It's not always possible to repair or rejuvenate a damaged sports field or school oval; some fields will simply need re-turfing.
With environmental, economical and social factors, it's hard to know when the best time is to re-turf a busy sports field or school oval. Timing is going to be everything. Here are our tips.
The best season to re-turf a sports field is early spring: around September and October.
Depending on the variety, weather and conditions, most sports fields will need 4-8 weeks to establish after being laid with turf rolls.
However, if you're patching areas by re-sprigging or cultivating, establishment times increase to over 18 weeks before ground cover.
Alternatively, you can use a the Bullseye Instant Lawn System that allows the area to be instantly played on without needing water to get established. Learn more...
Give yourself time to plan your project out. Reverse engineer it so that if you want to be up and running by (say) December:
So how do you know if your sports field or school oval needs a complete re-turf makeover?
In some cases replacing and rejuvenating ovals will be more cost effective for the area.
For areas where the surface is uneven due to the wear, we recommend resurfacing these areas as they may become a trip hazard causing the oval to be unsafe for use.
There are a few ways to re-turf your sports field or school oval, depending on the time you have and your budget. See our tips on Rejuvenating Lawns for Large Areas.
It's crucial to really consider the variety of turf you will need for the area when thinking about re-turfing or resurfacing: wear and tear, shade, drought, aesthetics, just to name a few.
There are a lot of outdated doctrines and misconceptions about turf varieties on the Australian market.
Find out more about modern practices and the latest research and best turf varieties for sports fields and school ovals in our Returfing Lawn Best Practices Guide - click the image below to get yours: