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Fix the Outfield!

Writer's picture: Pickle RickPickle Rick

Updated: Dec 24, 2020

Well after the first pre-season game we have ever managed to put on it was clear that we had a bit of an issue with the outfield. While diving on it felt like jumping on to a pile of puppies the ball didn’t travel very fast along it. I wasn’t able to mow it shorter as the base of the grass was so thick the reels couldn’t cut low enough to thin it out. When we re-laid the outfield 2 years ago we used a grass seed called “in the rough” which as I understand is some sort of creeping fescue.

I guess the idea of a creeping fescue is pretty cool. Every time you spray out a weed the grass just knits together and covers the hole left by the weed. As time goes on the grass knits tighter and tighter together resulting in the thick carpet like layer which looks and feels great but plays like crap. So the solution is scarifying.

Basically I ring Hamish from Sports Turf Renovators and he comes out with a sweet as machine that looks like a small tractor mower but uses small knife like blades to cut down into the ground thinning out the grass and breaking up a bit of topsoil too. He then follows it around with a sweeper to clean up the mess. They go over the field twice on different angles for the reasons that I can’t quite remember.

It took 2 tractors 12 hours to do the job after which I was able to mow another half inch off the grass. The outfield looked pretty tired after the beating it took but after some rain a day later it came up pretty good and you can actually see the ground beneath the grass now.


This is the sweeper. I forgot to take a photo of the scarifier.


From right to left, before, during and after.


Progress


End result


What the hell am I gonna do with all this? The cows dont want it.

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