The Turf Zone Podcast

MTC Turf News – Julie Holt, Content Director, TheTurfZone.com

 

TheTurfZone: Welcome to TheTurfZone. Today we’re speaking with Neal Glatt, Managing Partner at Grow The Bench and business coach certified by the Gallup Organization. Welcome Neal.

Neal Glatt: Thanks for having me, Julie.

 

TTZ: I’m going to start out with a little explanation about what we said in your intro. You are a business coach, certified by the Gallup Organization. Can you tell me a little about what that means?

NG: I get to help businesses improve, usually around sales and management, which is really my passion is helping teams perform really well. And the Gallup organization is the world’s largest independent polling organization. So especially with election season right now, people are probably used to hearing “According to a Gallup poll…” That’s where most people know Gallup from is they call people up, they ask them what they think and they do it all around the world, more than anybody else and they don’t take any money from anybody, and just spend millions and millions of dollars on payroll to survey people. What they’ve developed are these world-class surveys is a lot of great information about what people really want and how it related to business. So when it comes to high performing teams, Gallup has essentially invented the category of what we call “employee engagement.” For the past 35 years, has been publishing information about what makes a highly engaged team, what even is a highly engaged team, and most importantly for us today, how can we take something really simple, at very little cost and put it into action to get more from our teams and make everybody feel better.

 

TTZ: You mentioned High performing teams, and that’s really what we’re going to focus on today, and fine tune that for the green industry. Can you tell me how you got into sharing this type of information and this type of business coaching, specifically in our industry?

NG: It actually happened the other way around for me. I graduated college with a degree in marketing, wanted to go into sales and started working for a landscaper and so I was working in this industry before I knew any of this great business stuff. And I had all the same challenges that other green industry companies have – too hard to attract people, too hard to keep people, nobody really as invested as I wanted them to be. Just trying to make it, and through that process of being frustrated and failing at management, I started to learn the hard way about some things that needed work. I was fortunate to work with or have employed some other really great managers and I’d see glimpses of greatness from people. And I see, you know, this person’s really great at developing relationships and people seemed to really like that. Or this person’s really great at developing people, and meanwhile their team is doing better with all the hard metrics. So systematically, I studied that and discovered some of the science and a few years ago decided to go out on my own as a business coach and earn some certifications along the way that support that. So I have the opportunity, being self-employed to work with any industry, but I just have a heart for the green industry because it served me really well. I think what we do is so important and so overlooked, and I get pretty excited about bringing this cutting-edge science to the green industry in a meaningful and practical way because I think that the green industry needs some love and gets overlooked by a lot of people.

 

TTZ: I absolutely agree. In these podcasts and in speaking with turfgrass professionals and nursery and landscape professio...

Alabama Turfgrass – Melanie Bonds, ATA Executive Director

Alabama Turfgrass Association is pleased to announce that Scott Wanzor has been awarded our Lifetime Achievement Award. Scott has been a stalwart member of the ATA for many years now and served as an industry representative on the Board of Directors.

Scott attended the State University of New York at Farmingdale where he earned an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Biological Technology in 1973. Later he attended Cornell University before he transferred to the University of Georgia, where he studied entomology and earned a Bachelor of Science in Entomology (Cum Laude) in 1976. Scott worked as a manufacturer’s sales representative for 41 years. With these impressive credentials the ATA was fortunate to have Scott support our Road Shows for several years, representing his employer, PBI-Gordon. Scott was afforded the opportunity to speak and to interact with several hundred attendees throughout the state each year at the Road Shows and other ATA events. He never failed to educate and entertain the attendees.

Since retiring from PBI Gordon in 2019, Scott hasn’t let the grass, or should I say, weeds grow under his feet!

“What have I been doing in retirement? Good question! My title is Green Industry Consultant. My plan was to begin setting up and producing CEU seminars to groups of people in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and possibly other states, depending on how well they were received. Additionally, I was going to reach out to some of the many contacts / friends that I have made over the years and offer to travel to their places of business to offer individualized CEU seminars for groups of employees.”

Unfortunately, like many others, Scott’s plans were derailed by Covid 19. His seminars are on hold until such time as groups of people can be convened to meet in person, safely. Scott forecasts that will be next summer or fall after an effective vaccine is available. He hopes to be very busy then due to pent up demand. While most of Scott’s plans were put on hold, he has been working with another consultant in Georgia, Willie Chance, for several years now and will assist him with a turf webinars beginning in November.

Scott says, “After 41 years as a manufacturer’s representative, I really did not want to retire from the industry. I wanted to retire from working for a corporation and I did. I have a burning desire to continue working within the industry on my own terms. I absolutely love teaching and presenting to groups of all sizes. My experience and sense of humor combine to produce what I have been repeatedly told is a ‘fun way to learn.’ I can relate to most of the people in my audiences, and I believe that comes across when I present, answer questions, use relevant examples and use my experience to highlight subjects.”

Scott lives in Duluth, Georgia with his wife, Elizabeth and his 19-year-old daughter, Shelby, now a student at Clemson. He has a wide range of hobbies, including photography, wood working, reading, flying (private pilot), baseball, studying weeds, fishing and crabbing. He has a very impressive collection of moths and butterflies! We wish Scott the best in his new venture and are excited he will continue to be a part of our industry!

Arkansas Turfgrass – Julie Holt, Content Director, TheTurfZone.com

 

TheTurfZone: Welcome to TheTurfZone. Today we’re speaking with Neal Glatt, Managing Partner at Grow The Bench and business coach certified by the Gallup Organization. Welcome Neal.

Neal Glatt: Thanks for having me, Julie.

 

TTZ: I’m going to start out with a little explanation about what we said in your intro. You are a business coach, certified by the Gallup Organization. Can you tell me a little about what that means?

NG: I get to help businesses improve, usually around sales and management, which is really my passion is helping teams perform really well. And the Gallup organization is the world’s largest independent polling organization. So especially with election season right now, people are probably used to hearing “According to a Gallup poll…” That’s where most people know Gallup from is they call people up, they ask them what they think and they do it all around the world, more than anybody else and they don’t take any money from anybody, and just spend millions and millions of dollars on payroll to survey people. What they’ve developed are these world-class surveys is a lot of great information about what people really want and how it related to business. So when it comes to high performing teams, Gallup has essentially invented the category of what we call “employee engagement.” For the past 35 years, has been publishing information about what makes a highly engaged team, what even is a highly engaged team, and most importantly for us today, how can we take something really simple, at very little cost and put it into action to get more from our teams and make everybody feel better.

 

TTZ: You mentioned High performing teams, and that’s really what we’re going to focus on today, and fine tune that for the green industry. Can you tell me how you got into sharing this type of information and this type of business coaching, specifically in our industry?

NG: It actually happened the other way around for me. I graduated college with a degree in marketing, wanted to go into sales and started working for a landscaper and so I was working in this industry before I knew any of this great business stuff. And I had all the same challenges that other green industry companies have – too hard to attract people, too hard to keep people, nobody really as invested as I wanted them to be. Just trying to make it, and through that process of being frustrated and failing at management, I started to learn the hard way about some things that needed work. I was fortunate to work with or have employed some other really great managers and I’d see glimpses of greatness from people. And I see, you know, this person’s really great at developing relationships and people seemed to really like that. Or this person’s really great at developing people, and meanwhile their team is doing better with all the hard metrics. So systematically, I studied that and discovered some of the science and a few years ago decided to go out on my own as a business coach and earn some certifications along the way that support that. So I have the opportunity, being self-employed to work with any industry, but I just have a heart for the green industry because it served me really well. I think what we do is so important and so overlooked, and I get pretty excited about bringing this cutting-edge science to the green industry in a meaningful and practical way because I think that the green industry needs some love and gets overlooked by a lot of people.

 

TTZ: I absolutely agree. In these podcasts and in speaking with turfgrass professionals and nursery and landscape prof...

Virginia Turfgrass Journal – Julie Holt, Content Director, TheTurfZone.com

 

TheTurfZone: Welcome to TheTurfZone. Today we’re speaking with Neal Glatt, Managing Partner at Grow The Bench and business coach certified by the Gallup Organization. Welcome Neal.

Neal Glatt: Thanks for having me, Julie.

TTZ: I’m going to start out with a little explanation about what we said in your intro. You are a business coach, certified by the Gallup Organization. Can you tell me a little about what that means?

NG: I get to help businesses improve, usually around sales and management, which is really my passion is helping teams perform really well. And the Gallup organization is the world’s largest independent polling organization. So especially with election season right now, people are probably used to hearing “According to a Gallup poll…” That’s where most people know Gallup from is they call people up, they ask them what they think and they do it all around the world, more than anybody else and they don’t take any money from anybody, and just spend millions and millions of dollars on payroll to survey people. What they’ve developed are these world-class surveys is a lot of great information about what people really want and how it related to business. So when it comes to high performing teams, Gallup has essentially invented the category of what we call “employee engagement.” For the past 35 years, has been publishing information about what makes a highly engaged team, what even is a highly engaged team, and most importantly for us today, how can we take something really simple, at very little cost and put it into action to get more from our teams and make everybody feel better.

 

TTZ: You mentioned High performing teams, and that’s really what we’re going to focus on today, and fine tune that for the green industry. Can you tell me how you got into sharing this type of information and this type of business coaching, specifically in our industry?

NG: It actually happened the other way around for me. I graduated college with a degree in marketing, wanted to go into sales and started working for a landscaper and so I was working in this industry before I knew any of this great business stuff. And I had all the same challenges that other green industry companies have – too hard to attract people, too hard to keep people, nobody really as invested as I wanted them to be. Just trying to make it, and through that process of being frustrated and failing at management, I started to learn the hard way about some things that needed work. I was fortunate to work with or have employed some other really great managers and I’d see glimpses of greatness from people. And I see, you know, this person’s really great at developing relationships and people seemed to really like that. Or this person’s really great at developing people, and meanwhile their team is doing better with all the hard metrics. So systematically, I studied that and discovered some of the science and a few years ago decided to go out on my own as a business coach and earn some certifications along the way that support that. So I have the opportunity, being self-employed to work with any industry, but I just have a heart for the green industry because it served me really well. I think what we do is so important and so overlooked, and I get pretty excited about bringing this cutting-edge science to the green industry in a meaningful and practical way because I think that the green industry needs some love and gets overlooked by a lot of people.

 

TTZ: I absolutely agree. In these podcasts and in speaking wit...

Mississippi Turfgrass – Julie Holt, Content Director, TheTurfZone.com

TheTurfZone: Welcome to TheTurfZone. Today we’re speaking with Neal Glatt, Managing Partner at Grow The Bench and business coach certified by the Gallup Organization. Welcome Neal.

Neal Glatt: Thanks for having me, Julie.

TTZ: I’m going to start out with a little explanation about what we said in your intro. You are a business coach, certified by the Gallup Organization. Can you tell me a little about what that means?

NG: I get to help businesses improve, usually around sales and management, which is really my passion is helping teams perform really well. And the Gallup organization is the world’s largest independent polling organization. So especially with election season right now, people are probably used to hearing “According to a Gallup poll…” That’s where most people know Gallup from is they call people up, they ask them what they think and they do it all around the world, more than anybody else and they don’t take any money from anybody, and just spend millions and millions of dollars on payroll to survey people. What they’ve developed are these world-class surveys is a lot of great information about what people really want and how it related to business. So when it comes to high performing teams, Gallup has essentially invented the category of what we call “employee engagement.” For the past 35 years, has been publishing information about what makes a highly engaged team, what even is a highly engaged team, and most importantly for us today, how can we take something really simple, at very little cost and put it into action to get more from our teams and make everybody feel better.

 

TTZ: You mentioned High performing teams, and that’s really what we’re going to focus on today, and fine tune that for the green industry. Can you tell me how you got into sharing this type of information and this type of business coaching, specifically in our industry?

NG: It actually happened the other way around for me. I graduated college with a degree in marketing, wanted to go into sales and started working for a landscaper and so I was working in this industry before I knew any of this great business stuff. And I had all the same challenges that other green industry companies have – too hard to attract people, too hard to keep people, nobody really as invested as I wanted them to be. Just trying to make it, and through that process of being frustrated and failing at management, I started to learn the hard way about some things that needed work. I was fortunate to work with or have employed some other really great managers and I’d see glimpses of greatness from people. And I see, you know, this person’s really great at developing relationships and people seemed to really like that. Or this person’s really great at developing people, and meanwhile their team is doing better with all the hard metrics. So systematically, I studied that and discovered some of the science and a few years ago decided to go out on my own as a business coach and earn some certifications along the way that support that. So I have the opportunity, being self-employed to work with any industry, but I just have a heart for the green industry because it served me really well. I think what we do is so important and so overlooked, and I get pretty excited about bringing this cutting-edge science to the green industry in a meaningful and practical way because I think that the green industry needs some love and gets overlooked by a lot of people.

 

TTZ: I absolutely agree. In these podcasts and in speaking with turfgrass profes...

Pennsylvania Turfgrass – Keystone Athletic Field Managers Organization (KAFMO)

If you have visited the KAFMO website recently, you may have noticed a new look. The familiar green on green checkerboard background is gone, replaced by an up-to-date online presence with a clean, modern look built to serve members, board, and staff equally. We talked with KAFMO Board member “Turftechguy” Bill Brown, who designed the new website, about his involvement in the project and KAFMO’s goals. According to Bill, this is not just a facelift. “We are making a big leap in the technology of the KAFMO website and I think it is important to highlight that,” Bill says.

“Turftechguy”

“Given my technology background, Dan Douglas asked me to serve on the Board to assist in updating the KAFMO website,” he says. Bill’s credentials in both Turfgrass Science and technology are indeed impressive. In 2009 Bill founded iTurf Apps, the leading technology and Social Media source for turfgrass professionals, and in 2012 he founded Turf Republic, a platform for a turf-centric community of solution generation and sharing that connects industry, professionals, academia, students and enthusiasts. In 2013, he was named to Golf Inc’s Most Innovative People in Golf. Since 2016, Bill has served as the Director of Brand Development / NE Distributor Support for AQUA-AID SOLUTIONS.

Bill was showcased in Golf Course Industry Magazine in a 2010 article entitled Mobile Mileage. “That article was really my springboard into the industry as the leader of integrating technology into turfgrass management,” he says. Since then, Bill has been teaching and giving presentations across North America on the integration of Technology and Social Media to turfgrass managers. He served as faculty for the GCSAA, teaching at the Golf Industry Show on Technology and Personal Branding. He also helped found the Test Drive Technology Center, GCSAA’s technology showcase at the Golf Course Industry Show. KAFMO is fortunate to be able to draw on the expertise of someone so uniquely qualified to understand both the industry and the technology needs of the organization.

KAFMO.ORG: Old vs. New

The old KAFMO site provided great information regarding the organization. It was home to all of KAFMO’s history of awards, events, and publications and had a current calendar. However, in Bill’s opinion, it had some limitations on the backend technology to help with managing the organization and allowing members to manage their membership. The old site’s architecture also made it difficult to use on anything other than a desktop. The website was not mobile friendly, which is what nearly two-thirds of people use these days to access website information. KAFMO’s ability to provide value to sponsors through a digital system was also limited. It was time for an upgrade.

With phase one of the launch of the new kafmo.org this summer, the goal was to bring the website up to 2021 design and feature standards. KAFMO’s objectives for the new site were as follows:

– Update the architecture of the website, including the design and capabilities. The new website’s technologies give the board and Executive Director Linda Kulp a more simplified, unified system to manage the organization that exists in one location, versus the more piece-meal system that had been in place before. Through the new website CMS (Content Management System) and CRM (Customer Relationship Manager) systems, staff and board can now evaluate the current overall health of the KAFMO organization from a membership and financial standpoint. A modernized communication system will allow a streamlined system of communication with members and prospective members.

– Provide a new and modernized platform to allow members and prospective members the ability to engage with the organizat...

New England Blade – Randy Prostak, Extension Weed Specialist, University of Massachusetts

Yellow nutsedge is a member of the family Cyperaceae, or sedge family. Also known as nutgrass, yellow nutsedge is commonly considered to be one of the most troublesome and “difficult-to-manage” weeds of turf and landscape. While this weed is a monocot like grasses, it is not a grass. Despite it being tossed in the “difficult-to-manage” category, yellow nutsedge with proper product selection and application timing can be managed successfully.

Life cycle and description: Yellow nutsedge is a perennial sedge reproducing by tubers (nutlets) at the end of short, scaly rhizomes and rarely from seed. While yellow nutsedge can occur in dry soils, it is frequently more aggressive in wet areas. These areas may be wet due to poor drainage and/or overwatering.

Upright, triangular stems arise from overwintering nutlets in very late spring and early summer. The triangular stems are the most useful identification characteristic, as you can feel the triangular shape by rolling the stem in your fingertips. Yellow nutsedge leaves are light green, glossy, with a prominent midrib and taper to a sharp point. It is most noticeable in summer because its leaves grow more rapidly than the cool-season turf during the hottest summer months. During spring and fall, nutsedge growth is slower and not as easy to spot in turf. Yellow nutsedge produces a yellow to light brown seedhead, although they are seldom observed in frequently mown turf.

Cultural management strategies: The best method for controlling yellow nutsedge (and other weeds) is to encourage the growth of a healthy, dense, vigorous stand of turf that can compete with weeds. Encourage dense turf stands by following proper turf maintenance practices, including fertilization, proper irrigation, frequent mowing at the proper height and over-seeding as needed. Yellow nutsedge is most problematic in turf that is mown too short and in areas where soils remain moist from poor drainage and/or overwatering. In a landscape setting, physical removal of newly introduced plants can be utilized before yellow nutsedge has a chance to take a foothold.

Herbicide management strategies: Cultural management strategies will slow the spread of yellow nutsedge; however, a larger established population will usually require the use of an herbicide program. Several herbicides are available for the control of yellow nutsedge. Regardless of herbicide selected, yellow nutsedge is a “difficult-to-control” weed that may require multiple herbicide applications over two or more years. Late spring to early summer is the best time to control yellow nutsedge because plants will not have started producing tubers (nutlets), making it easier to manage with herbicides. Since the nutlets are the plants’ primary survival structure, it is important to control yellow nutsedge early in the summer before it produces nutlets. Patience and diligence are required for the successful management of yellow nutsedge. Two to three years of control using herbicides are sometimes required to reduce viable tubers in the soil. Herbicides often injure or only partially control growing yellow nutsedge plants and help prevent more nutlets from forming, but herbicide applications will not control nutlets that are viable in the soil but have not yet produced plants. Table 1 provides a list of herbicides that are available for yellow nutsedge management.

New England Blade – Julie Holt, Content Director, TheTurfZone.com

Ryan Bjorn, Field Superintendent, Gillette Stadium / Kraft Sports LLC in Foxboro, MA

Education

* Vermont Technical College: Landscape Design and Ornamental Horticulture

* Stockbridge School of Agriculture: Turfgrass Management

* UMass Amherst: Plant and Soil Science

How did you get started in the sports turf industry?

I worked at Fenway Park from 2007-2010 while I was in school at UMass. (I also worked one summer at the Wainwright Complex in South Portland, Maine). After the Red Sox season finished in 2010, I joined Jon Bengtson at Gillette and worked there until I was offered a position as Assistant Turf Manager in training at the Maryland SoccerPlex in March of 2011. While there, I worked my way up and eventually took over as Director of Grounds in 2014. In August of 2019, I accepted the job of Field Superintendent here at Gillette Stadium.

Who were your mentors?

I have been extremely lucky to have learned from some of the best in the industry throughout my career. From Dave Mellor, Jason Griffeth (now at Daytona International Speedway) and Weston Appelfeller (now at Austin FC in the MLS) while at Fenway Park; to my brief time working with Jon Bengtson at Gillette, and also Jerad Minnick at the Maryland SoccerPlex, I am forever grateful for all of the lessons I learned from these professionals.

What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received?

It was probably when I was deciding whether to “make the leap,” pack up my entire life and move to Maryland for my first full-time job. It meant getting outside of my comfort zone and living away from friends and family, but a colleague gave me the courage to take the chance. If I hadn’t listened, I don’t think I would be where I am today.

What is the next “game-changer” you see on the horizon?

The next thing to make a major difference will be data-driven decision making. It has already started to be used and some great researchers/universities/industry professionals have really started to dig into what is possible when you use data to drive your agronomics, cultural practices, wear patterns, etc. The improvements in efficiency that can be made are really exciting and I hope that people in this industry embrace the change instead of sticking to “we have always done it this way and it has worked just fine.”

Can you share a bit about your family life and what you enjoy doing in your free time?

My incredible wife gave up everything in Maryland to allow me to pursue my dream job here in Massachusetts. I will be forever grateful to her for supporting me throughout the process! We have the best dog anyone could ask for, Boyd, and love having our moments to relax and unwind whenever we can get a break from the grind – especially when that means heading up to southern Maine for a weekend at the beach or lake.

What advice would you share with people starting out in sports turf management today?

Never be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. I think that a lot of us, as sports turf managers, fall back on certain practices/strategies that we are comfortable with, but that don’t necessarily advance ourselves or our industry as a whole. We need fresh ideas to help us tackle new challenges!

What have you enjoyed most about being a NESTMA member?

I would absolutely not be in the position I am today, if it wasn’t for being involved with NESTMA while at UMass. The network I was able to build (and maintain while living in Maryland), the great people that make up the membership and their willingness to help one-another, it truly is a great organization. I am happy to be back in New England and be a member again!

Tennessee Turfgrass – Julie Holt, Content Director, TheTurfZone.com

TheTurfZone: Welcome to TheTurfZone. This episode continues our series on the USDA-funded ResistPoa Project. In this episode, we’re talking to John Kaminski, Ph.D., Professor at Penn State. Welcome John, thanks for joining me.

John Kaminski: Thanks for having me.

TTZ: So let’s jump right in to the ResistPoa Project. We know that controlling annual bluegrass can be a challenge for turfgrass managers, and this project is combining efforts of many researchers and participants. So for your part of the project, I understand that there are many objectives. Let’s start off with talking about what objectives you are working on specifically.

JK: Well, we’re involved in, I don’t know how many, it’s a lot, but several aspects of the project. We’re the lead on two of them. The two that we’re the lead on are first seedling emergence patterns, so there’s several of us around the country that are basically monitoring seedling emergence throughout the entire year. So we’re trying to be able to model seedling emergence based on temperature, soil moisture throughout the various zones in the United States in hopes that we can time some of our pre-emergence or post-emergence herbicides can be applied at those specific timings.

So that’s one that we’re taking the lead on. The other one that we’re taking the lead on, and I don’t know how I got put on this to be honest with you, but there’s an education component. So there’s an outreach and extension component, which is sharing the information with those in the industry and then there’s an education component that I’m taking the lead on that’s going to be more about teaching future scientists and students, developing and pulling together the materials that can be used in classrooms and those types of things. So those are the two that I’m taking the lead on. I have a graduate student Kaiyuan Tang, who is really kind of spearheading the research end of the project. Also there’s a resistance section where we’re monitoring, collecting samples from across Pennsylvania, at least for us, and different zones in the United States and we are screening them for resistance to various herbicides. Apparently this has been a huge problem in the south and with the southern golf courses and home lawns in those areas. But in the north, we’ve been screening for a year, we slowed down a little because of COVID, we can’t really travel that much, but we haven’t found any resistance so far to the commonly used herbicides up here. So I think that we’re gonna definitely see it be a geographic thing. Herbicides are more of an issue down in the south and diseases and fungicide seem to be a bigger issue for us, so we’ll have to just keep plugging away and see what else we find.

We’re also on a, we’re trying to look for alternative controls for poa, so instead of thinking about the traditional herbicides, we’re looking at some of these non-traditional, or non-chemical controls. Pelargonic acid and some of these other products that would be considered more safe to burn down the poa annua. I don’t know how successful that’s going to be. We put trials out last week and it seemed to burn all the turf, including the desired turf, so I think a lot of it is going to depend on timing and there’s a lot of work to still be done.

TTZ: So you’ve definitely got a full slate with your portions of this project–

JK: We’ve definitely got enough to keep us busy.

TTZ: How does this work with – does this complement some other work you’re doing outside of the project, specifically focused on annual bluegrass?

New England Blade – Mike Goatley, Jr., Ph.D., Professor & Extension Turfgrass Specialist, David McCall, Ph.D., Assistant Professor & Extension Turfgrass Pathologist and Shawn Askew, Ph.D., Professor & Extension Turfgrass Weed Scientist

We’re not forecasting catastrophic weather events (although given the way 2020 has gone, what might happen?) Instead, this article is intended to help you avoid disaster as it relates to the pending storm of what is about to play out on your sports fields. Sports field managers are realizing what is on the horizon regarding the demands for use of their sports fields in 2021 with many fall sports now delayed until the spring. The sports field manager will once again face the reality that every sport is the most important in that particular coach’s, player’s, or parent’s mind and the perception (hopefully not expectation) that field access is unlimited. It was fascinating watching the progression of the ‘MLS is Back’ tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex where they hosted 51 matches on 3 fields over 35 days – and the natural grass fields performed marvelously well thanks to an excellent team of sports field managers and consultants. Most of you are facing budget and labor cuts etc. and are quite limited in physical acreage that can be utilized for a greatly expanded spring sports schedule. While there is no guarantee for success, planning and managing for the onslaught of field use in 2021 begins NOW! There are no quick and easy fixes to limitations in soil, a properly crowned field, and an effective irrigation system. So, if those limitations describe your facility, accept that you are somewhat handicapped from the start. However, there are basic cultural, chemical, and communication management concepts that you can employ to help you provide the safest, best playing surfaces under extreme traffic conditions in 2021.

 

Grow as much as grass as possible until cold weather arrives. 

It doesn’t matter if it’s warm-season or cool-season, now is the time to grow the thickest, densest, healthiest turfgrass possible. Many have had to reduce inputs on fields that were not in use; that was appropriate and even necessary for budgets. But given what is coming, you now need to do everything you can to optimize turf density and health prior to winter because the growth rates of both bermudagrass (4-5 months dormancy) and cool-season grasses (2-3 months of no or restricted growth potential) will decline in a few months.

-Soil pH and nutrient management: The makings of a healthy turf begin with a properly balanced soil in terms of pH and nutrients. A soil test is the only way to really know what the soil needs and there is no cheaper piece of insurance in making informed decisions than to soil test (Figure 1). Both warm and cool-season grasses will benefit from the utilization of a soil test in late summer through mid-fall. There is still time to benefit from nitrogen on bermudagrass fields, but keep the nutrient management standards of up to 1 lb N/1000 sq ft per active growing month in mind, and if possible, go to a light and frequent fertility program as the days get shorter. The strategy for a heavily trafficked sports field in the fall (that carries over to the spring) is to keep the bermudagrass actively growing as long as possible, but not extremely succulent heading into that period when frost/freeze events are expected to occur. One point of caution regarding fertilization on bermudagrass next spring in the midst of all the traffic: the tendency is to want to begin fertilizing as soon as it starts to green in an effort to get as much regrowth as possible. That’s a risky strategy that might pay dividends if Mother Nature cooperates (i.e. no more frost events), but for most locations the threat of late season frosts that can decimate all of that early season growth are enough reason to delay spring fertilization until the possibility of fro...