Summer has once again flown by. Fall is quickly approaching, and as the days slowly get shorter, the to-do list for fall athletic field maintenance seems to grow longer. As the list grows longer, the reality for many turf managers is that their labor hours get shorter as summer help returns back to school. Let’s look at some ways to help bring this balance back in order.
Slow the Growth
Cooler fall temperatures and more frequent rain events lead to increased grass mowing demands for many. Nightmares of baling hay and blowing grass clippings quickly ensue. Turn the nightmares into dreams by using plant growth regulators (PGRs) to reduce mowing frequency, increase turf density, and enhance turf color. These products can be used on playing surfaces, along fence lines to reduce line trimming frequency, and even in sloped areas to reduce the need for consistent mowing. Your ATS sales representative can help match the correct PGR product to a specific area of interest and its desired cultural needs. Talk to your rep about using PGRs with turf marking paint to reduce the number of times a field needs to be lined, too.
Make Marking Easier
Speaking of turf paint, anyone with natural turf playing surfaces is painting lines for soccer, rugby, lacrosse, field hockey, etc. Hours are spent marking corners and measuring distances — usually in the exact same areas as the spring or previous fall season. Drastically reduce the need for all these measurements by utilizing a product from Linemark called iPro Markers. Bury these small, synthetic turf markers into the ground to easily locate your main points of reference so you don’t have to spend the time stringing tape measures next season. Fall aeration is right around the corner; use them for marking valve boxes, drains, and quick couplers. Plus, eliminate the time spent with a shovel or screwdriver trying to find them when they are grown over.
Give Herbicides an Extra Kick
Are you in charge of keeping weeds out of cracks and crevices in concrete and asphalt around your playing surface? Perhaps under bleachers, in utility areas, or maybe even crushed stone walkways or parking lots, too? Tired of spraying non-selective products only to have to go back and do it again four to six weeks later? Mix a pre-emergent herbicide in with the non-selective products. There are several pre-emergents on the market, and their length of control ranges from a couple of months up to an entire season. They even make pre-mixed products for easy mixing and applying. Stop the multiple sprays and the phone call complaints this fall.
Michael Altshuler, a peak performance coach and leading motivational speaker, once said, “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” Let your ATS sales representative be your co-pilot. Discuss one or two areas of labor concern this fall and put an action plan together to conquer the challenge. It will be a great feeling knowing fall field preparation just got a little bit easier.
