Now Is The Time To Overseed Athletic Fields

Late summer/early fall is quickly approaching.  Now is the time to overseed athletic fields. Here is a link for overseeding soccer fields from Purdue University.  Focus on pages 11-12. 

Overseeding can be accomplished after aerification and before topdressing and dragging of the cores or with an overseeder. 

I like to follow a simple overseeding formula:

• Core aerify
• Overseed
• Topdress
• Drag the cores, sand and seed into the field
• Apply a starter fertilizer 16.28.12 at a rate of 4 bags an acre

Also, don’t hesitate to overseed at a higher rate in season.  Needless to say, fall use athletic fields receive heavy traffic.  

A couple of tips for high traffic areas:

• Take a 50 lb bags of ryegrass and empty the seed on the grounds shop floor
• Take 50 lbs of compost, topdressing sand, or topsoil and place on the floor
• Blend the two with a scoop shovel
• Place the contents in a rotary spreader 
• Spread contents in soccer goal mouths, football hash marks, anywhere that has intense traffic, etc
• Apply seed on a weekly basis in season

The same applies for high traffic areas on baseball and softball fields.  Do not be afraid to use ryegrass and seeding rates of 20 lbs per 1,000 sq ft in the HIGH TRAFFIC AREAS.  Keep in mind that over half of the seed will be destroyed by traffic, so in essence the rate is only 10 lbs per 1,000 sq ft.  The fields that maintain turf throughout the season are following a regimented over seeding program.  After all, athletic fields cannot move the hole, or tee markers.  While most front laws only see traffic from the mailman, athletic turf is an entirely different animal.  We have to treat overseeding with a different and aggressive approach.

Remember, seed is one of the most cost effective ways to keep fields looking good and coaches happy throughout the season.

Go to j-dturf.com to learn more.

Play on!
–Jamie