Mowing is essential
Top ten maintenance practices to focus on in early spring in Ohio, based on grounds acreage & budget.
Produced by the OSU turfgrass team in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing recommendations.
Soccer goal mouth damage
Soccer season is here! Practices are underway and games are scheduled for early April.
In an ideal world, soccer fields would have been renovated in the fall of 2019, so that there is 100% desirable grass cover, even in high-traffic areas like goal mouths, sidelines, and the classic triangular wear pattern created during games. In the real world, many school & Parks & Rec. fields need repairing now. So, what can you do?
Figure 1. What happens to pesticides following their application, and the potential for exposure to users, has been studied extensively. Registered pesticides, when used according to label, are deemed safe for the end user. However, this remains a complicated subject and there is not one clear answer for all questions.
Proper control of weeds, insects and diseases is an important and necessary component of any turfgrass management system. On athletic fields this is not only for the purpose of aesthetics but also from the standpoint of insuring that the turfgrass system provides proper traction and footing which hopefully reduces the possibility of injury to the users of the field. Depending on which pest you consider, pesticides are either a tool that can be used to make the management of turfgrass pests easier (for example, dandelions and other tap-rooted weeds), or perhaps they are the only plausible way of dealing with a particular pest (for example, grey leaf spot or another pathogen).
Continue reading Communicating with People about Chemical Applications
Dr. Dave Gardner, Professor of Turfgrass Science at The Ohio State University
One of the routine maintenance tasks for athletic field management is the control of weeds. This is not just for aesthetic purposes. Sometimes the weeds can result in reduced lateral shear strength and increased chance for athlete injury. Herbicides, when used according to the label, have been shown to present minimal risk to end users and are typically employed by athletic managers to selectively remove different weeds. However, we are increasingly seeing laws and regulations being passed aimed at reducing exposure to pesticides, including bans of pesticide use on public lands or on school property. In these areas the use of synthetic herbicides is not permitted and alternative management strategies need to be used. Continue reading Organic Vs Synthetic Herbicides for Athletic Field Weed Management
This is a power point presentation on the topic of mowing lawns, presented at the Turfgrass 101 Seminar offered by The Ohio Turfgrass Foundation.
Repairing a native soil field with material that matches the existing rootzone is important. Adding compost can help!
Two Power Point presentations presented at The Illinois STMA Conference:
Staff (left to right) Braeden Gwalchmai, Brian Cafferty, Matthew Sarault, and Head Groundskeeper Guy Vaillancourt receive CAN AM Field of the Year 2018 from league commissioner, Miles Wolff. Photo courtesy of Marc LaFleur.
Guy Vaillancourt and Matthew Sarault both completed the Baseball Field Management certificate course in later summer 2018. And they just won a major award!
The self-paced online certificate course covers topics like field layout, infield skins and pitcher’s mounds, turfgrass maintenance, and pest management. Perfect for groundskeepers, baseball coaches and anybody else interested in baseball or softball field maintenance, the lecture material is offered as audio slideshows and instructional videos. The course material is assessed by students completing quizzes and games.
Another thing Guy and Matthew have in common is that they’re also groundskeepers at Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park, Ottawa, Canada, home to the Champions Baseball Club. Guy, the head groundskeeper, has guided his staff to CAN AM Field of the Year awards in 2015, 2016 and 2018. See OTTAWA’S RCGT PARK NAMED PLAYING FIELD OF THE YEAR.
Turfgrass topdressed with 0.25″ compost
Link to my article on Using Organic Fertilizers on Sports Fields, which ran in the September 2018 issue of Sports Turf Management Magazine.
Turfgrasses play a very important role in the urban and suburban environment: soil erosion control, carbon sequestration, cooling the environment, and providing safe places for 80 million Americans to exercise and play are just a few examples. The following resources were put together for those who’d like to know more about the functional and environmental benefits of turfgrass. Continue reading The Benefits of Turf
Low Budget Maintenance Tips for Athletic Fields
This is a power point presentation, given at the Ohio Sports Turf Manager’s Association Spring Field day at the Dayton Dragons’ Baseball Field, March 28th, 2018.