Maintenance overview

'Fundamental objectives'

Introduction

This module considers the fundamental objectives of maintenance of a natural turf surfaces and some of the interrelated factors such as the characteristics of a particular site, location and the extent and level of sports use that is expected.  A summary tables are given below.

The resources available to the Groundsmanship team are also an important factor and this is discussed in a separate module.

Aim of maintenance  

The overriding aim of maintenance can be defined as the provision of a safe natural turf playing surface that will help to develop the particular sport and the players that take part.

This will require a high degree of knowledge and expertise and require continual monitoring of the natural turf playing surfaces throughout the year.  Keen judgements will be required about the extent and timing of a range of maintenance activities such as mowing to achieve a particular length of grass swards, rolling, aerating, scarifying and the use of fertilisers etc.

See the glossary to explain the exact meaning of such terms and a later module that discusses more common maintenance techniques in more detail.

Sports requirements and quality

The sports requirements are covered in the separate sections for Cricket, Football, Rugby League and Rugby Union along with details of the expert support that is available to help sports club improved their pitches. There are specific Performance Quality Standards (PQSs) for each sport and these can be used to take objective measurements on an individual site and flag up if particular remedial actions are desirable.

On the other hand there is much that can be learnt from more traditional assessment techniques. For example, the length of the grass can be gauged against the soles of a boots or shoes and the effectiveness of drainage can seem by the degree of ‘squelch’ underfoot or the length of time that water remains on the surface after heavy rain. The degree that a fork dropped from shoulder height will stick in, or bounce off of the surface can also indicate if irrigation is required.

The local situation

The groundmanship team will also be aware of issues for a particular site and maintenance practices that have been successful in the past. A yearly program of activities will be needed to create the best playing conditions possible for the club fixtures and the essential pre-planned restorative work at the end of the season.  This might be for a single sport on a seasonal basis for say rugby or cricket, or alternatively for a combination of sports where the winter pitches are created on the cricket outfield.

'Safe playing surfaces that develop the sport and players'