Augusta Turf

Athletic Field Maintenance - The Need For A Plan

Preventive Maintenance is not a new concept. School athletic field maintenance is like changing the oil in a car. The owner has the choice of changing the oil regularly or replacing the engine. Its the pay me now or pay me later issue. The more economical choice is to pay me now to change the oil. How often the oil is changed depends on how many miles the car is driven. Changing the oil twice a year in a car driven 6000 miles annually is a good maintenance plan, but changing the oil twice a year in a car driven 50,000 miles annually is a recipe for trouble. How many times have we seen a new field renovated, and a year or two later, the condition is as poor as it was before the renovation? Its because the oil was not changed, or if it was changed, it was done too infrequently, like the car being driven 50,000 miles with only two oil changes.

Our athletic fields are being used more today than ever. The best example is the school football field.  Many years ago, it was used for about five home varsity games, five JV games, and Thursday night practices under the lights. Then it sat idle for nine months. Now, this hallowed ground is used in the fall for school football , and maybe also for youth football, which has grown tremendously, and is used in the spring by four soccer teams, playing over 36 matches plus many practices, and maybe for lacrosse also. The use has obviously increased. Like a car that was driven 6000 miles annually but is now being driven 50,000 miles annually, the maintenance needs have increased. The oil needs to be changed a lot more often.

How often should the 'oil' on an athletic field be changed? It starts with determining and understanding the use, and the particular turf needs of the sports involved. The use can be easily determined from the fall and spring sports schedules. Understanding the use is different, because each sport is different. For example, in baseball or softball there are eighteen players in the game, but only three are playing on the grass. Would the manager of a baseball field understand the wear factor and maintenance needs of a sport with twenty-two large players clawing at the grass with long cleats? Probably not, because the use and needs are different. Would the manager of a football field understand the need for a smooth surface necessary to pass a soccer or field hockey ball? Probably not, unless he has studied it or played the game, because the use and needs are different.

After the use and needs or the sports are understood, a maintenance plan for the athletic field can be developed. The factors that will cause the most amount of variation from one plan to another will typically be: soil type and characteristics of internal drainage, compactibility, and plant nutrient holding capacity; the efficiency of the surface drainage; the capacity of the irrigation system; the species of grasses present and the species that are desired; the presence of unwanted plants (weeds); the disease and insect pressures encountered in the past; the history of prior maintenance programs; the availability of equipment and its condition; the available personnel and their levels of expertise and their attitudes; the availability of volunteers and boosters; the expectations of the field owners and users; and finally, the budget levels and constraints.

The Services We Provide to Implement The Plan

The elements of the maintenance plan are all inter-dependent: aerations (compaction relief), fertility, weed, insect and disease management, irrigation scheduling, mowing height, use decisions in wet situations. What is done with each element of the plan, affects the other elements. For example, the disease management program is dependent on the irrigation plan, which may be dependent on the mowing height, which may also be related to the fertility plan (for disease resistance), which are all related to the species(s) of grass on the field. Following part of a plan while ignoring or failing in other parts will contribute to dissatisfaction with the efforts to properly maintain the field.

Growing and maintaining sports turf requires many inter-dependent inputs. The best reason to employ the services of Augusta Turf to maintain the fields is that we understand the relationships between all of these inputs. The most economical solutions are the ones that work well the first time.

Typical service elements of a maintenance plan:

• Applying fertilizer: Calibrated equipment with foam markers and experienced personnel means savings from over or under application. Fertilizer impregnated with weed control options can save a separate trip over the field, and require precise application. There are very few instances where in house applications provide significant savings to the field owner.

• Applying Pesticides: Properly identifying weeds, insects and diseases, and knowing threshold levels, is essential in order to choose the proper pesticide. Many are restricted use and require a licensed certified applicator. Calibrated equipment and experienced personnel means environmentally safe and accurate application. There are very few instances where in house applications provide significant savings to the field owner.

• Core Aerations: Having the right equipment and understanding when the soil conditions are right are important. Being able to perform this operation in conjunction with seeding or top dressing provides a savings. Knowing how to manage the plugs can provide a savings. Some schools have in house or volunteer access. If so, consulting with a professional on timing and technique, or supervision, will result in overall savings.

• Non-Coring Aerations: There are several different equipments that will aerate and leave the field immediately playable. Some provide more compaction relief than others. The best units use solid tines that vibrate fiercely. There are not many of these units available.  It may take several passes with a non vibrating unit to equal the shattering of the surface compaction attainable with a vibrating unit. Hiring out a vibrating unit will provide an outstanding result in the field and will result in overall savings.

• Management Plans: Paying someone to sit down and map out a comprehensive plan will save the field user more than anything else that he could do.

• Soil Testing: Since most fertilizer companies do not charge for the labor, only for the lab fees, and understand exactly what is needed by the lab and how to properly take the sample, there is no savings attained by doing it in house. However, a charge usually is made by most fertilizer companies if the field owner decides to purchase the fertilizer from another source.

• Nutrient management Plans: These are required by law and must be done by someone certified by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

• Irrigation Monitoring and Scheduling: Over watering or under watering can cause significant problems in the field. It is crucial that users actually know how long to run the system to deliver a given volume of water. It is also important to know the water infiltration rates of the soil underneath the playing surface. No irrigation system is 100% efficient. Someone needs to monitor rainfall and humidity, and make the call of when to turn the system on and for how long. This could be done in house only if personnel are properly trained. Hiring someone to monitor the irrigation and insure it is done right can result in huge savings.

• Seedings in season in wear areas: With proper training, this can frequently be done by the same person that is doing the mowing, as long as the seed selection is proper and the timing is right. Follow the plan. Remember that you are not reseeding the whole field, just the divots and wear areas. If competent personnel are not available, hiring this out can result in savings.

• General Reseedings in Large Areas: A seeder is necessary and may be available in house. Better results can be obtained with seeding in conjunction with a solid tine vibrating aerator because there will be more seed to soil contact attained. Hiring this out can result in significant savings, by eliminating a special trip over the field, and by increasing seed germination and emergence rates.

• Seed Selection: There are over 300 choices. VA Tech has an approved listing for sports fields that should be followed. Seed selection is a crucial decision. The bag at Lowe's may say "blue" but the tag will show you that you are getting things that you do not want. Purchasing seed from someone that understands what you are doing can result in huge savings.

• Pesticide Selection: This requires knowledge rarely found in house, and is provided by the vendor, co-operative extension, and a host of other experts.  Custom applicators will not use products unless they know that they will work well, simply because their integrity and reputation are on the line. The most economical product is the one that works and gets the results. That is why the more expensive products usually provide an overall savings.

• Mowing Advice and Instruction: Poor mowing, specifically removing more than one third of the grass at a time and not keeping mowing blades sharp, have been known to screw up more good maintenance plans than anything else. The enjoyment of athletes has often been reduced by improper mowing and incorrect mowing heights for the sport. Anyone who can help you get this right will have provided you with huge savings.