Overseeding Athletic Fields

Grady Miller

NC State University

What Are Your Questions/Concerns?

Outline for DiscussionVarieties, procedures, transition

• Picking the grass

• Preparation

• Do’s and Don’ts

• Planting

• Post planting

• During the season

• End of growing season

• Thinking about the next year

On-site at Golf Course

Turf Research Field Lab

2006 Perennial Ryegrass Recommended

List based on 2004 NTEP and NCSU

Regional Trails

• Accent II

• Allstar 3

• Apple GL

• Brightsar SLT

• Caddieshack II

• Charismatic II

• Citation Fore

• Dart

• DCM

• Derby Extreme

• Fiesta 4

• Fiji

• Goalkeeper II

• Grand Slam 2

• Homerun

• Inspire

• Keystone II

• Line Drive GLS

• Manhattan 5 GLR

• Monterey 3

• Nexus

• Palmer III

• Palmer IV

• Panther GLS

• Paragon GLR

• Pentium

• Phenom

• Pianist

• Pinnacle II

• Pizzazz

• Premier

• Primary

• Quilksilver

• Repell GLS

• Revenge GLX

• Secretariat II

• Silver Dollar

• Transformer

• Top Gun II

• Zoom

Core aerify at least a month before overseeding to reduce compaction.

Can spray Primo MAXX to slow down

Bermudagrass. Apply before vertical

mowing and 1 - 5 days before seeding.

Rate: 0.5 oz/1000 square feet

Vertical mow 1 to 2 days before overseeding to remove thatch and

open the turfgrass canopy to ensure good seed-to-soil contact.

Mow or use a sweeper to remove debris and use

sufficient irrigation to wet the soil surface.

When to Seed?

• Daytime temperatures are consistently into

the 70’s for 4 to 5 consecutive days.

• So, about mid-September to mid-October

for most of NC.

Overseeding Rates?

• Perennial ryegrass at a rate of 6 to 20 lbs per 1000

square feet (260 to 870 lbs per acre), depending on

desired appearance and/or budget constraints.

• Around 10-12 pounds a good rate to target if you have

no experience.

• Split rate and seed in two different directions.

• Afterwards go over area with a drag mat to work seed

down into canopy.

Very poor seed distribution. When bermudagrass goes

dormant, it will tell on you.

Calibrate

Topdressing with 2 cu yards per 1000 sq ft is beneficial for establishment.

First Mowing

Mowing• Can begin as soon as seed does not come up

when you pull on leaf blade.

• Regular schedule (weekly in winter, twice weekly in spring)

• Height: around ¾ inch height up to about 2 inches. Baseball infields may be mowed a little lower.

• Reel mower preferred

• Always keep blades sharp!

Fertilization

• Do not fertilize bermudagrass heavily just prior to or during the overseeding process.

• Concentrate most of N & K and soil sample for other nutrients. Apply K at a rate and schedule similar to N.

• Gear nitrogen application schedule to grass, field use, and environmental conditions.

• May need to force growth and recovery in high traffic areas with additional nitrogen.

• Do not ignore soil pH in fertility program.

Fertilization Rates

• During overseed growth, a normal rate

may be ¼ to ½ pound per 1000 square

feet every two to three weeks.

Ammonium Sulfate (21% N) Equivalents:

– 50 to 100 pounds per acre

– 2 to 4 bags per football or soccer field

– 2.5 to 5 bags per baseball field

Irrigation

• With “automatic systems”, the controllers should be

programmed to operate at set times.

• Calibrate your systems so that you can relate run times

to precipitation rates.

• The clocks and systems should be monitored weekly

and any adjustments will be made accordingly.

• The turf/soil water status should be monitored daily.

• Irrigation schedules should be adjusted as necessary to

accommodate insufficient or excess rainfall.

Diseases

• Temperatures >65 F

• Excessive soil and leaf moisture (rain, dew, or consecutive foggy days)

• Fungicide coated seed can help

• After plants established cut back on watering so soil is not soggy.

• Fungicides (Aliette, Banol, Fore/Dithane, Insignia, Heritage, Koban, Terrazole, Subdue, etc) can help prevent outbreaks.

Winter Management

• Proper watering

• Fertilization practices

• Traffic control

• Routine mowing

• Proper disease management

Some think it’s holding on

that makes one strong;

sometimes it’s letting go.----Sylvia Robinson

Spring Transition

Spring Transition Influences

• Temperature (50-60s bermudagrass begins to

grow)

• Mowing height (get it down to ½ inch, slowly)

• Fertilization practices (low rates until

bermudagrass shows up)

• Cultivation (spike or slice)

• Vertical mowing (light and frequent)

• Soil moisture (don’t cut the water off)

• Herbicides (the other talk!)

Sprayed Overseed to Remove Competition

Chemical Transtion Products

• Kerb (Pronamide) – Dow AgroSciences

• Manor [or Blade] (metsulfuron) - Riverdale

• TranXit GTA (rimsulfuron) – Griffin LLC

• Revolver (foramsulfuron) - Bayer

• Monument 75WG (trifloxysulfuron) – Syngenta

• Corsair (chlorsulfuron) – [label for fields?] – Riverdale

• Certainty 75 DG (sulfosulfuron) - Monsanto

[foliar applied, foliar (and some root) absorption]

Why Athletic Fields

Sometimes Fail?

Basics that a turf plant needs to

stay alive and grow

• Light to drive photosynthesis (shade, clouds, covers, overseed competition)

• Water uptake (irrigation distribution or application, lack of rainfall, compacted soils)

• Oxygen for respiration (saturated soils, compacted soils)

• Carbon dioxide to assimilate carbohydrates (not an issue)

• Absorption of mineral nutrients (lack of roots, lack of nutrients/availability, antagonistic nutrient or pH situations, lack of light, extremely dry soil)

• Suitable temperature (too cold or too hot)

• Space (generally not an issue for overseed)

Tarp Damage

grady_miller@ncsu.edu