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5 Important Off-season Turf Maintenance Strategies

During the off-season when sports arenas are not being used, the turf on which they play and practice needs to bemaintained and managed. The purpose of turf maintenance is to prepare the sport pitch for use when the seasonis back on. It is also essential, to facilitate the recovery of the turf.

There are a number of factors that professionals consider when determining what methods to use in off-seasonturf maintenance. These include:

How frequently the turf is used during the on-season

Any activities for which the turf is needed during the off-season

The type of grass planted on the turf

The type of grass is especially important because it determines a number of other factors such as the frequencywith which the professionals will mow, irrigate, and fertilize the grass. When maintaining turf during the off-season,the five most important strategies are:

1. Minimizing Pests

Effectively managing and minimizing pests is one of the main goals in turf maintenance. Professionals areespecially keen on this, because it does no good to have a beautiful turf that is unhealthy and pest-ridden. In sucha case, the beauty of the turf is extremely short-lived as pests set out to attack the grass. Proper maintenance ofthe turf helps to reduce the population and occurrence of pests on the turf, which in turn reduces the need forextreme application of chemicals.

2. Airing the Soil

Exposing the soil to air is essential to maintain your turf;in order to reduce its compact nature and enhance themovement of water and air into the soil. This can only bedone during the off-season because it is the prolongeduse of the turf that further enhances compacting in thesoil.

3. Irrigating

During the dry months of the year, it is necessary for thegrass to be irrigated in order to maintain its green, healthyappearance. When irrigating the grass, the professionalconsiders factors such as the type and condition of thesoil, the kind of grass, and the utility of the turf.

4. Mowing

Even when the turf is not in constant use, it is important to mow it regularly. The height to which it is maintaineddepends on the sport for which the turf is intended. For instance, the turf on a golf pitch is considerably shorterthan that needed for a football field. A number of environmental conditions determine how fast the grass grows, inaddition to other factors like the type of grass and soil.

5. Fertilizing

In order for the grass to grow strong, healthy and thick,the professional needs to apply fertilizer to the turf as partof the turf maintenance procedure. Professional serviceproviders are skilled and equipped in choosing the bestfertilizer for the specific turf. They consider the nutrients inthe fertilizer, as well as the nutrients that the grass needs.Once the fertilizer is applied to the turf, the grass remainshealthy for a year in most cases.

As a general guideline, if the grass has a low tolerance, itis likely to be in a poorer state as the season closes,which will consequently require the professional to investmore time, care and resources to the turf. On the otherhand, if the grass has a high tolerance, it will still be in faircondition as off-season begins, and the turf-maintenance professionals can adjust their technique accordingly.

Keith Kitchen

Owner at Commonwealth Sports Turf ServicesGrowing up on a working farm that feeds your family gave Keith an appreciation for theimportance of planning for growth. It was corn and peanuts then, now it sports turf. Aftergraduating from Virginia Tech with a Bachelors of Science in Agricultural Economics andspending 5 years with Southern States, Keith partnered into a new business venture overseeing natural turfmaintenance for Luxury Lawns, a startup maintenance company. Continued growth over 20 years has placedLuxury Lawns, a company Keith now owns, in the top small businesses in the Midlothian area specializing inresidential turf management, landscape design and installation, and hardscape applications. After success in theresidential turf market, Keith launched Commonwealth Sports Turf and now manages the day to day operations ofthe business.