Message Board - Natural Turf: Damage to square
29 Apr 2004 by Hotopener40
Damage to square
Our square which we care for as volunteers has been vandalised with the use of what looks like weed killer. The affected areas have gone yellow and the grass is dying.
What can we do? We are in danger of losing our upcoming home games.
Help
29 Apr 2004 by Loammeister
Damage
Hi Hotopener
Where are you in the country? If you want to get it looked at sharpish you can email pictures to pitchcare or myself (info@gsbloams.co.uk) and we'll have a look to see if we can identify the problem. At least you may not lse too much cricket this weekend with the passing monsoon we're having.
Good Luck David
The light at the end of the tunnel is not a train
29 Apr 2004 by Hipper
Cricket square damage
I had a similar problem with creosote some years ago. I chose to dig out the affected area and replace the soil, being careful to compact well and keep level.
However, I now think that was the wrong choice. Now I would just leave it and although it looks unsightly, you still have a level, compacted surface which is playable. If you can, I would suggest you use the affected wickets as soon as possible; you can disguise the surface a bit with a small amount of fresh grass cuttings on match day.
Of course it is important to identify the cause of the problem as loammeister suggests. Dying yellow grass could be anything - weedkiller as you think; urine, beer, fuel leakage or spillage, poor fertilizer spreading........ Some are not such a problem and will leach away with rain, but other material may be more persistent and will prevent newly sown seed from growing.
29 Apr 2004 by Martin Ward
Damage to square
Vandalism is an all to common problem, you do not say how big an area is affected but if itis big enough to jeopardise matches then urgent action is needed. However first you need to discover if the damage is lasting eg weedkiller drenching the soil or temporary eg fertiliser scorch or light weedkiller. We usually take a small amount of soil from the surface and sow quick germinating seed. If the seed germinates and survives no problem, scarify and overseed, but if it germinates and dies Michael probably has a the best solution until such time as the soil recovers. recovery can be helped by drenching with clean water. Good luck
29 Apr 2004 by Nigel.S
Damage to square
some good answers from members above, espesicially using a soil sample
another tip to see if soil is effected is to take sample or use in situ and sow cress seed on top keep damp this will germinate within 48hrs in the right conditions, and will soon show a problem to soil conditions ie poor growth etc, yellowing as it is more sensitive then grass seed, good luck.
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