Sustainable Turf Management for City of Watertown Athletic Fields

Abstract

This project was completed as part of the 2015-2016 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with Carver County. The City of Watertown was experiencing increased demand for athletic fields in the community. With no plans to build additional fields, public works staff wanted to identify strategies to better maintain existing playing fields so they could handle increased use. The goal of this project was to develop a set of best management practices for soccer fields in Watertown that would mitigate environmental impacts, reduce maintenance costs, and meet growing demand for fields. Project lead Shane Fineran from the City of Watertown worked with teams of students in HORT 4062: Turfgrass Weed and Disease Science and HORT 4063: Turfgrass Science to develop recommendations, which included increasing aeration to improve drainage and reduce the need for irrigation, eliminating weeds to reduce turf competition, and introducing new nitrogen fertilizer techniques. The students' final report and presentation are available.