Q & A WITH DR. GRADY MILLER

The mission of our group is to provide affordable baseball opportunities for kids. Our fields are used almost daily by several youth teams and support dozens of local families each week. The infields are almost entirely clay and are in rough condition. After even light rain, the surface turns into thick mud and can take days to dry out. This often forces canceled practices and creates inconsistent and sometimes unsafe footing for the kids. The volunteers do everything they can, including dragging regularly. We know we are likely missing smarter and more sustainable, science-based solutions. Any guidance you can provide would make a meaningful difference. If there is an opportunity for a university student to use our field as part of a research project, we would love to provide a real-world site that benefits both students and our community.

While this email question was edited to reduce its length, the reader can still get a sense of their passion for the kids using this facility. It was clear that the fields have great importance for positive support of the kids, and that the fields have become an important community hub. It did not provide an indication of their budget, but in most community fields, it is often between zero and whatever parents are willing to contribute. Unfortunately, these situations often require significant renovations to make significant improvements.

As a university faculty, one of the most frequent question themes I get each year is“ Can your students come out and renovate my turfgrass area?” There is this notion that turfgrass majors in college do not get any practical work experience outside the classroom during their time in school, which is very far from the truth. In support of those that ask, some do offer to pay the students or donate to their turfgrass club, and in a few instances the students have turned a request into a club fundraiser.

As for the problem at hand, infields are often harder to manage than the turfgrass. Internal drainage is usually at a minimum, so surface drainage is desirable. Getting a good mix with proper proportions of sand, silt and clay can go a long way toward management ease, but community fields are often built with native soil or low-quality fill dirt. These fields cannot be expected to perform like professional facilities, but meaningful improvements are still achievable.

Based just on the email, not a site visit, I felt they have three or four options, and all require some budget input. If they are going to work with what they have for infield soil, they can work on their grades so that they get better lateral surface flow across the infield and reduce puddling. Without a proper grade, the field will continue to be challenging to manage.

In some cases, removing the infield material and adding back turfgrass except for cutouts around the bases can reduce the liability of dealing with a clay infield. Field conditioners, added incrementally, can manage moisture on a short-term basis. A more aggressive approach would be removing some of the infield soil and replacing it with a better one.

Ultimately, improving a clay-dominant infield requires balancing cost, labor and expectations. Communities can make meaningful improvements through better grading and moisture management with amendments, while more significant renovations— if feasible— offer longer-term stability. Even small steps taken intentionally can dramatically improve playability and safety for youth athletes.

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

Questions? Send them to Grady Miller at North Carolina State University, Box 7620, Raleigh, NC 27695 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

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