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No matter what fertilizer product you're usingfor turf care, you're not really fertilizing thegrass. What you're fertilizing is the soil, andthe grass plant is the beneficiary.

"Getting the most out of your fertilizerinvolves nurturing the soil microorgan-isms that convert organic matter tohumus. This builds a healthy soil layerwithinthe turf root zone," explains Dr. EliotRoberts, soil microbiology expert, turfscientist, and adviser to Nu-GroTechnologies, Inc.The overall goal is healthy, green

turf that is a pleasure to enjoy- turfthat requires only a reasonable amountof maintenance to keep it that way.

"Without a good fertilizationprogram, no soil has sufficient nutrientsto produce turf that can withstand heavyuse and regular close mowing," Robertssays. "For turfgrass to be properly fertil-ized, it is important to consider the needsof both roots and top growth. Mowingrestricts root development by continuallyforcing plants to re-grow foliage rather thanputting the plant

So, how do we getto healthy turf?

The answer ...create a healthy so;,.

energies into root growth."Why do you need to be concerned about'

roots if the top looks good? Healthy roots, andthe healthy plants they support, make it po si-ble for turf to survive stress more easily. Stressresults from heavy use, extreme heat, cold snaps,drought, excess moisture and the added pres urefrom insects and di ease organisms. A fine, healthyturf will have a dense, green, even surface.So, how do we get to healthy turf? The answer ...

create a healthy soil.

u-Gro Technologies, Inc., 2680 Horizon Drive SE, uite F5,Grand Rapids, MI 49546 1-888-370-1874www.nugrotech.comitroform is a registered trademark of u- r America orp.

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Circle 107 on Inquiry Card

"Healthy soil is rich in humus, which is formedby decomposer microorganisms," Roberts explains."These microorganisms consist of bacteria, fungiand actinomycetes, together with lesser numbersof other species that use carbon for energy toproduce humus, using - then releasing - nitrogenback to the soil in a form that plants can use.

"Microbes, like all living organisms, needcarbon to survive," Roberts says. "While plantsget carbon from the atmosphere and use it throughphotosynthesis, microbes live in the dark soil anddon't even contain chlorophyll. Microbes need analternate source of carbon, and they get it fromeither naturally occurring sources in the soil- whichare often not sufficient - or from an organicfertilizer," he says.

That's where Nitroform ureaform comes in.As a nitrogen source, Nitroform 38-0-0 consi tsof carbon:nitrogen-linked polymers of methyleneurea having a C: ratio of approximately one toone. Because more than 70 percent of the nitrogenin the product is water-insoluble, it is released onlygradually through microorganism activity. In otherwords, as the microbes feed on itroform to getcarbon, they release nitrogen and make it availableto the plants. Hence, a consistent, slow release ofnitrogen makes your job easy.

You know the grass will get the nitrogen itneeds - when it needs it, over many month ofgrowing season, without concern about burningor nitrogen deficiency. itroform is resistant toleaching, which means it will tay in placeregardle s of watering practices.

Do you have a problem soil, per hap onethat's very thatchy or ubject to s vere leachingor compaction? itroform ureaform, along withmechanical and other oil-corrective measures,may quickly rver e a troublesome situation andincrease microbial activity at the arne time.

When the first Monday of the eventarrives, the grounds crew must ensurethat the court preparation is complet-ed before the public is allowed to enterthe grounds at 10:30 a.m. If the weath-er is dry the covers will be removed by8:00 a.m. to allow work on the courts tocommence immediately. If the weatheris unsettled, then the covers willremain on the courts to ensure theystay dry. All match court covers can beraised so that work on preparing thecourts can continue undercover and onschedule in the hope that play willstart on time. As part of this morningroutine all the grounds crew have des-ignated work assignments to carryout, whether it be mowing or markingthe courts. They have all been previ-ously allocated specific courts on whichto work so they know exactly what isrequired of them. It is vital that theydo not require instruction that morn-ing and can work without a great dealof supervision, because at the sametime their work is taking place thereare other informal meetings underway.These include meeting with the refer-ees and often attending press and tele-vision interviews.

Prior to The Championships, apress release is issued on the work ofthe courts in order to explain our turfcultivation practices. There i nodoubt that The Championships focus

14 June 2001

interest on the grass courts, not onlyfrom the media, but also from thepublic, who will call or write in withquestions and observations. We makecertain to answer all correspondenceas soon as time allows.

Throughout the match days wemust be constantly vigilant withregard to the weather situation. Ifthere is a possibility of rain, then allthe court attendants must be sta-tioned at their courts the whole timeto ensure that the covers can beoperated very quickly. It is impera-tive that all the courts are kept dryso they do not become slippery anddangerous for the players. It takesslightly less than thirty seconds tocover Centre Court and No. 1 Courtwhile the outside courts take a littlelonger. All 18 match courts can becovered in less than one minute fromthe time the decision is made to usethe covers. When the rain stops andthe covers are removed, all courtshave to be inspected by an assistantreferee to ensure that they are safefor the players to use. On CentreCourt, the decision will be made bythe Referee and Head Groundsman.As you can imagine, life can be verybusy on a day of rain showers!

Each morning, while preparationof the courts is being carried out,

measurements are taken to see howthe grass plants and the courtsthemselves are holding up.Measurements are made on soilmoisture level, soil hardness, grasscover, ball bounce and a botanicalanalysis is made to indicate how thegrass is standing up to wear. At theend of the day's play, the courts areinspected to ensure no damage hasoccurred. If the weather is hot anddry then a little water may beapplied to the grass leaf to relieveplant stress. However, before anywater is applied, it is essential toknow in advance what the weatherconditions are going to be. The courtsmust be dry by 10:30 a.m., so waterwill not be applied if there is anydoubt about the weather, even if thegrass plants need it.

Each day, many thousands of vis-itors will come through the gatesand it is important that they enjoytheir day, so a number of conve-nience facilities have to be providedfor them. These include picnic areas,car parking and of course catering.During two weeks, the caterers(amongst other things) will provide27 tons of strawberries, 7 tons ofScottish beef, 12 tons of salmon and300,000 cups of tea and coffee. Ontop of this, meals have to be provid-ed for the staff throughout the day.

All this effort is clearly worth it.The prestige and importance of TheChampionships is an internationalfact in the tennis world. Besides,seeing a large crowd of tennis fansenjoying the event, along with thetraditional glass of PIMM'S (seeSidebar above for recipes), certainlymakes those of us on the groundscrew particularly pleased with theresults.

As The Championships comes toan end and the final "Game, Set andMatch" is called, thoughts turn toother events still to come, as well asthe autumn renovation and reviewmeetings that start this most produc-tive cycle rolling again.

Editor's Note: This year, TheChampionships at Wimbledon willbe played from June 25th throughJuly 8th, and will be shown in theUS. on TNT and NBC.

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Goulds pumps feature space-saving designs and allstainless steel construction. Standard NEMA motors permita wide variety of options and fast field service.AQUAVARTM pump controllers automate your systemand save energy too.

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Circle 108 on Inquiry Card

FIELD OF THE YEAR

Texas A&M University Earns SoccerField of the Year Honors

by Steve and Suz Trusty

The women's soccer field of TexasA&M University earned theSTMA 2000 Soccer Field of the

Year honors in the College Division.The field is located on the Universitycampus in College Station, Texas,approximately 70 miles northwest ofHouston. What was once a dairy cowpasture is now a beautifully groomedplaying field-a tribute to the exper-tise, commitment and dedication ofthe Texas A&M athletic field staff.

The field was built in 1994 by theUniversity Grounds Department as apractice field for the women's soccerteam. Instead, it became the game andpractice field.

The native soil consists of a fewinches of topsoil over a heavy claybase. The 120 yard by 80 yard fieldarea was plowed and disked, mixingthe topsoil with the subsoil, andresulting in a heavy native soil profile.This was then leveled with a boxbladeto create a one percent grade fromsideline to sideline. There is no sub-surface drainage system. The fieldwas covered with Tifway 419 sodgrown on a heavy clay soil.

Lights and permanent bleacherswere added in 1997. Seating capacityis currently 1,500, with expansionplanned in the future. Also part of theUniversity's capital improvement pro-gram is conversion of the soccer fieldfrom a native soil to a sand-based pro-file complete with internal drainageand a new irrigation system. The tim-ing of this major renovation is yet tobe determined.

The soccer field is just part of the17 acres of turf maintained by the ath-letic field staff of three full-time oper-ators and four student workers under

16 June 2001

As shown by the packed stands at this game, Texas A&M University's women'ssoccer program is very well-supported.

the direction of Athletic FieldManager, Leo Goertz, and AssistantAthletic Field Manager, Craig Potts.This includes the baseball and softballfields, the track infield, the sand-based football game field, two sand-based football practice fields, and theareas around the stadium. They alsomaintain the non-turf tennis center.

Potts says, "The heavy native soilprofile and the sod's base of heavy claysoil both contribute to the drainageissues on the soccer field. Infiltrationrates and percolation rates are veryslow. We estimate the infiltration rateat about 1I100th of an inch per hour sowe need to rely on the slope to eventu-ally move surface water off the field. Inaddition, the soccer field is the lowestpoint in our sports complex, lowerthan the softball and track fields

around it. Rain water drains off thesoftball roof onto the soccer field. Ineffect, one-half inch of rain on the soft-ball field puts approximately one-inchof rain on the soccer field. Yet, becauseof the thick stand of turf, this willresult in standing water, not mud."

Potts reports the staff's most diffi-cult maintenance challenge is a poorlydesigned irrigation system. He says,"The design has eight stations thatrun diagonally across the field. Threestations contain a mix of full and par-tial circle heads. The half circle headsapply double the water that the fullcircle heads apply during the sametime cycle. The spacing between theheads doesn't provide head to headcoverage. These problems will causesome areas to be too wet while otherareas will have extreme drought-

sports TURF • http://www.sporsturfonline.com

stressed 'hot spots.' Two of the sta-tions have heads positioned right infront of the bleachers. If we use theirrigation system to reach sufficientwater levels in the hot spots, we willcreate a muddy mess for the fans tonavigate getting to the bleachers."

The obvious answer to the irriga-tion problems is renovation of theirrigation system. But, the realitiesof sports turf management all toooften make the obvious solution anunrealistic one.

First, there's the issue of fielduse. Potts notes that the Universitysoccer program keeps the field innearly constant use for eightmonths. Practices begin the first ofAugust and last all month. The fallseason runs from Septemberthrough November. Spring practicebegins in February, with the springsoccer season running through May.During those eight months, the fieldis used almost daily, with weekdaypractices and weekend games. Theteam will play away games one ortwo days a week. In addition, thefield hosts college tournaments andtwo or three high school tourna-ments each year.

Once the official season ends, sum-mer camps move in. Six four-day soc-cer camps are held, each bringing over200 young players to the field. Thecamps run in a series of two, with aone week break in between eachseries. The field also is used for soft-ball camps during the summer and asa warm up area for opposing softballteams during the season.

"That leaves us December andJanuary with little on-field activity,"says Potts. "With the unpredictableTexas weather during that periodwe've not wanted to tackle a projectas disruptive to the field as renova-tion of the irrigation system. We'vealso determined it wouldn't be costeffective with the planned conversionto a sand-based field.

"Our solution to the problem hasbeen to depend less on the irrigationsystem and focus on watering thedrought-stressed areas. We accomplishthis by utilizing three quick couplers.One is located at the southern end line

STMA • http://www.sportsturfmanager.com

behind the goal, one at the west side ofthe field near the mid -line, and thethird is on the northeast corner of thebullpen on the adjacent softball field.We attach lawn sprinklers to 5/8-inchhoses running from the quick couplers.It takes up to six hoses to reach thesoccer field from the softball field. We'llleave each sprinkler on an area for twohours, applying between 1 inch and 1-

1/2-inches of water, then move them tothe next area. This will control the 'hotspot' for approximately 3 to 4 days,until we can irrigate the whole fieldwith the irrigation system.

"This method allows us to preventshallow rooting and conserve waterby avoiding frequent irrigation withonly minimal benefits to the drought-

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June 2001 17

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18 June 2001

Athletic Field Manager Leo Goertz (center), and Assistant AthleticField Manager Craig Potts (right) accept the STMA 2000

College/University Soccer Field of the Year award from STMAPresident Rich Moffitt, during STMA's 2001 Conference in Tampa, FL.

stressed areas. It is very labor intensive. Someone from ourstaff must monitor the stressed areas seven days a week toprevent tissue loss from stress. This was extremely impor-tant the summer of 2000 when there was very little rain-fall and temperatures exceeded 100 degrees for over amonth. Yet, when conditions are right, this is the best-look-ing field on campus."

The aerification and sand topdressing program, startedin 1997, is limited by heavy field use. The program hasslightly improved the infiltration rate and had a limitedimpact on compaction problems. The sand also helpssmooth the field surface.

The fertilization program is based on soil and tissuetest results and visual appraisal and varies each year. Areasoils are high in phosphorus, so no applications are made.Generally, two pounds of potassium per year are sufficient.Nitrogen applications will vary from 8 to 10 pounds perthousand square feet each year. Potts says, "We're forced topush the turf with nitrogen between the end of summercamp until the beginning of fall workouts to achieve recov-ery from the camp traffic."

The staff considers proper mowing the most importantaspect of turf management. Potts says, "The field is mowed4-5 times a week during the camp season and when growthrate slows. We mow at 5/8-inch from April until the middleof August to promote turf density. We raise the mowingheight to 314-inch throughout the fall and spring seasons.During the fall season we mow every day because of theincreased growth rate and amount of field use. We feel thefrequent mowing promotes turf density and faster recoveryfrom damage. We'll pattern the field during the fall seasonfor aesthetics, but mow against the pattern on off weeks toavoid developing any grain in the turf."

The baseball and softball fields are overseeded annu-ally with perennial ryegrass because they can gradually

(continued on page 21)

sporfsTURF· http://www.sporsturfonline.com