Grass pitch maintenance treatments will provide players with a turf of the highest global standard. If the pitch is uneven, hard and impermeable to water, it may affect not only the quality of play, but also increase the risk of injury. We show you how to professionally care for pitch turf.

Sustainable pitch care

As a turf contractor or landscape maintenance professional, you face increasing demands for environmental protection and work efficiency.

The machines we recommend here have been designed in a way that makes lawn care and mowing easier and more enjoyable than ever before.

What activities do the pitches require to ensure that they are properly maintained, in good condition and look beautiful? We answer!

Surface cleaning

Right after winter, before the turf begins to be heavily used, it is worth taking care of its condition. Therefore, the first thing we should do when caring for the pitch is to clean the surface of weeds, stones and other undesirable soil elements that compete with the proper, full-value grass. Weeds usually grow faster, taking nutrients and water from the soil. As a result of neglect, the utility value of the pitch will be significantly reduced, and in extreme cases the turf may be completely replaced.

Soil loosening and aeration  

Aeration, which can be carried out in two ways, is an extremely important maintenance procedure for playing fields.

• The first method is aeration. It involves puncturing the turf with spikes to ensure better aeration and supply of water and nutrients to the root system.

• The second, more intense one is scarification. It involves cutting the turf with knives in order to remove felt, moss and remains of dead plants that hinder grass growth, and thus create better conditions for the supply of air, water and fertilizers to the zone root.

The above-mentioned treatments improve the uptake of nutrients by the soil as well as water and accelerate grass growth. In the traktor.com.pl offer you will find the perfect solution that meets both functions according to your needs - vertykulator - aerator model RG1202 mounted to a tractor or stand-alone AL-KO 518 petrol scarifier, which looks like a lawn mower and does not require the operation of a tractor. 4FARMER toothed roller.

Aeration is recommended to be performed on shortly mown grass, having previously removed all obstacles (stones, branches and larger weeds). Preferably twice a year - in spring and autumn, so that they can get enough air to breathe.

During the vegetation period and significant turf growth, i.e. from April to September, soil aeration has a particularly beneficial effect on the development of blades. In spring and late summer it stimulates root growth.

Aeration should be followed by fertilization of the lawn, additional sowing and intensive irrigation.

Fertilizing the pitch turf

When our surface is ready for sowing, you can start fertilizing the soil using a spreader. Fertilization should be done 4 times a year. This provides the sports lawn with proper nutrition, at the right time and in a controlled manner. Depending on the season, we apply appropriate fertilizers, adapted to the conditions on the pitch.

Fertilizer spreaders of THIS brand Dexwal with a capacity of 200L or 300L are suspended on the tractor's three-point linkage. The spreader is prepared to work on maximum terrain slopes not exceeding 8 degrees. The spreader is driven by the tractor's PTO shaft. Fertilizer and loose material are dosed using a rotating disc through two holes located at the bottom of the hopper.

Grass reseeding

As a result of intensive use of the turf or improper care, small, local defects often appear. Loosening of the grass is also common as a result of improper mowing of the grass. In such cases, we should remove local damage by filling the gaps with lawn turf or by sowing seeds with specialized regeneration mixtures.

And this is where LS Tractor in combination comes in handy LEJ fertilizer spreader by Dexwal with a capacity of 200L. As you can see, the spreader performs quite a lot of functions in the care process pitches.

Attention! It should be remembered that grass mixtures used on pitches should be properly matched, i.e. resistant to physical and atmospheric conditions and loads occurring during play. By using appropriate grass mixtures, we quickly restore the physical and technical properties of the pitches.

Sandblasting

In the case of pitches, the mentioned fertilizer spreader-spreader has a dual purpose. In addition to spreading seeds, it is also adapted to work as a sand spreader, so its second application may be sandblasting the pitch. Sandblasting sports fields is a regularly repeated maintenance procedure. Sandblasting is a solution for compact and poorly permeable turf, as well as for heavy and clay soil.

This treatment involves covering the surface with a 3-5 millimeter layer of sand. First of all, it increases the permeability and porosity of the substrate, thanks to which new, stronger roots and grass runners appear. Moreover, it eliminates any unevenness of the terrain, smoothes the pitch and raises the ground level. This thickens the turf and eliminates surface moisture and soil smearing. This is to prevent felting of the grass, maintain good soil structure and regulate the throughput of the bastards. The result is an improved and higher-quality pitch surface.

Rolling  

Right after winter, before the turf begins to be heavily used, it is worth taking care of its condition. Therefore, in early spring, after the pitch has dried, rolling is carried out. The purpose of the treatment is to press the turf to the supporting layer and level the surface of the subgrade.

The tractor roller is perfect for both laying and caring for a lawn. It is very helpful when sowing lawns and laying turf. It is one of the basic agricultural tools used for kneading, leveling and breaking up clods of earth.

Despite its simple structure and simple operation, it plays a very important role in soil cultivation. The basic task of the press roller is to compact and level the soil. Surface compaction of the soil causes the seeds to adhere more to the ground, which causes even, faster seed germination and, consequently, faster growth.

To increase efficiency, we can fill it with water or sand. With a greater weight, it will effectively strengthen the soil before sowing grass and press the seeds to the ground after sowing, preventing them from being blown away by gusts of wind.

However, remember that too frequent rolling causes excessive compaction of the root layer of the pitch, which means that water, oxygen and fertilizers do not reach the roots.

Irrigating the pitch

For the turf to be properly cared for and aesthetic, regular irrigation is needed to maintain constant soil moisture. It is assumed that well-watered soil must be moist to a depth of min. 10-15 cm. Then the ability of the grass roots to grow increases, and the turf itself is more resistant to trampling, e.g. during drought.

For irrigation and weed control, demarol field sprayer. Its capacity and working width should be adapted to the surface.

Brush

Brushing should be performed as needed. In practice, this happens on average once a month. Brushing is intended to remove dead plant parts, lift crumpled grass and clean the turf.

Mowing

Finally, the activity for which sports fields are famous, i.e. mowing. Of all the activities around sports fields, it is most often performed (right after irrigation), especially in the period from spring to late autumn, so it is not worth saving in this matter.

However, it is worth noting that the mown grass should have a precisely defined height. The recommended height of football pitch grass is 3 to 3.5 cm, and in periods of drought and winter up to 4 cm. It is recommended to mow no more than 30% of the height to prevent weakening the lawn.

For mowing fields we recommend LM1160 maintenance mowers. It is dedicated to tractors LS Tractor MT1.25 . It is an inter-axle mower, which means that it is mounted between the tractor's axles. Moreover, LS Tractor MT1.25 can be equipped with a basket with low or high discharge. Thanks to this, the mower will immediately collect the cut grass in the basket - you will save time, and the surface will be tidy and aesthetic.

To the railway to LS Tractor MT3 .35 we recommend FMK maintenance mower by 4FARMER.

These are mowers designed for maintaining large areas that are mowed regularly. Perfect for those who want precisely and nicely mowed grass. The LS Tractor in combination with the maintenance mower ensures precise mowing results and exceptional efficiency.

Are all pitch maintenance activities necessary?

The above-mentioned activities are compatible with each other, so they bring the best results when combined. This means that, for example, sandblasting brings the greatest results when combined with scarifying, aeration, and sometimes also with rolling. Scarification should be performed in combination with sandblasting and overseeding. In turn, we perform grass reseeding along with scarifying, aerating and sanding - thanks to this, the seeds germinate quickly and the clumps develop strongly, creating a compact, dense turf. We therefore see the interdependence of all activities.