Green and Healthy from Root to Tip
David Robinson, General Manager from Bathgate Group discusses the importance of achieving the perfect turf for any sports surface, and advises on the key considerations for specifying both rootzone and topdressing
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n any sporting environment, the quality of the playing surface is critical to the quality of the players’ performance. That fundamental truth also means that superior turf is essential for the sporting venue’s reputation and its commercial success. In the golfing world, for example, those courses that combine excellent location with superior fairways and greens become must-visit destinations for golfing enthusiasts the world over and must-play venues for professionals. But, what’s the secret to creating turf
that provides the ideal playing surface and lends itself to being maintained and nurtured so that the playing surface remains consistently excellent over the years? The answer lies in the materials used when the playing surface is created,
starting with the rootzone. Getting to the root of the matter
The rootzone is the layer beneath the surface turf where the grass roots interknit with the soil. For healthy grass, the grass roots need an environment that provides enough air, water, space and nutrients in order to grow and flourish. The composition of the rootzone, therefore, is extremely important and it’s essential to follow the advice of a well- established, industry accredited supplier who can advise on the particular requirements of an individual installation.
In general terms, an ideal rootzone material should provide a balanced porosity that ensures optimum water retention and aeration: too much
drainage, and frequent irrigation and fertiliser application will be required; too little, and the turf is at risk of becoming waterlogged. The ideal approach to providing this balanced porosity is a rootzone composed mostly of well- graded sand, combined with an organic amendment additive, because sand provides the drainage and stability advantages sometimes lacking in natural soils.
There are numerous factors that affect the success of the rootzone in balancing water retention/drainage requirements and aeration, including particle size distribution (the separation of sand grains into distinct diameter sizes), silt and clay content, saturated hydraulic conductivity (the constant rate at which a saturated material is able to transmit
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