October top tips
- Manage those seasonal changes
As autumn properly arrives and we wave goodbye to summer we must adapt our maintenance practices for the new season, and mowing is one of the key areas to modify. As temperatures drop the frequency you mow is likely to decline too, and your mowing heights should increase. This is because we want to keep our pitches longer in the autumn to ease turf stress, improve recovery and reduce wear.
For example, if you have been mowing at a height of 30mm, it’s good practice to increase this height to 35mm in autumn. You should be careful though to not increase your mowing heights by too much. Sudden, large changes in mowing height may cause changes in playability that your players and coaches are likely to pick up on.
You can avoid this though by increasing your mowing heights gradually over a number of weeks. Ideally you want to end up with a 10mm difference between your summer and winter heights of cut, for example: 25mm (summer) > 35mm (winter).
- Dealing with worm casts
We may not enjoy the wet weather October often brings, but worms certainly do! If your site has alkaline clay soils, casting earthworms may be particularly problematic. Earthworms do bring some benefits to the soil ecosystem, namely promoting aeration, consuming organic matter and regulating water movement in soil. However, on sports pitches their presence in large numbers can cause significant issues. These include worm casts creating an uneven surface, areas of bare soil where weeds can freely populate and the loss of grass cover where casts have smeared.
Fortunately, there are ways you can disturb and disperse worm casts, such as using a combination grooming tool, brushing, harrowing and drag matting. You should be careful to carry out these practices in dry (ideally windy) weather though, so as not to smear the casts. The wet weather of October can make this difficult though and getting tractor mounted equipment onto a pitch can be challenging. Using sand dressing can help to ameliorate the topsoil, making it freer draining, reducing organic matter levels (which worms feed on) and making it easier to disperse the casts. This is an expensive practice though, and can take a few years.
There are no approved pesticidal solutions for treatment of worm casts, and the use of “bio stimulant” and “soil conditioner” type products that seem to have pesticidal effects for worm control is not legal. For now, worm cast suppressant products are largely soil surface acidifiers that have to be applied regularly. Worms do not favour low pH soils, but lowering the pH of a soil can be challenging and comes with its own issues. If you want to explore this option further, please consult with a BASIS registered consumables supplier.
- Tackling leaf fall
With trees starting to shed their leaves in October the playability and overall quality of pitches can be badly affected, especially if you’re on a tree lined site and experience consecutive windy days. Playing experience is one thing, but there are more long-term issues large quantities of fallen leaves on your pitch can lead to.
If leaves are left on a pitch they’ll start to rot down and when the surface becomes wet they can stick to this, creating a canopy and smothering the grass below, leading to a significant loss of grass coverage. The abundance of organic matter produced by falling leaves is also a favourite food-stuff for worms and will encourage them onto your pitch.
There are fortunately several ways you can tackle this problem, including specialist tractor mounted vacuums or sweepers and collectors that are designed to remove debris from playing surfaces. If you’re fortunate enough to have a ride-on rotary mower with collection, or a compact tractor and mowing deck with collection, then setting these to a higher setting than you would usually cut with and hoovering up the leaves can be a great option (if you’ve got a large area affected and the pitch is dry enough for machinery). Pedestrian rotary mowers can also be helpful for smaller areas. Leaf blowers can also be useful for these more localised areas, and disturb the pitch less than using rakes.
You may want to consider managing the trees on your site if fallen leaves are becoming a larger issue, and whether appropriate tree maintenance by a qualified arboriculturist can help to reduce the problem.
- Decompaction vs Aeration
Decompaction of your pitches can be something of a luxury, and if you can only afford to do this once-a-year early October is the ideal time (before the pitch gets too wet, but has softened from summer). It’s important to outline the differences between decompaction and aeration, which are often confused with each other.
Decompaction is aimed at alleviating soil compaction, which occurs when soil particles are pressed tightly together. This compaction reduces pore space and limits the movement of air, water, and nutrients. Sandy soils are particularly susceptible to compaction, whilst clayey soils due to the shrink and swelling effects as they get wet and dry out can de-compact themselves, however additional decompaction can often be desirable to improve water penetration. Decompaction involves mechanically breaking up compacted soil layers. This can be done using specialised equipment such as deep spikers and powered linear slit-knife machines. These machines penetrate the soil, creating channels or fissures that allow for improved water infiltration, root growth, and nutrient movement.
In contrast aeration focuses on improving the exchange of gases (particularly oxygen and carbon dioxide) between the soil and the atmosphere. It also helps with water infiltration and nutrient absorption by plant roots. It is typically achieved by creating holes or channels in the soil, which can be done using various tractor mounted attachments, including spike aerators, slitters or corers. The removal of small soil cores or the creation of openings allows for better airflow and promotes the movement of water and nutrients in the soil profile.
Depending on the attachment used aeration can be carried out on a monthly basis (during the times of year when conditions are appropriate), whereas decompaction using specialised equipment is usually reserved to contractors and will be carried out only once or twice a year in a grassroots setting. For more information on the different machines and when they’re best used follow the links below.
- Last chance to seed
Perennial Ryegrass can germinate in air temperatures as low as 4 degrees (though 7 degrees is more typical). However, for it to establish air and soil temperatures need to generally be consistently above 10 degrees. Otherwise, the growth of seedlings may be slow, and they won’t adequately establish themselves to stand up to play and climatic stresses. Therefore, October is likely your last opportunity to carry out meaningful over-seeding before temperatures drop for winter.