The above photo posted with this blog is one we use a lot.
It’s a shot we made two years ago in mid-July…of the varsity football field at Arcanum High School, in Darke County. Theirs is one of Ever-Green’s most poignant success stories, because it represents the typical scenario of frustration when grass doesn’t grow where you want it, when you want it, and withstand traffic and seasonal stress the way you want it.
We took over the project in the fall of November 2009, immediately after the football season, and did all the right cultural things for growing better turf.
A typical July lawn? Doesn’t have to be. Match the turf variety with the growing conditions to help avoid “patchy” results in hot dry weather. It works!
We aerated…twice, three times.
We seeded…with a special blend of bluegrass turf engineered genetically to withstand the stress of high traffic athletic fields.
We did soil tests…to determine the correct nutritional needs.
We irrigated…or we should say, we advised them how to better use the irrigation they already had.
We mowed…in a particular pattern, on a particular schedule, and that to this day never varies. As much as three times per week, if needed.
We fed it…exactly what it needed, and not a day later (or week later) than it needed it. The same for weed control.
And what we got was what now stands as one of the best “natural soil” athletic fields in southwest Ohio, or even the state. There are no weeds. There is no competition from undesirable grass varieties. Just a pure, beautiful surface that stays beautiful with timely feeding, mowing, and yearly aeration.
Now we write this as an encouragement to homeowners frustrated with their own attempts to maintain a lawn that looks like the one in Arcanum, or the new soccer, baseball, and softball surfaces at Newton High School, other Ever-Green projects. And we do it by using the recipe that works with a good residential lawn. Plant with the “correct” seed for the conditions, and do everything afterwards in a timely manner…feed, mow, weed treatment, and occasional aeration. And don’t forget the water. All grass needs at least “some” water.
Do that and you’ll have results like what you see in the above photo with Ever-Green owner Joe Duncan (left) and Randy Tischer, the president of Green Velvet Sod Farm, in Bellbrook. We thought in the middle of winter you’d appreciate a success story.
After all, a little encouragement goes a long way!
