Q & A WITH DR . GRADY MILLER

As I look over our badly worn bermudagrass fields that we used for high school soccer and football this spring , I wonder if I could have done something different that would have resulted in less bare ground . Any suggestions on managing for wear , and how it relates to a field ’ s capacity to handle the traffic ?

Congratulations on making it through a tough spring . As you have experienced , even the best built and maintained fields have a limit to the amount of traffic the turfgrass can withstand without some damage — especially when used during a period of the year with limited turfgrass growth . In an ideal situation , an adequate number of fields would be available so use could be properly distributed and wear would not be a great concern .

Unfortunately , we do not always have ideal situations . Inadequate land for more fields , poor weather conditions during playing seasons , and concentrated use without recovery periods are all common reasons that some schools have looked to using synthetic field surfaces . There are still some things to do that can help preserve your natural grass surfaces from excessive wear .

Several facility-level management practices that can reduce wear and tear to natural turfgrass include : 1 . Having separate play and practice facilities . 2 . Preventing or minimizing play or practice when the soil is wet ( saturated ). 3 . Rotating areas of play and practice to allow turfgrass recovery . 4 . Avoiding concentrated foot traffic , such as band or cheerleading practices . 5 . Allowing turfgrass recovery in spring from winter dormancy before using .

In some cases , these management practices may not be easy to accomplish due to scheduling . This spring , for example , many games and practices had to be played / held on dormant to semi-dormant bermudagrass . Overseeding the field surface with ryegrass could have helped with this issue . A good stand of ryegrass ( seeded into a healthy bermudagrass base ) provides a wearable surface that can offer some field protection for winter and spring play .

It is also important to adjust maintenance practices to address the conditions of the field . To prevent wear , use agronomic management practices that keep your turfgrass healthy and growing . But once the wear begins to show , step up the maintenance of those specific areas as much as possible . For example , apply supplemental nitrogen fertilizer to high-wear areas to promote recuperation ; aerify high-wear areas with small solid tines during the season ; and encourage coaches to move practices around the field as much as possible to avoid practicing in areas showing signs of wear .

I wish determining a field ’ s ability to handle wear at the beginning of a season was a simple process . Because field wear is influenced by so many variables , no definitive equation exists to predict when a field will begin showing signs of wear , or when a field will fail .

Years ago , I attempted to make educated predictions relating field use and turfgrass conditions for natural grass fields . These values were related to well-constructed fields that received at least moderate maintenance and were used under reasonable conditions during the year . The field use data suggested that a breaking point between very little wear and significant wear was somewhere between 800 and 1,000 hours of use per year .

This has been a good starting point , but I realize that substantial damage can be done to fields from one extremely wet game , while there are fields that receive 1,500 or more hours of use and still don ’ t have bare ground . As stated earlier , there are just so many variables that impact field wear .

What is important now is that you use good management practices to get your field back in shape . Address soil compaction through aggressive core aerification as soon as possible this summer , and make every effort to begin the next sporting season with 100 percent turf coverage .

Grady Miller , Ph . D . Professor and Extension Turf Specialist North Carolina State University

SFM

Questions ? Send them to Grady Miller at North Carolina State University , Box 7620 , Raleigh , NC 27695- 7620 , or e-mail grady _ miller @ ncsu . edu Or , send your question to Pamela Sherratt at 202 Kottman Hall , 2001 Coffey Road , Columbus , OH 43210 or sherratt . 1 @ osu . edu

50 SportsField Management | July 2021 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com