July Football Diary 2011

Laurence Gale MScJul 07, 2011in Football

The recent rainfall has been most welcome for the many groundsmen who have struggled to water their pitches adequately during the prolonged dry period. With plenty of moisture back in the soil profile, the grass will begin to colour up and promote some much needed growth.

A dose of fertiliser will also encourage the sward to respond more quickly. While air and soil temperatures remain high, there will still be a lot of water loss through evaportranspiration.

No surprise really that at this time of year you would be looking to replace an evaporation rate of 5mm per day, which represents quite a loss of moisture in the ground.

Replacing this moisture can be quite a task if you are lugging around hose pipes or, worse still, have nothing at all in place to supplement any rain you are fortunate to receive.

If you are faced with having no resources to water, you may need to develop a strategy to reduce plant stress. This can be achieved by reducing the frequency of cutting (Chances are your grass will be slipping into dormancy in any case), secondly by letting your grass grow a little higher (raise the height of cut on you mower).

If you normally cut with a box on, you could try letting the clippings fly to help reduce evaporation from the soil surface.

Early in the Month

1st - 15th July

If you have had to oversow any thin areas, it is critical that you do not allow seedlings to dry out. Keep your seeded areas watered.

If possible and if you have them to hand, make use of your germination sheets to encourage the rapid establishment of your seeded areas. If using germination sheets, check underneath them regularly for disease.

Make sure your goal posts are painted and ready for deployment. Also ensure your nets are checked for repairs or replacements are on hand if you haven't already done so.

Check you have enough line marking material to hand and enough to get you through your season. This is probably a good time to inspect your marker and ensure that it is in good working order for when you need it.

Later in the Month

16th July - onwards

Continue to monitor the progress/success of your thin oversown areas to ensure that you have the best opportunity for the grass to be strong, with good coverage for the start of the next season.

An application of fertiliser can be applied late in the month to take the grass through the rest of July and into August. Avoid the use of fertilisers with a high salt content, as this will exacerbate the stress factors in the grass as it draws moisture from the grass plant. Use of liquid fertilisers are less likely to scorch grass but may still need to be watered in.

Consider, as an alternative, applications of seaweed or amino bio stimulants which have proved beneficial in helping grass through stressful periods. Another consideration is the use of calcium, an important ingredient for giving the plant rigidity and regulating root and shoot growth.

There are a couple of products out there in the market that combine all these, specifically for incorporating into stress relieving programmes.

Key Tasks for July

Ongoing maintenance

If you are unable to provide irrigation to the whole pitch, then at least you should try and ensure adequate watering of the goalmouth and centre circle areas. If you follow a programme of using wetting agents to ensure a uniform wetting, this will help. Such a programme will need to have been initiated from April onwards and will usually follow a monthly application. This is particularly useful on soils prone to dry patch.

Dragmatting/brushing:- Continue the work of brushing to keep the air circulating around the base of the plant, particularly important for removing early morning dew and controlling disease on watered areas.

Useful Information for Ongoing maintenance

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	Magpies - two for sorrow!		Football Goals

Mowing

Cutting: Continue cutting regularly at 25 -37mm to ensure a good sward density. It may, sometimes, be helpful with newly sown grasses to lightly roll the surface before cutting to ensure that the weakly held grasses in the surface do not get pulled out. Also ensure that any equipment used is keenly set to cut without tearing.

Useful Information for Mowing

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	Hot and humid risk for stadium Leaf Spot attack		Fungicides

Aeration

Spiking: Continue spiking when the conditions allow alleviating built up compaction. Keep your spiking regime flexible. Surface spiking at this time of year and heading into a dry spell will help what rain you receive to move quickly down into the surface where it will be of benefit to your grass plants.

Useful Information for Aeration

Articles		Products
	Why Aeration?		Football Pitch / Rugby Pitch Grass Seed

Fertilising

If grass shows signs of stress (weak growth, discoloured), fertiliser treatment and turf tonic can be continued in accordance with your annual programme. If you haven't got a fertiliser programme, have your soil tested; try an independent soil analysis company for an impartial set of results.

Most groundstaff will be applying a summer N P K fertiliser, perhaps something like a 12:0:9 or 9:7:7 to maintain grass colour and vigour. A slow release fertiliser could be applied to see you through July and August. The choice of materials and how well they work will depend on factors such as soil type and weather, with moisture and air temperature being the catalyst for growth.

Do not apply fertiliser during drought periods, unless you have the means to water in.

Useful Information for Fertilising

Articles		Products
	Back to Basics 2		Granular Turf Fertilisers

Other Tasks for the Month

Equipment cleaning/painting: Make sure that goal posts are cleaned and painted. There's nothing worse than rushing at the beginning of a season to get this job done, when you have a thousand and one other things to do before your first game. Check for replacement nets and spare parts; order them in, so they are on hand when needed.
Line Marking:- Ensure you have checked your line markers and that they are fit for purpose. Especially the spray jet markers, you may need to replace the nozzles and check the battery and water pump.
Also, remember to order your paint for your marker.

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