The lawn is perceived by many as an element of landscape design, an indispensable attribute of administrative buildings, parks, squares, the front lawn. However, almost earlier than for landscaping, green spaces found their application in sports.

Sports lawn requirements

Lawns for sports and competitions must meet the following requirements:

• high resistance to trampling;
• quick recovery after damage;
• dense dense surface.

Green Meadow is used for classes in the following sports disciplines:

• football (including American);
• rugby;
• baseball;
• tennis;
• golf;
• croquet;
• Hockey with a ball;
• cricket and others

On the grass there are competitions in many athletics: javelin and hammer throwing, shot put, etc. In addition, the playground must "withstand" children's games. All of these sports have their own specifics, and affect the green surface in different ways.

A quality lawn should be suitable for any of the above disciplines, and meet the requirements for a variety of sports. During a drought, the grass cover should not be too hard, and during periods of rainfall - stagnate water, puddles or dirt.

Did you know? The area of ​​the grass tennis court is more than 260 m² (23.77 × 10.97 m). The lawn covering such a space is able to provide oxygen to 5 people.

The composition of grass mixtures

To create a quality lawn, not every grass is suitable. Plants should not be prone to branching and tolerate trampling, damage.

Among the most common plant species that meet these requirements and are used for growing lawns, we can distinguish the following:

• meadow bluegrass;
• white field;
• common comb;
• red fescue;
• hairy and creeping woodgrass;
• ryegrass.

On the basis of these herbs, various lawn mixtures are created, which are then used to sow areas intended for sports competitions.

The simplest and most popular herb mixture consists of the following components:

• ryegrass - 20%;
• red fescue - 50%;
• bluegrass bluegrass - 30%.

"Sports". In addition to the above qualities necessary for a sports lawn, cereals included in the mixture have a strong root system and do not differ in intensive growth. Their roots form a strong turf layer, which can often and quite rigidly exploited.

The mixture consists of the following components:

• red fescue - 30%;
• ryegrass - 20%;
• meadow bluegrass - 50%.

"Sports universal." Suitable not only for sowing sites designed for sports and competitions, but also for any form of outdoor activities. It is an acceptable option for playgrounds, city squares and parks, as well as for landscape gardening, especially in places where there is a risk of trampling.

The composition of the mixture:

• timothy grass meadow - 20%;
• meadow fescue - 20%;
• ryegrass - 30%;
• meadow bluegrass - 15%;
• red fescue - 15%.

"Golf". A herbal mixture that gives a thick and dense cover on which you can really play this aristocratic game. Make up a mixture of such cereals:

• hard red fescue - 50%;
• red hairy fescue - 30%;
• Thin woodland - 20%.

"Hippodrome." The composition is intended for cultivation in areas that are subject to extreme loads, such as horse racing.

The mixture consists of plants:

• red fescue - 30%;
• reed fescue - 20%;
• meadow bluegrass - 30%;
• perennial ryegrass - 20%.

Important! The average seed consumption for the formation of high-quality sports lawn is 30-50 g / 1 m². Do not try to save on seeds - a smaller mass of seeds will not give a dense structure and the necessary density of the cover.

Growing Features

In principle, you can independently grow a quality sports lawn from good material. Especially if you follow some landing rules and follow the care recommendations. Sports lawn has its own nuances of growing. For example, on a football field, penalties, or at least goalkeeper pitches, are planted denser than the rest of the area. It is these places that are most prone to trampling, and, at the same time, the goalkeeper is often forced to jump, crawling across the field with his whole body. In addition, a sports lawn requires proper drainage.

Its styling is as follows:

1. They remove the soil at the site to a depth of 1 meter.
2. Stakes are placed in the bottom, between which the twine is pulled. On the axes of the site make a slope (1 cm / 1 meter).
3. Every 5 meters, plastic pipes with holes are laid (the distance between neighboring ones is 30 cm). These holes are later covered with special material.
4. Ditches are dug along the edges of the lawn, the level of which is below the base. Geotextiles are laid in trenches, and pipes with a diameter larger than internal ones are laid on it. These pipes are drain pipes, therefore they are laid with a bias towards the future sewage system or another place of the drain.
5. Ditches are covered with rubble. In the corner where the ditches intersect, drainage pits are made (2 × 2 × 2 m). The walls are reinforced with concrete or brick and pipes are brought out of the drainage trenches there.
6. After that, the excavated space of the site is filled with different fractions of crushed stone, sand, and only then - with soil for sowing grass. Normal soil is not suitable for this.

The substrate for a sports lawn can be composed of the following components:

• top turf - 20%;
• garden land - 15%;
• peat - 15%;
• sand - 50%.

1.5-2 liters of the mixture (in approximately equal proportions) of bone meal, perlite, expanded clay and humus should be added to the bucket of the mixture obtained. This soil mixture is spread on a layer of crushed stone and sand and left for 4 weeks.

Important! On any, even the highest quality lawn in shading, the grass grows poorly, it turns yellow and becomes dry and brittle. If the lawn is located in a similar place, it is necessary to perform replanting every 2-3 years.

Sowing rules

You need to start with leveling the surface and laying the drainage. On the selected site, you need to level the hills: small elevations can be removed with a rake, high ones must be demolished, and the ground scattered in holes and indentations.

The next step is the removal of all unnecessary vegetation (weeds). They do this in two ways: mechanical (digging), and chemical - use herbicides ("Mastak", "Golf", "Lintur", etc.). If you decide to use chemicals, you need to do this in strict accordance with the instructions so as not to damage the lawn grass in the future.

First lay the drain. Full-fledged sports drainage, which was mentioned above, is quite expensive, and its laying is a time-consuming process. Yes and there is no need for such a complex system if you want to grow coverage for playing football "yard to yard."

A simplified version is quite suitable, they are made as follows:

1. Dig a narrow strip of the upper fertile layer, leave the soil nearby. Choose the lower part of the soil, instead of it lay a pillow of sand and gravel.
2. In the same way, dig a strip nearby, close to the first (one side they will have in common). Transfer the upper layer from the second trench to the drainage layer in the first, and replace the lower part of the soil in this trench with a drainage mixture. Lay the turf selected from the very beginning from the first trench on top.
3. Thus lay the drainage over the entire area.
4. Then the soil should be dug up. Digging is single-tier and two-tier. The first is used if earlier something was growing on the site, this is the most common digging of a shovel to the depth of a bayonet. The two-tier procedure is carried out in wastelands, or in places with very heavy, light, or infertile soil.
5. Mineral fertilizers are introduced into the soil: superphosphate (2 tbsp. L / 1 m²), nitroammophoska (5-6 tbsp. L / 1 m²), potassium and magnesium nitrate (2 tbsp. L / 1 m²). In addition, a well-rotted mullein (1 bucket / 1 m²) can be repaired during digging.
6. Now the soil needs to be compacted, otherwise it may sag over time. Compaction must be carried out using a special roller. In the normal state, it is hollow inside, for work it is filled with sand or water, then its weight will exceed a centner. With this shell, you need to walk around the site several times, after which the ground is left for 2-3 weeks so that it settles.
7. After the specified time, the site should be carefully inspected for any dips. If there are any, they should be sprinkled with earth.
8. Immediately before sowing, the soil must be loosened again, after which you can begin the procedure. Sow seeds with hands, or with a seeder, in 2–4 directions, after which they level the ground with a rake.
9. With the same roller, only not fully loaded, 70–80 kg, you need to again take the soil and pour it abundantly. If the cultivated area is small, you can use a wide hard surface (table top, board, etc.) instead of the roller.

When the grass appears, becomes dense, it will need further care, which will be described below.

Further care

Lawn care is especially important in the first weeks after sowing, it needs regular and plentiful watering.

In the future, it consists of such events:

• a haircut;
• fertilizer application;
• weed control;
• aeration.

You need to mow the lawn every 3-4 days, with each next mowing, changing the direction of movement of the lawn mower. The complex remedy “Lebosol-Nutriplant 8-8-6” is ideally suited for top dressing. It contains in its composition all the necessary minerals in a form that is easily absorbed by herbaceous plants.

The first feeding is performed 10-15 days after emergence. Subsequently, during the growing season, fertilizers are applied 2-3 times, with a frequency of 1.5-2 weeks. “Lebosol-Nutriplant 8-8-6” has a beneficial effect on grass, promotes the rapid restoration of plants, helps maintain a beautiful emerald shade of sprouts.

Periodically, the aeration procedure should be performed. It is designed to better supply oxygen to the root system of plants. Do it this way: a thin sharp metal rod pierce the grass cover. Frequency - 5–8 holes per 1 m²

Particular attention should be paid to weed control. The lawn, of course, is not subject to weeding, so that selective weed killers, for example, Decis, are used to destroy weeds. Weeds, which more often than others can grow on the lawn: thistle, plantain, sorrel, clover, etc. This happens due to the ingress of seeds of these plants into the total mass of sowing material.

“Decis” successfully destroys the listed weeds without causing any harm to lawn grasses. The drug (20 ml) must be dissolved in 3 liters of water and evenly spray the green cover. The indicated volume is designed for 100 m².

Lontrel-300D will help get rid of dandelions. The drug acts selectively, based on the synthetic form of plant hormone. Its use leads to irreversible processes in dandelions, without harming other plants. It is necessary to dilute 6 ml of the product in 5 liters of water and spray 100 m² of area.

Did you know? The size of the football field is 105×68 meters, its area - 7140 m². In order to sow such a space, you need 300–350 kg of seeds.

Diseases and Pests

A lawn grown correctly from quality seeds is quite resistant to pest attacks and various diseases. Especially if preventive measures are followed. However, it cannot be said that nothing threatens lawn vegetation at all.

Of the diseases, the following should be distinguished:

These diseases are easier to prevent than to treat. For this, before planting, the seeds are treated with potassium permanganate or copper sulphate. In addition, the vegetation must be fed periodically. Fertilizing increases the immunity of the grass, and therefore its resistance to pathogens. In addition, if the lawn is not equipped with drainage, and moisture stagnates on it, this will lead to the emergence and development of fungal diseases.

Pests hazardous to the lawn: aphids, wireworms, sand lazy. Insecticides are used for destruction. Moles can be dangerous for lawns. To combat them, they use the “Krotomet” tool. It does not harm the health of the animal, but only scares it off. Against ants use the tool "Anteater Super." These are granules that need to be laid out on the surface of the site.

To grow a lawn for playing sports, conducting various games and outdoor activities is a completely feasible task. Follow the recommendations described above, be patient, and if you have quite moderate means and desire, you can create a dense green area that is resistant to external influences.