Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Growing Degree Day Tracker - A Great Tool for Application Timing

Spring has been slow to arrive across the Midwest.  A unpredictable spring with many ups and downs in the weather can make application timing challenging.  One way to determine application timing is by using growing degree days.

A grounds manager can track growing degree days (GDD), but the easiest way to follow the GDD progress is to use the Growing Degree Day Tracker  brought to you by the Midwest Regional Turf Foundation and Purdue Turfgrass.   This tool is a great way to assist you decision making on crabgrass control applications and many other applications of time sensitive products.



Go to j-dturf.com to learn more about J&D Turf.

Play on!
--Jamie
@JamieMehringer

Monday, March 19, 2018

Grass Baselines for Baseball?

With spring arriving, also arriving is the wet midwest weather and the question of, "Should I Grass My Baselines?"  Here is a repost from an earlier blog posting in regards to grass baselines.

Does that really work?  I get that question all of the time.  So, I stopped by Dunker Field today to take a few photos.  J&D Turf applies fertilizer and chemicals to the field during the year.  We also laser grade the infield each fall.  Enough with the background info, lets get to the photos.  Keep in mind, this was after over 100 games and practices..........

First base and third base:



As you can see, the baselines are in great shape.  A couple things to remember with grass baselines:

1.  There will be maintenance to the lines.  Constant overseeding with ryegrass and allowing the runners to "cleat it in" is necessary weekly when there is play
2.  Don't be afraid to sod the area off of 3rd base.  As you can see from this photo, the area where the players lead off will be worn.  Just install a row or two of new sod each fall.  Sure beats trying to dry wet baselines!
3.  Finally, grass baselines work best when building a new field or when renovating and laser grading an existing field.  Click HERE to see a renovation that took place last summer at Martinsville High School.

So yes, grass baselines will perform well with the correct installation and maintenance plan.

Go to j-dturf.com to learn more about J&D Turf.

Play on!
--Jamie
@JamieMehringer

Monday, March 5, 2018

Baseball and Softball Dugout Designs and Extra Items

In this final installment of dugout design and layouts, I am going to look at a few "extras" that can be placed in dugouts.

Reds Urban Youth Academy - Cincinnati, OH - dugout storage 

Huntington Park - Columbus, OH - lighting along the back wall 

University of Notre Dame Baseball - South Bend, IN - heaters on roof and helmet racks running the length of the dugout 


University of Notre Dame Softball - Notre Dame, IN - heaters on roof and doors leading to clubhouse

Go to j-dturf.com to learn more about J&D Turf.

Play on!
--Jamie
@JamieMehringer