FIELD SCIENCE

Making it through a minorleague season without sod

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idea of no so~lt~y a distant dream. But, as Iwrite this in mid-October, we wer able to accomplish what I thought was not possi-ble. This is the st ry of how we did it.

The ability t do this was put into motion several years ago.Located in centr Indiana, the northern part of the transition zone,

the field had to be constructed properly. Composed of 100% sandrootzone and re-surfaced in 2003 with 100% Kentucky bluegrass(varieties include Blacksburg, Quantum, Midnight, Limousine, NUDestiny, and Rugby), Victory Field is regarded as a top playing sur-face. Recently, in central Indiana and other "northern" locations,we've seen the use of cold-tolerant Bermuda grasses. Since thisoption was out of the question for us, one of the best reasons we areable to tolerate wear comes straight out of the summer of 2005.

That summer in Indiana was extremely hot and dry.What typi-cally happens to bluegrass 2 years after sod and hot! dry conditions?You guessed it-summer patch. With the stories I heard and pic-tures I saw, 50-60% of the field was completely devastated. Againwith re-surfacing out of the question, the next best option was seed.This turned out to be one of the best opportunities to implement aperennial ryegrass mixture of seed (varieties Paragon, Grand Slam,and Pizzazz).

Top: Intern Brian McDougal in front of mound with no sod.Bottom: Back arc at 2nd base, another seeded area.

10 December 2008

After 4 years of overseeding with our perennial ryegrass blendand alternate years with our bluegrass blend, we have accomplishedroughly a 60/40 rye/blue playing surface. Since the ryegrass hasbeen implemented we have seen the playing surface tighten up 10-fold and overall provide an excellent playing surface. It is also perti-nent to mention ryegrass has good wear and drought tolerance,hence the nickname "perennial drygrass." It also tolerates low mow-ing; the seed germinates rapidly, and for those interested in mowingpatterns it stripes extremely well.

So was it just the perennial ryegrass that helped us? The answeris "Heck no." Also implemented in 2005 and tweaked over the pastfew years were using organic fertilizers for all granular applications.At Victory Field we use an all-Nature Safe fertilizer program, springand fall applications of 12-2-6 60% ammonium sulfate (not soorganic) and summer applications of 10-2-8 all organic.

When a pound is not a poundOne of the misconceptions I have heard is a pound of nitrogen is

a pound of nitrogen. This is simply not the case when you're usingorganics vs. synthetics. Fertilizers can be composed of ammonicalnitrogen, urea and inorganic salts, and other forms synthetic nitro-gen. The key for organic-fertilizers is the source of nutrients that aremeal-based. The benefits of using a product like this are: increasedmicrobial activity, low burn potential, improved CEC with humus,improved soil structure during heat and drought periods, and highprotein meal releasing nutrients over a 7-8 week period. Also, thesulfate applications in the spring and fall allow for excellent spring-green up and building up carbohydrates and sugars moving into thesummer and for fall feeding. Ammonium sulfate also has the abili-ty to lower soil pH in the rootzone that improves micro-nutrientuptake and the spread of root disease like summer patch.

With the correct turf blend and the use of a properly balancedfertilizer program we have seen no wear issues and no outbreaks ofdisease since 2005. We use the philosophy of KISS-Keep ItSimple, Stupid. The fertilizer program is based on application inter-vals of two weeks and the use of only two granular fertilizers instock. We do not deal with headaches of a long list of fertilizerchoices and in the end our turf is the healthiest we have ever seen.

So with these two crucial steps in place we still had to pay closeattention to how we managed our wear areas. With our goal of nosod for an entire season, preparations had to begin at the conclusionof the 2007 season.

After we concluded our fall overseeding in early September, asecond application of perennial ryegrass seed was drop spread just tothe edges. At first when the seed began to germinate our edgeslooked extremely strange since ryegrass seedlings are about fiveshades lighter in color than a mature blue/rye field. This may havelooked like a mistake at first but after weak seedlings were thinnedout by winter and two spring core aerifications our edges were inperfect shape to take on the season.

This second application of ryegrass seemed to get our edges tonearly 80-90% ryegrass.In the past the mound had been re-sodded to

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100% Kentucky bluegrass following each sea-son and it would alwaysneed to be re-soddedthe following season three or four times. Soour experiment remained: How would rye-grass around the mound perform comparedto bluegrass in the following season?

After about 30 games into the seasonand the mound showing literally no wear,we knew we were on to something. As thewarm summer weather began to set in, ourmethods of management had to changewith the onset of different environmentalstresses. It was common for us to add aboutan 8-ounce cup of seed to the area in frontof mound after each game. In the grandscheme of things seed is extremely inexpen-sive and we knew the players would workthe seed in to get the seed/soil contact.

We all know that it is not an ideal envi-ronment for ryegrass seedlings with mid-summer daytime temperatures in the mid-

90's and nighttime temperatures not dip-ping below 70, not to mention pulling thetarp 45 times. So how did we get aroundthis? We purchase our seed from CISCOCompanies in Indianapolis, which is coatedwith the fungicide Apron. This allows forthe ryegrass to germinate and not be sus-ceptible to damping-off, a common ryegrassseedling disease.

During homestands we would try sever-al methods of pre-germinating seed.Following each homestand, we will solidtine aerify all our wear areas. These includ-ed down the foul lines, coach's boxes, aroundhome plate, and around the mound.Subsequent to the aerification our pre-germseed would be rotary spread to all the wearareas. This series of events would be carriedout after each homestand. With typically 5-8 days in between homestands, the ryegrasswould be germinated and filled in. In my

OpInIOn seedlings provide a safer playingsurface than loose sod and sod staples.

At a conference with our manager afterthe season, he said being around the leagueand playing on re-sodded surfaces was awfuland if you could find a method to getaround re-sodding you would be a stepahead.

As we all know methods and practicesthat worked one year will not always workthe next. It is our goal at Victory Field to tryand stay ahead of the weather and environ-mental curves and continue to provide a safeplayable surface. It is important for us to usewhat we have learned in classroom and ourprevious experience, but it is more impor-tant for us to continue to try new ideas andbecome more efficient overall. •

Joey Stevenson is the head groundskeeper forthe Triple A Indianapolis Indians.

12 December 2008 www.sportsturfonline.com

FIELD SCIENCE

GROWING PAINSeased by erosion control game plan

By Tom Wedegaertner

I,lJ hen Christ the King Cathedral School andCatholic Church, Lubbock, TX expanded its stu-dent body to include high school grades 9-12, it

• also needed to address expansions of everything• from buildings and bus routes to staff members and

sports fields. Construction had begun, but after adding a high schoolfootball team, the school realized it was short on practice space.

School staff, church members and the Trojan Booster Clubagreed to build a practice field from scratch on a site near the schoolthat had previously been open pasture. Having an onsite practicefield would decrease the liability involved in bussing players to andfrom an off-site facility. And with two-a-day practices ahead, thenew sports field would be a convenient addition.

The site was an open field featuring native grasses and unevensurfaces. Construction crews used a road grader to rip the soil in

three directions, pulling up eight inches of top soil, along with rocks,roots and tree stumps. The field was then scanned by crews whomanually removed unwanted debris, applied herbicides to killremaining vegetation, and installed an irrigation system.

Church member and former CTK student John Wanjura volun-teered his services and expertise as a researcher for the USDA -ARSCotton Production and Processing Research Unit by leading thefield design efforts and erosion control initiatives. "I was glad to helpsteer a part of the school's response to growth," said Wanjura.

With limited time before the practice season began, crews facedthe final step in building a sturdy practice field that looked good andperformed under extreme conditions. "We needed to plant a groundcover that was tough enough to withstand the wear and tear of ahigh school football team," said Wanjura, "and with anticipated sea-sonal rains ahead, we needed to establish dense, strong vegetation

HydraCM is made from a combination of straw, reclaimed cot-ton plant material and a blend of performance enhancing tackifiersand additives that form a protective web that holds soil in place."HydraCM contains beneficial nitrogen, phosphorus and potassi-

um nutrients that, when madeavailable to the soil, are impor-tant for plant growth," addedWae Ellis, vice president. ofsales and marketing for Mulchand Seed Innovations."HydraCM .is also highlyabsorbent and has an excellentwater holding capacity, whichassists with germination andencourages the establishmentof vegetation. Meanwhile, itscrosshatching matrix providesair space and porosity forseedlings to push through withlittle resistance."

Much to Wanjura's surprise,the vegetation began growingwithin days, and at two weeksthe field was lush enough torequire mowing. "I thought itwould be a month or two beforethe stand was establishedenough to be mowed. In thepast we have worked with seedalone and it took five to sixmonths before mature vegeta-tion grew," said Wanjura. "Ireally believe that HydraCM'shydraulic application should begiven credit for the fast soil-seed contact and quick germi-nation," said Wanjura.

In addition to quick vegeta-tion establishment, the use ofHydraCM and seed was at leastfive to ten times less expensivethan placing sod, according toWanjura.

In keeping with the close-knit spirit of the Christ the

King community, Wanjura and his brother Eric volunteer theirtime to maintaining the practice field through regular mowing andsupervision. This past fall, the Trojan football team completedanother football season, this time with a true home field advan-tage .•

quickly."After consulting with a fellow colleague at the USDA anddetermining that hydraulically applied mulch was needed to prevent

orthsoil erosion and aid in grass establishment, Wanjura selectedAmerican Green's HydraCM Steep Slope Matrix.

"Though the field surfacewas flat, we were concernedabout impending rain eventsand wanted to be sure thehydromulch took to the soil,"said Wanjura. "We wanted amid -grade hydromulch toensure success." Developed byMulch and Seed InnovationsLLC, Centre, AL along withCotton Incorporated and theUSDA, HydraCM is a high-performance hydraulic erosioncontrol product made withmechanically processed strawfibers, reclaimed cotton plantmaterial, and proprietary per-formance-enhancing tackifiers.

2 Weeks After Hydro-Mulching - 6/9/2008

InstallationOn Memorial Day 2008,

Lubbock landscaper AshtonWalden first mixed theHydraCM with Bermuda grassseed, commonly known for itsresilience in extreme rain andheat, and then applied theblend directly for a convenientone-step application.

A noticeable glitch duringthe application process lead toinitial concerns about how wellthe mulch would perform-themulch was mistakenly appliedat a rate of 2,500 lbs/acreinstead of the recommended3,000 lbs/acre. But crews decid-ed to wait it out and to be pre-pared to distribute a secondapplication, if necessary.

"We had never usedHydraCM before and weren't sure how it would cover due to beingunder sprayed," said Wanjura. The area experienced heavy rainfalltwo days later, and steadily continued for another week resulting inmore than five inches of rain. "Following the rainfall, there was noseed floating on top of the soil, and no evidence existed thatresidue had seeped toward the storm drains around the perimeterof the field," confirmed Wanjura. "Despite the rainfall, we weresurprised to find that the HydraCM had stood its ground."

16 December 2008

Tom Wedegaertner is director of cottonseed research and marketingforCotton Incorporated, twedegaertner@cottoninc.com.

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