Impact of Soil Water Content on Hybrid Bermudagrass Athletic Fields
2018
Dickson, Kyley H. | Sorochan, John C. | Brosnan, Jim T. | Stier, John C. | Lee, Jaehoon | Strunk, William D.
Soil water content (SWC) influences the consistency and performance of athletic field surfaces. Two studies were conducted at the University of Tennessee Center for Athletic Field Safety, Knoxville, TN, to determine how SWC affects wear tolerance of hybrid bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. × C. transvaalensis Burtt‐Davy, ‘Tifway’] on root zones composed of either silt loam (cohesive) or sand meeting US Golf Association specifications (noncohesive). Soil water content treatments for cohesive root zones averaged low (0.06–0.13 m³ m⁻³), medium (0.14–0.21 m³ m⁻³), medium‐high (0.22–0.29 m³ m⁻³), and high (0.30–0.37 m³ m⁻³); comparatively, SWC on noncohesive averaged low (0.05–0.11 m³ m⁻³), medium (0.12–0.19 m³ m⁻³), and high (0.20–0.27 m³ m⁻³). Differences in the amount of ranges between root zones were due to plant available water of the soil texture. Plots were subjected to 50 traffic events for 5 wk each fall over a 2‐yr period. Green turfgrass cover was reduced four times faster at high SWC than the low and medium SWC treatments on cohesive soil. All SWC treatments on noncohesive soil lost green turfgrass cover at a predictable rate. Surface hardness increased as SWC decreased for both root zones. Turfgrass shear strength decreased with traffic for all treatments on cohesive soils. Soil water content of noncohesive soils did not compound the effect of traffic on turfgrass shear strength. The optimal mean SWC ranges to maximize hybrid bermudagrass wear tolerance on cohesive soils were low to medium, and low to medium on noncohesive soils.
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