The yearly cycle of turf maintenance

    Although every patch of turf is different, the maintenance basics are common to all. The table below shows a typical annual cycle of maintenance for a municipal football pitch with pronounced summer and winter seasonal variations. Use it to inspire your own maintenance regime.
     

    Throughout the growing season
    • Mowing: 1 to 3 times a week during the active growing season
    • Solid tining: every three weeks from March until the first autumn frost

     

    Our modern seed mixtures need mowing 30% less often than old mixtures –
    and they've been tested for robot mowing.

     

    March to April
    • Apply herbicide selectively
    • Verticut to extract moss and thatch accumulated during previous winter
    • Aerate with hollow tines and core removal
    • Top-dress or top-dress with decompaction
    • Apply NPK fertiliser, avoiding fast-release N
    • Apply sand
    • Use a drag mat to level out

     

    Efficient seed varieties and Professinal Seed Technology® make maintenance easier, and produce a better result. For example, dense and vigorous varieties resist weed invasion, while adding Microclover® increases your nitrogen efficiency and reduces the need for fertiliser.

     

    May to June
    • Repair the goal mouth by sowing seed or laying fresh turf
    • Verticut and remove extracted thatch
    • Aerate with hollow tines without core removal
    • Apply NPK fertiliser – with increased K
    • Irrigate as needed

     

    For a more hard-wearing goal mouth, choose mixtures with high-wear and shade-tolerance, as well as disease-resistance.
    And drought-tolerant varieties will need less water.

     

    June, July and August
    • Irrigate frequently

     

    End of August to beginning of September
    • Verticut or drag the surface
    • Remove matter after a dry or a wet and humid summer
    • Aerate with hollow tines without core removal
    • Apply NPK fertiliser
    • Irrigate as needed

     

    You can overseed throughout the season, but always choose seeds that suit the time of the year.

     

    Before the winter
    • Aerate with hollow tines and core removal
    • Apply NPK fertiliser – with increased K
    • Apply sand
    • Use a drag mat to level out

     

    For increased winter hardiness, choose an appropriate seed mixture.