annual maintenance program - Snow removal as necessary (stadium, not fi elds) - Take equipment to shop for heavier maintenance, reels ground, etc. February - Continue stadium projects and clean up - Continue to monitor moisture and water as necessary - Begin to prepare for track practice beginning, including rope off the football fi eld, put out hurdles, track repairs, clean restrooms. - Soccer fi eld prep for spring season; lay out and paint fi eld, put together soccer goals, check fi eld and building lights - Order supplies for season. March - Soccer season begins; track practice begins - Continue watering by hand until irrigation is turned on - Once irrigation is turned on, check fi elds for fi xes and adjustments as necessary, and then move on to ornamental clocks to check those zones. - Aerate ornamental with drum aerator - Spring break renovations— heavily aerate football fi eld, using hollow tines and 2 X 2-inch spacing, seed with Kentucky bluegrass at 4 lbs./1,000 sq. ft., topdress with 100% sand. 100 lbs. Andersons NS-54 43-0-0 @0.6 lbs. N/M. (Slow feed as grass comes out of dormancy.) - Pull soil tests before applying any fertilizer; submit for analysis. April - Continue irrigation fi xes and adjustments - Begin mowing as necessary - Ensure reel mower is back lapped and clean May - Mow fi elds as needed (Football height of cut is 2 inches) - Graduation prep, clean football stadium, pressure wash stands and restrooms - Liquid fertilizer application the week before graduation, 18-3-6 @ 4.7 oz./M of product, and Organic Iron @ 3.7 oz./M of product Ornamental fertilizer spread, 35-0-10, SIFI slow release @ 1lb N/M - After graduation, recycle dress football fi eld in two directions, drag and hand rake, recycle dressing as needed. - Irrigate as needed - End of the month, spray broadleaf herbicide, Q4 @ 2.5 oz./M of product. June - Recycle dress football fi eld in two directions, drag and hand rake recycle dressing as needed. - Begin Poa suppression program, using Legacy @ 15oz/A, two week intervals - Mow fi elds as needed (daily) - Irrigate as needed (deep and infrequent) - Apply granular wetting agent, PBS150 @4lbs/M of product - Spot spray herbicide as needed. July - Mow as needed (daily) - Irrigate as needed (deep and infrequent) - Check fi eld irrigation weekly for leaks or breaks, valve checks - Spray liquid fertilizer, Per 4 Max @ 3oz/M of product - Solid tine aeration, during a cool week with rain in the forecast. 2 x 3-inch spacing - Spot spray herbicide as needed August - Begin prepping for football season; goal posts repainted and put up, clean stadium and buildings, order supplies, lay out and paint football fi eld two weeks before fi rst game, mow daily, continue to monitor irrigation, clean up fence lines, edge entire stadium, check fi eld set up supplies (yard markers, pylons, goal post pads, fl ags) - Early August, seed 300 lbs. (4.4lbs/M) of KY blue with Turfco seeder, spread SIFI 35-0-10 @ 1.12 lbs. of N/M, topdress with 100% sand - Week 1 (1 game) of football season, spray liquid fertilizer, Adam's Earth biostimulant @3oz/M of product, Radicular @ 4oz/M of product and Quelant CA@ 2oz/M of product - Field is mowed daily, paint the fi eld every week September - Continue mowing daily fl ipping the pattern every 2 weeks, and painting the fi eld weekly. - Week 2 (4 games), spray liquid, CPR @ 3.5oz/M of product, PanaSea @ 3oz/M of product and SeaQuential @ 3oz/M of product - Week 3 (2 games), aerate with super cross tines, broadcast seed 200 lbs. of HD 2.0 - Blue/Rye seed mix between the numbers (approx. 32,400 sq. ft.) @ 6 lbs./M, topdress with 100% sand. Apply 6-24-24 XB @ 0.5lbs N/M. Apply granular wetting agent, PBS150 @ 3.8lbs/M of product - Week 4 (2 homecoming games), spray Adam's Earth biostimulant @ 3oz/M, Radicular @ 4oz/M, Quelant CA @ 2oz/M, and 12 Iron @ 4oz/M - Week 5 (1 homecoming game and marching band festival), spread Nitrex 19-3-5 granular fertilizer, @ 1 lb. N/M. - Spray Turgor 2 3.4 oz./M in preparation for Marching Band Festival. October - Continue mowing daily, fl ipping the direction every 2 weeks, and painting the fi eld weekly. Re-paint the fi eld the night before college games, and the night before the marching band festival. The fi eld also gets re-painted during the band festival between preliminary performances and fi nals - Week 6 (3 games), broadcast 200 lbs. RPR between the numbers @ approx. 6 lbs./M, topdress lightly (1/8 inch) with 80/20 sand/organic mix - Spray Turgor @ 3.5 oz./M the week of Band Fest - Prep for Marching Band festival, fi rst Saturday in October - Week 7 (3 games), aerate fi eld with super cross tines, 2 x 4-inch spacing, broadcast 300 lbs. of RPR seed between the numbers @ approx. 9lbs/M, topdress lightly (1/8 inch) with 80/20 sand/organic mix. Spray Per 4 Max @ 3oz/M - Pull soil tests - Week 8 (3 games), spray Radicular @ 4oz/M and Foliar @ 2oz/M - Week 9 (4 games), spray 18-3-6 @ 4.7oz/M and organic iron @ 3.7oz/M Nitrex 19-3-5 granular fertilizer, @ 0.83 lbs. N/M, broadcast seed 200 lbs. RPR between the numbers @ approx. 6lbs/M, lightly topdress (1/8 inch) with 100% sand - Week 10 (1 game scheduled with 2 playoff games probable), spray CPR @ 6oz/M, Seaquential @ 3oz/M, Pana Sea Plus @ 3oz/M - Snow removal if necessary. November - Game schedules change, this month begins the playoffs - Week 11 or 12, depending on playoff games, spray 18-3-6 @ 4.7 oz./M and Organic iron @3.7 oz./M - Snow removal as necessary during season - Begin winterizing the stadium, buildings and equipment December - Continue winterizing stadium, buildings and equipment - Winter stadium projects Review the year/ season and maintenance program - Begin researching new/alternate products and tweak maintenance program - Attend RMRTA Regional conference. This year, there were 19 bands that performed in the preliminary competition, with the top 12 performers returning for the fi nals that evening. We had a lightning and rain delay, which eventually cancelled the remainder of the competition, half way through the fi nals so we ended with 26 total performances that day. Each May, we host Golden High School's graduation ceremony. There is a 400-square foot elevated stage on the fi eld for 2 days, roughly 350 seniors seated on the fi eld and celebrations after the ceremony always spill down on to the fi eld. There are two full time staff members and together we manage a 14 acre sports complex, which includes the football stadium for which this application is intended, as well as a 2500 seat soccer stadium, a rubberized track and roughly 9 acres of other turf grass. We are responsible for managing everything that happens at the stadium, including all aspects of the turf, the stadium, every event and staff member. Cultural practices including mowing, aerating, seeding, topdressing, and fertilizer applications get scheduled and performed by Christi and I. We also do snow removal as needed during our seasons. Outside of our heavy schedule of games and events, irrigation is one of our biggest challenges. We use reclaimed water, which is high in bicarbonates. We have to adjust our fertilizer approach to account for the high sodium also. The pump house from the irrigation pond is completely controlled by the City of Arvada. They regulate our system pressure, as well as give us a water budget of total gallons to use for the year. We are located just a few miles south of the National Wind Technology Research center so ET rates affect us exponentially. Maintenance plan