Dealing with Flooded Turf

By Pamela Sherratt

What can you do when your turf is flooded after all the precipitation occurs?

Submerged turf needs to be uncovered quickly and renovated, since turf will die if it is submerged under water for several days. It’s important to get the water off asap and pumps can help to do this.  Removing deposited silt and debris will be the next big task ahead. Brooms, rakes, vacuums and/or high pressure hoses can help to get the silt and debris off the turf. Tilling the silt into the top few inches of soil will cause all kinds of surface drainage problems in the future so the silt must be completely removed from site. Once the silt has been removed, evaluate the turf damage. If the field has been submerged more than a few days the grass will likely be dead so new turf establishment will be needed. Continue reading

Extending the Green on Athletic Fields

By Pamela Sherratt and John Street

Growth covers can offer many advantages to field managers

Consistent rain and low temperatures, coupled with cloudy days (sunlight seems to have been non-existent), has led to some pretty unhappy grass lately.

The sports facilities are closing their fields down for the winter. Those facilities that host spring games might investigate purchasing a growth cover/tarp. Continue reading