Bermuda Grass Green Up in Indiana

A couple of photos from this week around Indiana. The first photo (taken Monday, April 25) is from the training camp field for the Indianapolis Colts at Anderson University. Although difficult to tell in the photo, the Patriot bermuda grass is starting to green up.

The next two photos (taken Thursday, April 28) taken are from the women's soccer practice field at Indiana University. As you can see, 2 hours south makes a big difference! This Patriot bermuda grass is green already. The taller turf is ryegrass that was sprayed with Katana herbicide earlier in the week. This field was a cool season field that had Patriot inter-sprigged into ryegrass canopy last summer. Obviously, this is an effective option for bermuda conversion.

I will continue to follow these fields, as well as the fields at Rose-Hulman and the Colts practice facility in 2011. As you will see, bermuda grass is an option for schools/universities in central and southern Indiana.

To learn more about Patriot bermuda grass, click HERE
To learn more about bermudagrass inter-sprigging into existing cool season turf, click HERE.

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

Play on!
--Jamie

Wet Fields and Balanced Infield Mixes

Wet fields are the case across Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. I have been in Indianapolis, IN, Columbus, OH, Bloomington, IN and Lexington, KY this week. Fields are extremely wet across this entire area. What I also found are fields that have balanced infield mixes are still able to play games more frequently. Below are two pictures of balanced infield mixes.

Indiana University - One truckload of FS 50 and one load of Dura Edge Pro

Brown County High School - One truckload of FS 50

Look for more postings of my travels this week over the weekend when I get back home.......

Play on!
--Jamie

Baseball and Softball at Notre Dame

This past week I stopped by the University of Notre Dame. I wanted to share a couple of pictures of the baseball and softball facilities. All the athletic facilities are under the supervision of Mr. Dan Brazo.

The first set of photos show Frank Eck Stadium. Eck Stadium is the home of Notre Dame Baseball.

First. The infield...... The infield mix is Dura Edge Pro from Natural Sand Company. The turf is blue/rye.

Second. The seating bowl. The facility is very impressive!

To learn more about Fran Eck Stadium - click HERE.

The next set of photos show the new $4.9 million Melissa Cook Stadium, home of the Fighting Irish softball program.

The field has Hilltopper infield mix and is a blue/rye surface as well.

First. The infield and the outfield......

Second. The seating bowl.........

Third. The dugout...... Notice the heaters on the roof of the dugout.

To learn more about Melissa Cook Stadium - click HERE.

After in excess of 3/4 inches of overnight rain, both infields were ready for play by noon the next day!

To learn more about University of Notre Dame Athletics, click HERE.

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

Play on!
--Jamie

Do You Think Seed to Soil Contact Matters?

Check out the photo below. The is from Brebeuf High School after solid tine aerification and 2 passes with a Redexim Speed Seeder.

Make sure all your overseeding efforts have good seed to soil contact!

To learn more about Redexim, click HERE

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

Play on!
--Jamie

Sandridge Infield Mix - AMENDED

Last week, the J&D Turf team was in Brown County, Indiana at Brown County High School. The exisiting baseball field had 4 inches of Sandridge infield mix. This mix is taken from the Ohio River, thus it is high in silt and has a elevated SCR. To learn more about the silt/clay ratio click HERE and HERE. The amendment of choice for this project, FieldSaver 50 from Natural Sand.

The photo below shows one pass of FS 50 on the infield.

The next photo shows one pass of the Blecavator. It is CRITICAL to blend the existing material into the new material when amending an infield with FS 50. To learn more about adding new material to existing material, click HERE.

After rolling, the infield was laser graded to ensure positive drainage. The photo below shows one of the final passes with the laser guided box blade.

Next, the infield was conditioned with calcined clay. To learn more about conditioners and topdressings, click HERE.

Finally, a finished product photo. This project took one day. Brown County High School played a varsity game 3 hours after the completion of the project with a balanced infield that now resides in the recreational spec.

To learn more about Natural Sand, click HERE

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

Play on!
--Jamie

SF Giants - Vol II

As stated in SF Giants, Vol. I, I was in San Francisco, CA, last week. The photos of opening day were posted earlier, so, let’s talk about the playing surface at AT&T Park.

The Giants play on a bermuda grass base that is overseeded with perennial ryegrass. Ryegrass is the surface for the entire season. The first photos show the playing surface and the stadium from left field and center field.

The Giants also use the entire family of Natural Sand products. For the game mound and bullpens, portable mounds and Dura Pitch Mound Clay from Natural Sand Company are used. To learn more about portable mounds click HERE. To learn more about Dura Pitch Mound Clay, click HERE. The infield is Dura Edge Pro infield mix. To learn more about infield mixes from Natural Sand, click HERE. Finally, the warning track is also supplied by Natural Sand Company. A picture of the track is below. To learn more about Natural Sand Warning Track options, click HERE.

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

Play on!
--Jamie

Current Events from April 13, 2011

I made a number of stops around great Indianapolis today. The first stop for the Indianapolis Colts Practice Complex. Interestingly enough, there are areas of bermuda greening up. It is difficult to tell from the photo below, but there is significant greening in the Patriot bermudagrass. Why is this the case? Notice the building just north of this turf. The slope is south facing and the building radiates heat.

My next stop was at Convenant Christian HS. Opening Day for Andy Gossel and his team was last night, so the logo was still present. The logo was laid out with graph paper and string lines.

The final photo shows the mower Andy uses to cut his fields. It does an excellent job. In this photo Andy is cutting the lacrosse/soccer field.

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

Play on!
--Jamie