With the big kick-off just a few weeks away and grass fields looking their best after a summer of growth, now’s the time to consider how to prepare your pitches to keep them in the best possible condition during the long, hard season ahead.
One option is to consider oversowing with a rye grass blend that can provide a higher quality of surface throughout the winter, giving all participants a better football experience. It’s not suitable for all fields, and there are a number of considerations to be taken into account, not least the cost, with a full sized field typically costing $4,000 to oversow.
Any field that has grass cover that is too thin to allow football to be played safely in the winter should be considered for oversowing, but remember this is really only practical on fields that can be irrigated as the seeds need regular water.
With oversowing traditionally undertaken in March, the decision-making process and planning needs to be done soon.
To assist our member clubs with this, and provide information for your discussions with your Local Council or field provider, and your Association where necessary, Football NSW has teamed up with Living Turf to provide a Guide to Oversowing, which takes you through the pros and cons and maps out the timeline for this process.
In addition, David Worrad from Living Turf is available to provide specific advice to your club, and can be contacted on (0407) 800 100 or at dworrad@livingturf.com.
We encourage you to read through the guidelines and contact David should you have any questions, and of course feel free to take a look at our Grass Field Maintenance Guide.
