The summer months are exceptionally dry. Sports pitches turn from green to yellow and from yellow to brown. Is there still life in the turf of your sports pitch? What should you do to achieve a beautiful green turf again and what dangers may be lying in wait? This First Aid for Drought Damage for sports pitches aims to answer these questions.
With our exclusive step-by-step plan, you can once again achieve a healthy, vital turf in no time!
Before proceeding, perform the First Aid for Drought Damage test here. Then read below how to restore your sports pitches in no time at all.
1. Make sure that all dead grass plants and any felt are removed by scarifying or tickle harrowing the turf and clearing this dead material.
2. Check for water repellency by performing the droplet test.
Droplet test:
The following test gives a good indication of the water repellency of the soil:
A. Use the shovel or gouge to cut out a piece of turf.
B. Place a drop of water at every 2 cm depth.
C. If it takes more than 1 minute for the droplet to be absorbed by the soil, the soil is too water repellent for normal recovery of the turf. Overseeding with ordinary grass seed will have no effect.
3. Water repellent?
Resolve the issue of water repellency using a wetting agent.
4a. Choose the right grass seed mixture: water-repellent soil and/or better prepared for the next extreme drought?
Is your soil water-repellent according to the FADD test? Or are you tired of continually having to help your sports fields recover after a dry period? Or is it time for a thorough renovation of the fields? In that case, choose the Resilient Blue® Sport grass seed mixture. This mixture contains the special seed treatment (Yellow Jacket Water Manager) that solves the issue of water repellency and helps the vulnerable, young plants in the first stressful weeks. It has been specially developed for extreme climate conditions such as sweltering heat, exceptional drought or torrential rain. Resilient Blue® Sport takes the punches of extreme stress and fights back!
4b. Choose the right grass seed mixture: no water repellency and the quickest possible results?
If the soil absorbs moisture well there are lots of different mixtures of grass seeds available for sowing sports fields. For each situation, there’s an ideal solution. but not all seed mixtures are suitable for the turf to recover quickly! In addition, the danger of weeds taking over is always lurking around the corner! There are lots of weed seeds in the soil that can fill any vacant spots at lightning speed. Meadow grass also takes over vacated areas rapidly and weakens the turf. It’s therefore imperative that you use a grass seed mixture that germinates and establishes itself rapidly, so that it can compete against this unwanted invasion. The mixture that fills bare patches quickest is RPR® Sports Mix with its stolon-forming perennial ryegrass!
