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/73468
FieldScience "WITH 25 MILLION ANNUAL VISITORS and more than 3,000 permitted an- nual events, the National Mall is the country's busiest national park. Un- fortunately, this high level of use has taken a heavy toll: the grass is worn down to patches of dirt, the soil is heavily compacted and irrigation systems have been compromised. That is why we, in partnership with the National Park Service, enlisted the help of Murray Cook of Brickman Sports Turf. Murray has helped guide the National Mall turf project with grounds, the questioned was poised: "How can the renovated lawn areas be protected during events?" To ameliorate the problem, they conducted seasonal research on state-of-the-art irrigation, soil and seed composition and maintenance plans. We are confident that with his guidance, the National Mall will be returned to its former glory."-Caro- line Cunningham, President of the Trust for the National Mall the performance and recovery of several turf covering systems at Virginia Tech that will be used to protect the National Mall. Cover types included in the study range from those commonly used for seating areas, roadways or general turfgrass protection. Time of year and cover attributes greatly affect turf tolerance to extended cover- ing. Tall fescue recovered following 9 days of summer covering with Terratile and Matrax panels, but the turf could withstand only 3 days of covering with plywood or plywood + Enkamat. Terratile and Matrax covers could be left on for up to 20 days in spring or fall, while plywood or plywood + Enkamat only worked for 5 days. The results of this research will provide other turf managers with scientific and technical information for maintaining the integrity of their turf regardless of the season. ROOTZONE SELECTION PROCESS Dr. Norm Hummel took multiple tests of existing soil condi- tions at the Mall and developed a rootzone that was not only less 14 SportsTurf | July 2012 likely to compact but also one that allowed better drainage. There were a number of things that were considered when selecting the soils for the National Mall. A sand-based system was considered but was quickly ruled out for several reasons. For one, the National Park Service wanted to reuse soils if and where ever possible. Sec- ond, there are festivals held on the lawn that last several days. Irri- gation wouldn't be possible during these long stretches, which are often in the summer. Finally, sustainability of the lawn was a goal of the Park Service without having to incur high maintenance costs. Soil samples were taken from all of the panels and were tested for particle size and organic matter content. Nearly all of the soils were fine textured, having about 40% sand on average. The soils will be harvested from the panels and will be modified with a coarse, uniform sand in sufficient quantities to increase the sand content of the soil to about 70%. Basically, we have specified that the soil be amended from a loam to a sandy loam. A compost of a specified quality will also be added to increase the organic matter content of the soils to about 5% by weight. In the end, we feel that we have specified a soil type that will hold up better to the intense use and abuse that the National Mall is subjected to. www.sportsturfonline.com