June 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 77

parks & recreation at work

Whose Turf to Play On?
Advice on field turf selection from experts Dana Lonn and Van Cline
By Maureen Hannan

S

ynthetic or natural turf? When it
comes to playing fields, there are no
easy answers to that question. The
choice involves myriad factors, including geographical region, space to be
covered, amount of use, intensity of use, and environmental concerns. Unfortunately, misconceptions about cost, maintenance, required expertise,
and water usage often drive agencies' turf decisions. In a recent interview with engineer Dana
Lonn and agronomist Van Cline, both of the Toro
Center for Advanced Turf Technology, the two experts debunked a few common myths and outlined
several helpful resources for turf grass selection.

Cline

Myth 1: Opting for natural turf is a simple
matter of planting, maintaining, and
watering grass.
The maintenance of natural turf grass-no matter how long the growing season of your region or
how hardy the grass variety-is an art and a science. " For optimal results, you've got to have people with specialized expertise, " Lonn says. And
while that expertise is expensive, Lonn has seen
several small park agencies pool resources to hire
a turf specialist for the care of their fields. He cautions that a general approach of seeding, mowing,
and watering will not result in the kinds of lush,

	

resilient fields a community needs-especially for
intense-use sports like football and soccer. " Overall, " Lonn adds, " we see lots of park districts out
there that have lots of land, but not so much expertise [with maintaining turf]. "
Not only is the maintenance of natural turf best
assigned to a specialist; but the choice of grass
should, ideally, involve an investment of time and
research. Lonn and Cline suggest a number of resources-beginning with consultation with local
extension agents- for making that investment of
time pay off. See the resource list with this article
for specific guides and websites offering cuttingedge information on the varieties of grass species
available.

Myth 2: Opting for synthetic turf is a simple
matter of paying a lot up front and then
having no maintenance worries.

Lonn

This is partially true-and of course the known
up-front cost and relatively low maintenance of
synthetic turf fields are well known advantages.
Especially when a donor contributes a field, say
Lonn and Cline, there is a great incentive to invest in synthetic turf. Most donors, after all, do not
allocate funds for ongoing maintenance in their
donations. Often, in such situations, the two turf
experts agree, synthetic turf is the best option.

www . N R P A . O R G

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