Football Field Maintenance Plan

You need to go to your county extension office (or the equivalent in TX), and talk to them.

They will do soil samples for you at a minimal charge (maybe free for the school) and tell you what to do about fertilizer, spray, etc.

I see your in Austin. I don't know if you are in the city or in a surrounding area, but our local feed store (I know they have cows around Austin!) is very helpful with advice on field maintenance.

One other good resource is golf course superintendents in the area. Of all people they have vast knowledge on maintaining various types of turf.

I agree with mitch, find a qualified local consultant, either the county extension service agent, farm supply company, fert/chem co's, etc...some of these farm supply co's will pull soil samples for you(need to be doing this right now), our county agent here, just gives us the soil bags, you pull your own samples, lol.....the samples sent to the county agent usually take awhile to get back, as they generally get sent to the state college, they're an extension of......the local farm supply samples get back quick as they use a local lab......so timing is important....the sample will tell you how much lime, nit./ phos./ potash, plus minor elements your bermuda turf requires, like in pounds or tons per acre.....its best if you let them spread this initial bulk load, then you can topdress lightly with nitrogen yourself(as needed) a few times during the growing season........some other requirements for healthy bermuda turf = weed control(dormant and growing season)= consult your local turf farms or golf courses for the best(safest) stuff.....disease control = the common stuff we saw in our 419 bermuda here in south ga. was brown patch and powdery mildew mostly and Bravo or equivalent was pretty good control and relatively safe to humans.....insect control = lots of things like to eat bermuda stems, roots and shoots, lol.....the biggest meanest critter is a mole cricket.....personally, I don't like dumping a bunch of pesticides on the turf as preventative control, but try to scout the field regularly, looking for signs of insects or their damage and use the chemicals sparingly....same for weeds and diseases.....remember....people are playing in this turf, touching it, putting their hands in their eyes/faces, getting it on their skin, etc...In order for the turf to recover quickly from pest/disease damage as well as player traffic...a good irrigation system is a must.....preferably an automatic timed system, so the coach's aren't having to change zones by hand, at all hours of the day and night, lol.....done this too!.....Proper mowers make a big difference in the overall appearance, health and speed of the track/field = I liked to use a 5 gang(reels) self propelled fairway mower if possible....you'll get the best cut...least amount of damage....can easily keep the turf height between 1/2" to 3/4" if you like a fast track.....keeps from having excess thatch(hay).....if you have to use a rotary mower, mow it often and blow the clippings to the sidelines and remove them......some other maintenance items that should be done at least yearly........aeriation or coring......verticutting.....and top dressing with fine clean sand.....PS= anytime you'll be using any equipment that could damage your sprinkler heads, don't forget to mark them with flags, you'll be money ahead.....probably should have pm'd you this stuff, but....maybe somebody else can use the info.....I know I'm probably forgetting some important stuff, but just pm me, if I can help you anymore.....good luck.....los

I'll be glad to help you guys with anything I've learned, the successful things and the crop failures, lol.....forgot a couple things on the 1st post....."verticutting" = vertical slicing = bermuda turf needs this done at least once a year, twice would be better....cuts the horizontal runners, promotes more upright growth(like more blades per square inch, so your golf ball will sit up high on the fairway, lol)......Granular Iron was also something we spread on an as needed basis......at least here, in this area.....its not that difficult, to learn how to take care of your field.....once you get a good yearly schedule, know what products to use and the proper rates, get your irrigation up to par and some decent equipment to work with.....the rest is timing and adjusting to mother nature......just like a "real farmer", lol

I know that you immediately need to put down a pre-emergent (if you aren't putting any bermuda seed down). This will keep anything from germinating from seed, i.e. weeds. A couple we have used in the past are Surflan and Barricade ( I think they are the same thing, just different names. You will find out this is common in sprays as you get more into it).

This will drastically cut down on what you need to kill later on.

The most important thing you will need when your Bermuda starts coming in is water. I suggest you get on top of your irrigation system (pipes, shotgun sprayer, sprinkler system, etc.) right now, if you haven't already done so.

You're right mitch....those are good pre-emergents....we used both of those on the golf course and football field....trying to remember the other one....uhhh....Ronstar maybe?...Your exactly right though....the percentage of "active ingredient" is the difference in some......many chemicals use the same active ingredient, just a different percentage and trade name....like chlorothalonil(sp) is the active ingredient for many fungicides, whether a higher priced brand(like Bravo) or a cheaper generic substitute.

Thats one of the benefits of living with the gnats and fire ants airman, lol....well... that, and we're too poor to afford anything better.....nothing finer though when you can stripe that bermuda every 5 yards with a good fairway mower....looks pretty, lol

Dumb question MAYBE.. but just how do you go about making every 5 look different?

Yep.....reel mowers have a tendency to lay the blades of grass over, in the direction your mowing....if you look at the field from one side......the grass will have a lighter/grayer appearance, with the blades of grass slanting away from you, say the G to 5 yd line....then the next 5 yds(5 to 10 yd. line), the blades of grass are slanted towards your point of view, makes it look greener.......so you end up with an alternating 5 yds of light then dark, from goal line to goal line.....if you wanna get real sporty, you can mow the endzones north and south and have perpendicular striping, lol......if you went around to the other sideline and looked, it would be reversed.

Ha Ha....funny you should mention a JD, airraider.....we used a 5 gang, John Deere, self propelled fairway mower on the football field.....got it used(some golf course traded it in)....takes a little mechanical ability to keep this specialized turf equipment at its best, but dang well worth it......you can use a rotary mower or "pull behind" gang reel mower, but its not the same quality finished product......using a self propelled reel mower on your field turf, is like getting a really good quality haircut(if you're sporting a nice flat top, lol).....hold the hair up with a comb and trim it with a sharp pair of scissors.....or......whack it with a weed eater, lol....if you're serious about using quality turf equipment and keeping your field in great shape.....find your local sales rep for one of the big suppliers....like JD turf equip....Toro....Jacobsen(sp.)...etc...they have good used, trade in stuff at decent prices, with installment plans for paying......mowers....aeriators.....vertical slicing equipment....topdressors or spreaders, etc...keeping up a football field is very similar to keeping up a fairway on a golf course......if you can't make it look like a fairway right away(for whatever reason).....shoot for the first cut of rough, lol.....then get better as you can.

It's definitely not cheap to keep a field in top shape.

Hope your admin's on board.

Do you have access to lots of water and a way to get it on your field? I can't stress how important irrigation is. In hot climates (Austin and Louis. qualify), you are going to need to POUR IT ON.