SPORTS FIELD

This week we will skip the fourth segment of the seven segments of the structure to build a natural turf field, Maintenance which we have covered thoroughly in previous articles. Now we will take a look at segment five.   

Segment Five is Top Soil Selection, the soil selected and managed for sports fields is expected to perform two functions:   

1. Serve as a medium for turf growth – Soil operates as a medium for turf growth by trapping nutrients and water and making them available to the roots of the plants, by providing space for air to reach the roots, and by serving as an anchor for those roots. It must be matched to the selected grass’s requirements.
2. Provide a uniform hard surface for maximum playability – In measuring soil for playability, the most important consideration is the soil’s ability to return to a playable condition after heavy rain, excessive dry conditions, or its resistance to compaction when subjected to intense traffic.

Referencing function one, whether a growing medium is a natural soil or a made-up ‘mix’ for turf, it will usually have five main components:

1. Mineral Particles – the inorganic fraction
2. Organic Matter – the remains of living organisms
3. Water – the ‘soil solution’ in which nutrients for plants are dissolved
4. Air – which fills the space between solid particles not filled with water
5. Living Organisms – small animals and microbes.

Therefore, from this component makeup we can infer that a good growing medium will continuously supply plant roots with the following, in balanced proportions:

1. Water
2. Air
3. Nutrient Elements

In comparison plant growth suffers when:

1. Air and water in the medium are out of balance with one another (too much air equals drought; too much water equals water logging)
2. The nutrient supply rate is too low or high
3. There is imbalance in supply between the different nutrients
4. The medium is too ‘strong’ (compacted) for roots to easily push through it
5. There are enough beneficial living organisms of the right kind
6. Disease – causing organisms grow unchecked
7. The medium is hotter or colder than preferred by the species being grown.

Growing mediums have many different properties, but they all can be put into one or the other of three groups:

1. Physical properties are those properties we can see and feel. Included are color, structure, texture and behaviour towards air and water.
2. Chemical properties are properties that involve chemical reactions and the supply of plant nutrients.
3. Biological properties have to do with living organisms, both visible and invisible to the unaided eye.

These are not watertight groups. Biological activity changes chemical and physical properties, and vice versa.

Media Department; The RS Group