Message Board - Cricket: HELP!!!

Evening everyone

Just been down to check on the square or should I say the fencing round the square that it was still up luckily it is.

But as I had a quick look over the square some idiot had rolled it. Let me give you some detail last week the square was KOROed, scarified new loam added and seeded with R9. When I left it on friday all was fine and have checked it every other day (cant get enough time to go down everyday). With the rain and sun we have had I havent touched it but who ever has rolled it today (believe me when I find out they will get both barrells) has managed to get the top surface to lift so we now have a 12mm plate of loam and seed sitting on the top furthermore all the seed has risen to the top. Have phoned the chairman he is looking into who the idiot was and he has asked me to let him know what needs doing I think there are a few options.

1. Scarify down into the base layer create a tilth, reseed and topdress. Would this create a problem with too much seed.

2. Scrap the new topdressing and seed off, scarify, brush the topdressing back on. But not to sure on this one as cant tell if seed is spread across the whole square.

3.Start again and take the top off throw away, scarify then reseed and topdress

Im sure there is more options ive missed but not sure. Can anyone advise as to what I should do not sure on how much money will be avalible as the KORO wasnt cheap

Many Thanks
RP

Difficult to say without seeing it, but I imagine that if you watered it well and kept it moist it would settle down and the seed would grow. If all that has happened is it's been rolled then most of the seed will still be in the soil.

Not ideal, but it may look worse than it is. Do you have any pictures?

On a dry day and with the soil dry i would get a tractor mounted Graden, set tines just into the surface and tilth then perhaps drag a drag mat over it. Should be fine, but do it before any seed tries to germinate. Might pay to apply another couple of bags of seed just in case, prior to tilthing.

Just another opinion Andy, you beat me to it.

Hi I would do option 1 with more seed and best do it quickly. Also find out who it was and take there keys off them and put them under the square at least the seed will get some feed to help it grow.

Would love to know their reasons for use of the roller.( was it the big feller?) If it was to aid seed to soil contact i can understand. But then it would have to be the lightest roller and even then, timing and conditions would have to ideal.

It`s a shame, Hopefully you will turn it around.

Are you sure someone has rolled it?

So they took the fencing down ... rolled it ... and put fencing back for no reason?

Are you sure the rain hasn't just excited the original grasses and the new loam has just crusted up and the seed settled on top?

I'd defo find out for 100% certain that some has actually done something. You may just find that the best thing to do is nowt.

I'd need to see it really but please don't do anything drastic until you find out EXACTLY what may have been done ( or not ).

Good luck

Morning all

The chairman has found the idiot wont tell me who (not sure why he wont tell me NOT) was rolled using 1.5tonner. Not been given a reason as yet. Will up load pics ASAP

Kill him!

Every club has at least one person like this. Usually it is someone in authority who wants to help out, fancies himself as a tractor driver, but can't do anything til after work and had his tea (ie you're not around). They are dangerous and unpredictable and won't be told. Often they are very good when well supervised however, but do not leave them to their own inititive or unattended. They are best with small handtools.

The solutions to people like this, other than wilful homicide are:

Change the locks, bolt down the toolbox, drain the fuel and hide the can, park something heavy and unstartable in front of everything else, loosen a vital electrical contact etc.

Prime suspect from what you tell us is the Chairman himself.

Sorry to hear your troubles, the advice above is good.

As Andy Johnson asked earlier - was there a reason given as to why the person thought it a would be a good idea to run a roller over the square?

EDIT: Sorry but I didn't notice that you'd already stated that you hadn't been given a reason yet!!

Well.....that's three of us wanting to know now, Mr. Chairman!

Just re read this thread ...

So you've Koro'd the top off ... to remove a thatch layer or a break?

Then you've added 12mm of loam? How many tracks? That's a lot of loam so I can't believe you are talking about scraping that off and scrapping it ( your option 3 )?

The 'culprit' rolled it with the heavy.

The 12mm has 'lifted' and now sits on top.

... but you only did it last week so it won't have binded yet with the original table. New seed hasn't even started yet.

So just leave it for a few weeks until new seed is through then as soon as it's workable spike it through the 12mm new loam ( several passes ) to get the roots going down and binding it all back together. Keep spiking all over winter.

Am I missing something here?

You wouldn't put 12mm of loam on existing grass so it's just a matter of getting the new seed rooting through into the existing table. I'm presuming that the 12mm of new loam is compatible with original table?

KOROed to remove saddles and the top 25mm. Square is 22mx20m. After calming down for the day and ringing the contractros that did the KORO looks like i will either water the nuts out of the square for the next week or so and hope it washes in OR scarify down into the old surface drag mat maybe an extra bag of seed for good measure,

Thanks for the advise
Ryan

I'd make the pra* pay for any other expense.
Ryan are you the nominated groundsman or is it a shared responsibility?

Im the one that gets it in the neck if anythings goes wrong. Ground is council owened and there contractros are ment to do the ground work but all they do is cut outfield once a year it seems and cut and mark the pitch that is never correct. So I started 3 years ago doing abit of work here and there to try and improve the standard of the pitches we play on ever since i seem to have been given the job of groundsman.

If the koro has just been on then the top surface is going to be seriously soft. I'd find out who put the roller any where near it and give him a f'in good kicking.
I'm very impressed if you managed to calm down after only one day.
Rolling an unsettled koro'd square can very easily leave you with a corrugated surface which will need another koro to sort it out.

I'd go with scarifying and then drag matting personally. But it's going to be hit or miss as to whether it'll sort it or not.

If the chairman refused to tell me who did it, let alone why, they'd be fixing it themselves - cos I would simply walk away.

That's all a bit vague mate. "cut the outfield once a year"?
"cut and mark the pitch"?
So what exactly do you do?
Who paid for the koroing?

If it's level fella just leave it.

See what grass emerges in the next couple of weeks.

If it's a bit feeble and the conditions are right ... plasticine and walkable ... I'd probably sorrel it a few times ( if it isn't lifting or disturbing the surface ) and throw another bag of seed on it. It'll still only be end of September.

Glad you've calmed a little. This job is dreadful for your nerves. I still think some time, a lot of water and a dollop of Mother Nature and it'll all be good.

Loads of spiking over winter though.

It's amazing what a winter can do, I once at the request of the Club Chairman, after solid tining his outfield, put an RFU Soil Reliever and 60hp tractor on his square, it broke up like crazy paving. I lifted the tines and heavy rolled as much as could back into the square. In the nine years since I did it, that previously waterlogged square has never retained water, and has some of the best tracks in the league.