We’ve had an extremely wet March – How does this affect the grass plant?
Courtesy of Dennis Randolph – NSPMA Executive Director
This year be thankful if you have a sand based or well drained sports field. The record setting wet March has certainly slowed down the grass plant root system development both from the super–saturated and cold soil temperature standpoints. Knowing this it would be wise to make a special effort to core aerate as soon as the conditions will allow. Introducing air into the root system will help warm the soil and thus jump start the grass plant. In fact this spring you may wish to consider an even deeper aeration to loosen the compacted layer between 4-7”. This would promote not only deeper root development but more water holding capacity of the soil – thus giving you a longer playing season into the fall.
Often times when a field finally dries out after these wet conditions the playing surface will become very hard. The aeration also will assist in the safety of the field countering the hard playing surface condition
