Does anyone know of someone in turf management or a similar field who might allow me to pick their brain over a topic? I am a coach and I have a soccer field that is used pretty regularly and has some serious signs of wear and I wanted to find out the best ways to help it recover and what I might be able to do to increase growth given the limitations I have. As of now we don't have an irrigation system in place, but there are several possibilities we are looking at.

Anyway, if someone could point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it. Is there a parks and rec/turf program at State?

3/15/2007 11:43:35 AM

sent you a PM

3/15/2007 11:48:17 AM

While I can't help you out, to answer your question, yes there are Turf management and parks/rec majors at State so someone here should be able to help you out

3/15/2007 11:48:56 AM

you should at least be spreading seed right now.... and nitrogen

and aerating (i think is the spelling)

and without irrigation, you wont see drastic improvement this season

3/15/2007 11:51:44 AM

aerate, dethatch, top dress (if you can get the equipment)

and by aerate, I mean use a real coring aerator, not one of those metal drums with spikes in it

3/15/2007 12:03:55 PM

i can probably get the needed materials (other than access to irrigation....that's going to run us around 15k), but the real issue i have is the heavy use. it has worn away the grass almost entirely near the center of the field, especially at the goal mouth area.

because there is no grass to hold the soil in place well, the soil looks like a dry lake bed in those spots.

this has been the result of massive wear from practice in the fall and the spring from school teams as well as others throughout the community getting on it on the off days last year. i have eliminated the non-school access now, so that is no longer an issue, but a lot of the damage is done.

[Edited on March 15, 2007 at 1:08 PM. Reason : cvgb]

3/15/2007 1:07:31 PM

You could take a soil sample to the local NCDA extension office and have it tested. They'll tell you how much N,P, & K and O.M. you need to add. They also give you the pH. Its free (or it used to be at least). This will give you a starting point for diagnosing your nutrient needs. Since you're on a budget, you want to be sure you don't just throw down a bunch of 10-10-10 when you really need something else.

I would be willing to be it needs aeration BAD. If you don't do this 2x a year on a heavily used field, the soil will end up rock hard. I don't care how much you water it, nothing will grow in compacted soil.

[Edited on March 15, 2007 at 3:00 PM. Reason : AIR IS YOUR FRIEND]

3/15/2007 2:56:02 PM

i doubt i can rfealistically seed again until after the season, and we have two games a week on the field until may, plus practice.

would aerating it now help at all? i mean, there are definitely parts that are rock hard, but knowing how this grass grows, i know that in a few weeks the grass areas will be growing extremely fast. i just worry that i will harm what grass i do have, and since it will be really hard to reseed anything midseason, i wonder if i should wait until after the season.

3/15/2007 10:50:09 PM

Quote :

"I would be willing to be it needs aeration BAD. If you don't do this 2x a year on a heavily used field, the soil will end up rock hard. I don't care how much you water it, nothing will grow in compacted soil."

agreed.


also the ncsu turfgrass department has extension services. they should be able to help you.

http://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/Extension/Default.aspx

3/16/2007 7:51:52 AM

Talk to some other coaches and find out when they aerate. It does make a mess of things temporarily.

3/16/2007 7:54:37 AM

all the other caches have irrigated fields. that what kills me.

3/16/2007 8:05:16 AM

Well your in luck today you will have a great soaking of the field. It would have be a great idea to now fertilize the field once the rain is stopped. You should take a soil sample and send it off to the NCDA office and get it tested so you can see what the nutrient level of your soil is. They will also give recomendations for fertilzer amounts depending on type of grass you are growing. The best way to keep your field good is to limit as much as you can the amount of wear you put on it. For soccer if you have another field practice on that or if you are running drills do it off of the actual playing field. Over time the field will get tore up from the running.

3/16/2007 8:19:46 AM

Suddenly turf management seems like less of a joke.

3/16/2007 8:23:53 AM

i saw all the rain today and was pleased, except for the fact that i have to reschedule practice.

i'll try and get out there on monday and get a soil sample to send off. unfortunately we only really have one game sized field. we can run small sided drills in other areas, but anything requireing space has to be done on the field.

3/16/2007 11:58:17 AM