Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Turf-grass Establishment
After soil cultivation, turf-grass should be established as quickly as
possible. If the soil is left bare, it will be subject to water and wind erosion
and general decline of its best properties. In addition, slow or delayed
turf-grass establishment provides opportunities for weed encroachment.
Soil should be cultivated and in some instances modified before
planting. Proper preparation of the seedbed, for which turf usually cor-
responds to the top 10-15 cm of the soil surface, is required for the quick
establishment of uniform turf. The goal is to create a fertile homogeneous
root zone with acceptable infiltration, aeration and drainage.
Depending upon the scope of the project, advance planning may be
of relatively little or of very great importance. Establishment of a small
residential lawn may require only general gardening skills and some
common sense. At the other extreme, establishment of a golf course will
probably require input from many people. Golf course construction will
almost certainly involve substantial soil modifications, subsurface drain-
age, installation of an underground irrigation system, construction of
artificial ponds and other preparation. For such large projects, detailed
sets of drawings, lists of specifications, construction schedules and an
overall coordination plan must be developed.
In general, turfs can be established from
seeds
or
vegetatively
from
other living parts of the plant. Vegetative establishment refers to any of
four basic methods:
sodding
,
plugging
,
stolonizing
and
sprigging
. Choice of
the most appropriate of these methods depends on the turf-grass species
and the particular situation. Regardless of the method chosen, the steps
in site preparation are almost identical.
