July

Operations to complete in July:

• 1. Keep your pitch well watered to avoid surface cracking if possible

  

  As we reach July problematic surface cracks can begin to appear, especially on pitches with high clay content and areas of bare ground. Lack of rainfall and higher temperatures cause changes in moisture levels, which can lead to cracking. Whilst keeping your pitch well watered is one of the most obvious solutions, there are plenty of other actions you can take to avoid cracking pitches. 

  • Try to time your aeration and decompaction works appropriately throughout the season. For example, linear decompaction is best timed through autumn and winter (as long as it’s not too wet). This is because these wider slits can last for a long time in clay soils, and open up in the dry warmer periods if done too late in the season. 
  • Good grass cover and root structure can help prevent cracking, so do your best to maintain this through regular maintenance and pitch renovation. 
  • Maintaining a higher grass height in the summer months can help slow the drying effects of drought and prevent cracking 
  2. Recognising dry patch

  Dry patch can also begin to appear in the summer months, most commonly in sandy soils. Contributing factors also include soil compaction, poor or lack of irrigation coverage, thatch layers and slope. Because dry patch causes the soil to repel water, pitch areas affected by it will be bone dry and dusty, and watering them will have no effect. This also leads to the water running off into surrounding areas, making them quite moist by comparison. You can take a look at the link below for further guidance. 

  3. Keeping your pitch healthy

  If you’ve applied a controlled or slow release granular in Spring, you may find (depending on timing and growing conditions) that turf is beginning to get hungry again in mid-summer. Budgets will dictate whether a further application can be made, and soil analysis and appropriate advice will hopefully have factored this into any plans. If you can only afford to apply it twice a year, Spring and early Autumn are generally best. Don’t apply fertiliser during drought periods as it will be ineffective (requiring adequate rainfall to wash it into the soil) and may damage the grass. 

  4. Mark out your pitches

  

  July is a good time for us to get ready for marking out whether it be using a GPS line marker to ensure every line is where it should be or whether we do it ourselves. 

• You should make sure all your line marking equipment is fit for purpose and know the size and location of the required pitches. Make sure you have all the materials you need, including: 
  • 100m measuring tape 
  • Folding square 
  • Surveyors’ wheel 
  • Pegs 
  • Line marking string 
  • Appropriate line marking machine 
  • Paint 

  Marking out from scratch is a two-person job and it can take you between 3-4 hours to mark out a full-size pitch from scratch, dependant on experience. 

  • You can use a small reel or cut up broom handle to store the lengths of string you need for marking out. 
  • Metal reinforced string (like that used for electric fences) can make it easier to tension the string, helping you to get nice straight lines. 
  • You can buy plastic inserts known as carrots, that can be screwed into the soil to help keep in the measurements of your pitch. It’s always a good idea to double check these, as they can move several inches over the course of a season or be disturbed by machinery. 
  • On multi pitch sites where you can spend several days initially marking pitches, a good option may be to book a company that offers GPS line marking services. They will come in, plot the required pitches on your site and do the initial marking for you in as little as 25 minutes per full size pitch. 
  5. Mowing height

  

  You should have been keeping your grass a little longer during the close season, to shield it from the effects of drought and protect newly establishing grass. Now the start of the season is coming up and training may have even begun, we must remember to gradually reduce the grass length back to playing height. Ideally this should be done over the course of a couple of weeks to minimise any stress to the turf.