Natural grass soccer field maintenance advice for fall and winter

By Dr. Andrew S. McNitt, Penn State University

[Editor\'s Note: Many thanks to Dr. McNitt - a colleague from my former life in sportsfield construction - for providing this article to Potomac Soccer Wire with his recommendations to turfgrass professionals for fall and winterizing care of cool season natural grass fields (turf type bluegrass, fescue, rye fields). Sorry much of this is too late for this year, but with more and more field use, hopefully this information will help area clubs improve field quality, if not directly, then by having some real information from one of the top turfgrass professionals in the business to discuss with your maintenance supervisors.]

A few thoughts as we start the fall sports season.

Have all of your mowing equipment serviced and ready to go. It’s been a busy summer for mowing with all the rain.

Try to mow your high profile fields at least twice and maybe three times per week.

Get ready to fertilize with nitrogen! Even though we’ve had an abundance of rain, you should have been holding off on your nitrogen through the hot months of July and August. In September it’s time to start fertilizing again. A pound to 1.5 pounds of actual nitrogen per 1000 sq. ft. per application is not too much in your higher wear areas. In low wear areas you may be able to cut this rate in half. Be calibrated and know how much your spreader or sprayer is putting out.

A nitrogen application in early to mid September followed by one in mid October is enough. Don’t apply nitrogen late in the fall just before a killing frost, it can cause a flush of succulent growth and increase the chance of winter injury. On the other hand a third well timed nitrogen application just after a killing frost is beneficial to the turf. This is the ‘winterizer’ fertilizer we hear about. I suggest that just after a killing frost, not a light frost but one that kills all the tomatoes in the garden, you put down one pound of nitrogen per thousand square feet. I would use a cheap fast-release form of nitrogen for this application as you don’t have a lot of time. These winterizer fertilizers work because even though the top part of the plant has ceased to grow much more, the soil is still warm enough for the plant to utilize some of this nitrogen. To read more about late fall fertilization see this article written by Dr. Landschoot.

Be prepared to seed. I have traditionally suggested overseeding with 100% perennial rye after every home football game. Down the middle of the field I’d suggest 2-3 lbs of seed per thousand sq.ft. per home game and less in other areas. Use one of the top 100 perennial ryegrass varieties found at ntep.org.

I spent some time at Dr. Dave Minner’s research facility this June and Dr. Minner believes you should make life easier on yourself and apply all the seed in one application in September. He suggests 20 lbs. per thousand square feet, in your high wear areas, in one application sometime after labor day. This technique has shown the best results in his research plots and since I’ve never tried it I can’t argue with him. Let me know if you try this approach!

Again, don’t bother overseeding anything other than perennial ryegrass when fields are being used – the other species will not establish and you are wasting your money.

Spend time now preparing for your late fall cultivation and topdressing. Right after the last home event on the field be prepared to renovate. Some years the soil is dry just after Thanksgiving and sometimes it’s not. If it is, this is an excellent time to aerate and topdress. I suggest you use 0.75 in diameter tines and try to aerate until you have holes on 2” x 2” centers. Some piston type or vertical aerators can only get down to 2” x 3”   centers and that’s ok. The point is big hollow tines and lots of holes. If you have a more traditional disk aeraton, install a second set of tines so you make double the aeration holes with each pass.

Todpress using a high-quality compost. One quarter inch is the amount to use (that’s about 50 cubic yards per football field). Err on the side of less compost vs. more but a quarter inch is what you should shoot for. I like to put the compost down before aeration. It seems to mix better when you drag the field.

You can find out about high quality compost at the following sites:

http://turfgrassmanagement.psu.edu/pdf/uc123.pdf
http://spentmushroomsubstrate.turfgrass.psu.edu/pubs/publications.cfm

If you have a lot of uneven or bumpy turf, hollow-tine aeration, topdressing with a high-quality compost, and dragging the field will help but you might try using a compost/topsoil mix. I suggest you start with a 50/50 blend mixed by volume. You can do it yourself with a front end loader on an asphalt or concrete pad. Use one scoop of each and just keep lifting and dropping it.

You can experiment with how much to apply but with the topsoil in there, but I wouldn’t go heavier than a quarter inch to start.

You can seed at this time and if you’ve had a hard killing frost you can also put down your winterizer fertilizer mentioned above.

I hope everyone has a productive fall season!

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About the Author

Dr. McNitt has been with the Pennsylvania State University for 25 years. He presently is the Program Coordinator for the 4-year turfgrass science major at Penn State. Dr. McNitt teaches two courses in the curriculum, Turfgrass 100, Intro. to Turf Science and Turf 434, Turfgrass Soil Physical Properties and one course in the 2 year turfgrass certificate program, Turf 921a, introduction to soil physical properties. Dr. McNitt also teaches Turf 434 via the internet as part of Penn State\'s World Campus. He conducts research relating to athletic field surface characterization and golf green construction and maintenance.

Dr. McNitt has been honored nationally by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, The Musser International Turfgrass Foundation, The Crop Science Society of America, The American Society of Agronomy, and the Sports Turf Managers Association.

He has consulted on numerous golf course construction and renovation projects and athletic fields construction and renovation at all levels of play from high school through professional sports complexes. Dr. McNitt is currently the technical advisor to the NFL Groundskeepers Association and is active with the Sports Turf Managers Association.