pitch improvement

fernandovargas

hi guys
our local football pitch is in bad shape its bare in places and rock hard and also full of dandelions , im wondering what would be the next steps to improve it
thanks

Skrynesaver

fernandovargas wrote: »

hi guys
our local football pitch is in bad shape its bare in places

Light digging, and reseed,

fernandovargas wrote: »

and rock hard

Irrigation system to run at night, not though that the ground itself ma be compacted and you may have to rotovate and reseed the whole pitch

fernandovargas wrote: »

and also full of dandelions

A broadleaf weedkiller would deal with this specific issue.

bbam

Why not give it a good aeration to open it up without digging/rotovating..

You should find a local agri contractor with a large slit aerator like this..



Then I'd use a selective weed-killer for the weeds..
Wait until september and oversow with whatever grass is most suitable and fertilize with a general fertilizer 10-10-20 would be good..

reilig

bbam wrote: »

Why not give it a good aeration to open it up without digging/rotovating..

You should find a local agri contractor with a large slit aerator like this..



Then I'd use a selective weed-killer for the weeds..
Wait until september and oversow with whatever grass is most suitable and fertilize with a general fertilizer 10-10-20 would be good..

The ideal thing is to use the machine above and then apply about 1 inch of sand on top so that it goes down into the slits. This has 2 purposes. 1. To improve drainage in times of wet weather and 2. To keep the slits open and allow air down into the soil which will improve grass growth and make any fertilizer / feed / or even water work much better for you.

We did this on out football pitch and have seen a dramatic improvement -its drier in wet weather and has better grass coverage in dry weather. We sourced the sand from a company who gets it from Lough Neagh - it was sort of half clay half sand and the grass grew up through it very quickly.