"An Ocean County Athletic FieldConstruction Story"

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For those of you who have attended a Floyd Perryseminar or read one of his books, you know he islegendary for teaching athletic field managers how tocreatively make the most of resources at hand. FloydPerry will point out how you can save hundreds of dollarsby using a piece of chain link fence to make an infielddrag mat instead of purchasing one off the shelf. What ifyou used this same type of frugal resourcefulness to savethousands of dollars on an athletic field project? lt isbeing done in Ocean County New Jersey-known forsummer vacations and sandy soils.

In '1999 Casey Parker (Sports Field ManagerAssociation of NJ Member # 992) was given the task tobuild two new football fields in the Pine Barren sandy soilof Lacey Township. Casey knew soil amendments weredesperately needed or the sand would forever pose aproblem for water and nutrient retention and healthy turfrooting. lt so happens that Casey is the Director of PublicWorks in Lacey, which includes the Parks Department,the Road Department and a Class C Leaf CompostingFacility. While many architects would spec in the additionof an outside source of topsoil to amend a poor athleticfield soil, Casey thought differently. Casey had moundsof composted leaf mulch readily available and two newfields sorely in need of organic enhancement. Caseycleared the site and stripped the native soil (mostly sand)off. Rather than trucking in topsoil, Casey trucked the"native strippings" back to his compost facility andblended 1 part leaf compost to 2 parts native soil. Atrommel screen was borrowed from the good people atthe Ocean County Recycling Center for screening andblending the final mix. The material was transported backto the job site and was disked into the top 6 to 8 inches ofthe soil profile. In addition to the leaf compost, Caseyadded lime and Oceangro@ 5-5-0 fertil izer.

Casey knew about Oceangro for two years but washesitant to try it for public relations reasons. Oceangro isan organic granular fertil izer derived from sewage sludgesolids that are heat dried and screened into a granularproduct. Casey didn't think the public would be friendly tothe thought of such a fertil izer being applied to theirathletic fields. He decided to give Oceangro a chancehowever, after learning the EPA and NJDEP monitorfertil izers like Oceangro and the NJ Department ofAgriculture registered Oceangro as a fertil izer-like anyother fertil izer on the market. Casey decided a control testwas in order to see if Oceangro made a difference as agrow in product. Half of the new football field complexwas fertil ized with a synthetic starter fertil izer and theother half was fertil ized with Oceangro. When the fieldcame in, Casey noticed a dramatic difference betweenthe Oceangro half and the synthetic side. Casey noticedthe Oceangro section had a much better germination

Sports Field Managers Association of New Jersey

success (7 days instead of the 3 weeks needed for thesynthetic starter fertil izer field) as well as significantlydeeper rooting. lt didn't take long to decide it would bebest to disk the synthetic field in, add Oceangro andreseed to allow the field to grow in evenly. Best yet, sinceOceangro is a product of Ocean County-the OceanCounty Utilities Authority donated Oceangro to LaceyTownship at no charge and The Authority even loaned aspreader to Lacey Township to help spread Oceangro.

Casey seeded his fields at a 5 to 6 lb. per thousandsquare foot rate with a 90% Turf Type Tall Fescue and10% Bluegrass and witnessed great germination with hisleaf mulch/Oceangro mixture. He didn't stop therehowever-the following season he aggressively followedup by slit seeding at 2 to 4 lbs per thousand to push theturl density to where he wanted it. So how did the fieldsturn out? Lacey Township Athletic Fields have areputation for being the best in the area. Casey himselfkeeps the standard high-he says he likes to keep his turf"dense & deep". Since the two football fields were grownin, Casey has used the same method for building all newfields in Lacey Township. There have never been anycomplaints about how he built his fields or the use ofOceangro and almost no one knows how much moneyCasey saved Lacey by leveraging the resources at hand.Casey Parker noted that while Oceangro did a great jobas a grow in fertil izer, he now uses Oceangro at the endof his soorts season as a micro nutrientdorm?Irr"n"

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Sept./Oct. 2003 PhlFax908-730-777O

Terre Has a fullline of SportsTurf Products. Infield Clay

MixesTurface soilconditionersGrass SeedFertil izersPesticidesTop DressingGoose ControlTurf BlanketsMarking Paints

Keep Your Ball field's safe andlooking great!! TERRE has theproducts from grass seed andfertilizer to infield clays and Sports

Call For a Catalog or InquiriesTef : 973-473-3393Fax: 973-473-4402

206 Delawanna Ave Clifton NJ 07014

Field Conditioners like Turfaceproducts (EITIHREGContinued lrom page 9.....

fertil izer supplement. "Oceangro is great but it 's nota magic pill that will replace all other fertil izers." Caseylikes the slow release, non-burning, non-leaching natureof the organic side of 5-5-0 Oceangro. He equally valuesthe ease of application and complete analysis of the 19-19-19 synthetic fertil izer now in use on his fields for therest of his program. Casey recognizes the importanceand shortlalls of both organic and synthetic products anduses both to the advantage of maximum turf health.

To gain the benefit of both worlds of organic andsynthetic fertil izers, some fertil izer blenders offer hybridblends combining both

lf your soils are deficient in organic matter-like thesandy soils in Ocean County-adding organic fertil izersor hybrids is a step in the right direction, but apermanent fix requires bigger thinking. Purchasing andadding topsoil is one option, adding leaf compost youhave on-hand is another demonstrated and moreresourceful way to accomplish the same task.

The next time you're in Ocean County, check outany Lacy Township athletic field. Here is proof of a turfmanager who knows what he is doing, is open mindedand has saved his Township a bundle by working withwhat is available. A

*Richard Oates ls a Sa/es and Marketing Coordinator forThe Ocean County Utilities Authority in Bayville, NJwww.ocua.com

Sports Field Managers Association of New Jersey

"Monthly Field Tip"Bug of the month "Bagworms"

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Although not specific to sports fields, these littlenoseeums can be devastating to the beauty of thelandscape and cause much anguish to the groundsmanager.

Little brown bags attached to twigs on the outer mostbranches of both deciduous and evergreen trees andshrubs are the tell tale sign of this pest. At first glance,these bags resemble a bit of dead foliage. Furtherexamination will reveal a bag up to 2 inches in lengthcomposed of interwoven bits of dead foliage, twigs andsilk. During the summer, a dark brown or black caterpillaris contained in the bag. Initially the caterpillar drags thebag around as it feeds on leaves, enlarging the bag as itgrows. By late August, the caterpillar finishes feeding andattaches the bag to a twig. Inside the bag, it forms a pupa.Several days later, an adult moth emerges from the pupa.The female is wingless and stays within the bag. Themale then flies to the old bag (or rather the bag containingthe female) and they mate while she is stil l inside. Shethen lays a mass of eggs within the bag and dies.

Continued on next paqe.."...

PhlFax 9OB-73O-777011 Seot./Oct. 2003