January 2020

Jan 20'

Managing all the rain we have had has been difficult as in the winter there is little drying out until we get into March. So, we have taken things in to our own hands!

With a four week gap in play over the Christmas period on our training ground match pitch and a couple of weeks of reasonably dry weather, the hope was to be able to get back on the pitch and do some maintenance work. It was even in need of a cut due to the warm winter and if we were lucky it might be dry enough for the aerator.

As it turned out, the moisture held in the top few inches wasn't going anywhere and the decision was made to dig a drainage pipe in through the wet part. This area was slightly lower than the rest of the pitch so had probably had some run off into it from the areas around it and then had play on it making the situation worse. 

Fortunately we had some pipe from a previous project stored and a few bags of pea shingle bought in covered a drain line of about 25 meters. The hand digging kept us warm!

The pipe was laid about 450mm deep and care taken to dig the trench with a slight gradient into the soak away pit at the back of the goal. Les Cotton drainage contractors were very helpful with some advise and soak away crates.  

We back filled the trench with the 10mm pea shingle and topped with some sand, although I wonder whether we should have used soil as the sand might migrate into the pea shingle.. Maybe a correction for renovation time if there is some movement. 

The area didn't initially dry out and wondered if it had worked, but now a few weeks on, it has definitely dried out a lot and the surface is much firmer.

The main pitch on the first team area is coping with the winter okay and retains a high level of grass coverage. We have only had to cover it a few times so far this winter with frost sheets. If we have a run of frosts, the training takes place on the same pitch so repair time is reduced before we recover and the pitch can start to deteriorate quite quickly. There has been a couple of applications of ICL 4-0-8 invigorater fertiliser  in the last 7 weeks, Flow-Smart penetrant wetting agent, Vital Nova Stessbuster, and Cal/Mag.

The stadium pitch continues to hold together so far this winter. As I've said before it is very much in the hands of the weather. Despite three wet games before and over Christmas, we haven't lost too much grass coverage, although it has thinned in places as you'd expect given the environment. 

We had initially taken out the base feed Sierrablen this year due to cuts but have managed to add it back into the stadium pitch. This is partly because of all the rain we have had leaching nutrients through and using it as a fail-safe to keep nutrients trickling in and not getting caught out before the next feed. 

Half yearly pitch marks have come through and we are above average for the league at 4.05 out of 5. The referee and the away manager give a mark every game and it is averaged out between them. 

Fixtures have also been kind to us this January with only two scheduled throughout the month, although 6 in six weeks will see us through into, hopefully, an early spring. 

We have had a demonstration of a robot mower from ProPitchUk intellegent Marking at the training ground. I was very impressed with it and it would save a lot of time marking out, especially the initial mark. Once the corners have been found the mower will set off and mark the whole pitch for you including the boxes and circles. The demonstration on the picture has marked in some grids from scratch and took about 10 minutes to mark. Measuring and marking a groundsman would take about an hour. 

For £25k it couldn't replace a human employee as the robot, despite being excellent at marking, would be rubbish at pulling frost covers or driving the tractor. Tea breaks would have less banter too!

Autumn Rains

Dec 19'

Autumn Rains

The South East has recorded the wettest autumn on record and in Ipswich we have measured 263mm to fall at Portman Rd in the last three months. This is 128mm (5 inches) above average over the last 6 years. 

With the climate changing, we are told to expect warmer and wetter winters in the future. Consideration needs to be made to make sure pitches are able to cope with the weather expected. This will come down to a number of factors; correct soils/ sands in the pitch, primary drainage (pipes) and secondary drainage (gravel bands/sand slits), equipment available to keep the pitches open and free draining. To have all of the armory to battle the weather can cost a small fortune, so it may be necessary to borrow and share equipment to some degree, depending on different step level clubs. 

At Ipswich, we have two pitches with drainage in which is the stadium pitch and the main 1st team training pitch at Playford Rd. Both of these are a god send at this time of year. We are also lucky to have sand dominant pitches, although non of them have been constructed at the training ground, the correct grade sand has been added to them over the last twenty years, which helps, but is not as effective as having a full modern construction.

The stadium pitch's drainage has been running hard over the last couple of month dealing with the rain. We have had 263mm over the last 12 weeks which is approximately 1.8 million liters of water to fall on the pitch. Every time the irrigation is run, the drainage pit empties back into irrigation tank and is pumped back onto the pitch.

drainage pit

 During the winter when the irrigation is rarely applied to the pitch, the drainage pit needs to be pumped out or it will back up the drainage pipes.
Due to the old construction of the stadium pitch (believed to be 1970's), the gradation of sand is not of that recommended in a modern construction. It has a percolation rate of around 80mm per hour where the modern pitch is expected to drain in excess of 500mm per hour, The pitch does deal with rain well in time, but it does hold too much moisture in the top 50mm and during the winter it takes damage if it has rained on the day or during a game. This excess moisture softens to surface too much and it loses stability and grass coverage.

Sand gradation curve showing high fine sands percentage in red on the left

To manage this as best as possible, the pitch is kept aerated and then firmed in the lead up to the game. There is also a wetting agent program used to move moisture from the surface and spread it evenly in the profile. care must be taken not to dry the surface out too much as this will also lead to an unstable surface.

Grow lights on the shaded or high wear areas of the pitch

Even during daylight the grow lights are effective 

At this time of year shade is a big problem too. The grass plant thins out and is more susceptible to disease. The strongest part of the pitch is the north east corner (shop corner) as this area tends to get more light than any area. The parts of the stadium we struggle with is the south end and the west side (co-op wing). there is little or no light seen in these areas for around 6 months of the year due to the high stands.

Shade diagrams for December. The coloured in areas are shaded areas of the pitch from 9am to 330pm

To combat this problem grow lights are put on the pitch. Unfortunately, they are both expensive to buy and run. We cover about 530 sqm of a 7000sqm pitch (approx 7%) so we have to target the areas which need it the most.
It is noticeable where the lights have been once an area has been targeted for approximately a week or so, with a denser plant and new growth from seed. by fleecing areas and having a light on top is the best way to grow new grass. the difficult thing to do is hang on the the new grass plant because as soon as it is played on a percentage each time get kicked out before they have enough time time to establish properly. nevertheless, at this time of year we are working on small percentages of gains and it is worth the effort.
The most recent fleeced effort was cut short by the FA cup replay which we had hoped wold happen at home but some things are out of our control. Ground temperatures had been raised enough from the heat of the bulbs to germinate seed under the fleece. The areas outside the fleece and lights were less successful.

On a positive note, from now on the days will be getting longer and more natural light onto the pitch. We are still probably 8 -10 weeks from getting the temperatures we would like to assist growth and another 8 or so games to get through. It is definitely game of pitch preservation now and fingers

crossed for dry match days!