Even though it’s the offseason for most outdoor sports, it doesn’t mean you can’t actively practice proper athletic field maintenance all year long. Even though athletic field maintenance is important throughout the regular season, keeping a well-maintained field through the off months can be beneficial. Proper maintenance can potentially lead to better field conditions all year long instead of trying to play catch up during the regular season. There are important steps to follow to ensure that your field is at its peak when the time comes for players to storm the field day in and day out.
Steps To Maintain Your Field
- Constant Mowing
- Soil Aerification
- Scheduled Irrigation
- Weather Monitoring
Constant Mowing
Even though it’s the offseason, it’s important to continue mowing throughout the offseason months. Mowing is a vital step in sports field maintenance when it comes to both playability and the field’s aesthetic. Grass can grow at a significant rate when promoted within the right environment. This can lead to thick patches of grass as well as unsightly weeds such as goosegrass and crabgrass developing. If not taken care of, these can overwhelm a sports field, making later maintenance far more difficult than it should be. By constantly mowing the field during the offseason, you avoid running the risk of a damaged sports field.
Soil Aerification
Soil aerification is a key component in maintaining athletic sports fields during the offseason. Grassroots can become tangled and cause the soil to become compacted. This leads to the grass not getting the right amount of nutrients daily. Negligence during the offseason can lead to the grass dying. This can force sports field maintenance managers to buy new patches of grass to replace the dead patches right before the season is supposed to begin. Soil aerification involves poking small holes in the soil. This allows oxygen and nutrients to pass deeper into the soil and provide the grass with the necessary nutrients.
Scheduled Irrigation
During the dryer months of the year, grass may be void of all water, one of the leading sources of nutrients and oxygen that grass receives. Without its natural intake of nutrients, grass will slowly but surely die. This can be completely avoided all offseason simply by scheduling irrigation cycles. This way, the sports field’s grass stays perfectly healthy all year long.
Weather Monitoring
Another simple strategy to actively participating in a sports field complex is constantly monitoring the weather. During winter, it’s imperative to know when there may be snowfall. This gives sports field maintenance managers the opportunity to tarp the field up and ensure that it will be preserved. Failure to track the weather can lead to the field being absolutely demolished and frozen over.
If you’re unable to actively participate in sports field maintenance during the offseason, consider STO Landscape. We’re able to handle all your maintenance needs all year long. Call us today at (561) 369-7994 to learn more about our sports field maintenance plans!