Message Board - Football: rotovate or not
28 May 2010 by Maesglas Football Club.
hi folks
summer here and season over, but as we know the season never ends for the important ones who take care of our playing surface....
Q. our pitch is in dire need of top dressing but the divots and foot holes left behind means a lot of filling, we are contemplating using a rotovator and then a light roll to iron out the worst sections on the ground...what is your advice EXPERTS ?
28 May 2010 by ticky21
i wouldnt just rotavate...this will bring up all sorts of underlying debris, stones, etc...i would if anything use a stone burier, and keep away from rolling...these do not "iron" out lumps and bumps, they compact, that is their job, keep to stone burier, followed by a level bar, to polish the surface, then obviously do your seeding...
Ticky supports British farmers...!!
28 May 2010 by mr wood
to be honest our pitch has been pretty bad with holes, uneven ground and worn goal areas but as with most clubs i dont get a lot of money if any for pitch renovation or maintence unless i put it in. that said what i have done is aerating worse areas then re seeded then top dressed, then levelled it all then re seeded again ok this is not ideal but has worked well as we had an area where moles have been and when more wet weather arrives you would never know there had been there..
i have no access to a tap or water so take 25litre containers down with me. but i d suggest working out a budget for your renovations and then working out what things need to be done that are more important then take it from there. i m no groundsman or expert its all trial and error and sound advice
28 May 2010 by Mal
Depending on the severity you could try if you think it will produce the desired result, using a sisis tilth rake. On a slighty moist surface where the grass has been cut short you can get a reasonable good surface. you do need to get as much grass off as possible as you may be left with a lot of trash lying on the surface and even more if you have a thatchy top. so:
1. cut surface with a box mower or better still a pick up flail mower.
2. rake the area in several different directions the more times you can go over it the better.
3. if you has a lot of trash use the flail pick up mower again but raise the height (you want to pick up the organic matter leaving behind the tilthed soil.
4. Drag mat the surface (with a steel mat or level lute)
5. Get some seed worked into the top ensure the seed is covered pull the rake back across the area and lightly roll.
6. Keep the area watered and fertlise as required.
As an extra you could also make use of a vertidrain with some coring tines to give you some free top dressing.
The thing with the above method is that it will give you a resonable surface without disturbing the soil profile.
Geography is everywhere
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