The field at Notre Dame Stadium during half time in Notre Dame's spring NCAA collegefootball game Saturday April 12, 2014 in South Bend, Ind. The Blue Gold game marks the end of spring football practice. Artificial turf will be installed at the stadium in time for the start of the upcoming football season, athletic director Jack Swarbrick said. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Artificial turf will be installed at Notre Dame Stadium in time for the start of the upcoming football season.

Athletic director Jack Swarbrick said the university wanted to stay with natural grass, but said a combination of factors including the university holding commencement at the stadium in recent years has made it harder to maintain good field conditions.

We had a strong predisposition to stay with a natural grass field, Swarbrick said. However, the reality is that in two of the last three seasons since we moved Commencement to the Stadium we have been unable to produce an acceptable playing surface. That, combined with the likely impacts of future construction at the Stadium, led me to conclude that we would continue to struggle to maintain a grass field that meets the expectations of our student-athletes and fans as it relates to appearance, performance and safety.

Last year the university installed new sod at the stadium three times, including once in the middle of the season. Coach Brian Kelly had said previously he wanted FieldTurf installed.

I think everybody is in agreement, if we could get the best surface there in grass, wed love to have that," Kelly said Saturday following the Blue Gold game. "We just havent been able to get to that. This is my fifth year here at Notre Dame and we havent been able to get to that, and this is the best option available to us.

The university announced during its spring Blue-Gold game Saturday that installation of FieldTurf will begin after the commencement ceremony on May 18 and should be completed by Aug. 15.

The Irish open the season Aug. 30 at home against Rice.

Of NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision programs in the Midwest and Northeast portions of the United States (states of Nebraska and Kansas and east; states of Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia and north), 37 of those 47 stadiums (.787) feature some form of artificial turf. That number includes all 13 Mid-American Conference facilities and 10 of 14 Big Ten Conference fields (including Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin).

FieldTurf fields already are in use at Notre Dame at the LaBar Practice Complex (two practice fields used by the Notre Dame football squad), the Loftus Sports Center (a new football field was installed following the 2013 season in the Irish indoor football facility thats also used by other Notre Dame squads), Arlotta Stadium (for mens and womens lacrosse) and Stinson Rugby Field (dedicated last fall).

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FieldTurf to replace natural grass at ND Stadium

Notre Dame will replace its stadium's grass with FieldTurf at the beginning of the upcoming season.

Jonathan Daniels/Getty Images

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) Artificial turf will be installed at Notre Dame Stadium in time for the start of the upcoming football season.

Athletic director Jack Swarbrick said the university wanted to stay with natural grass, but said a combination of factors including the university holding commencement at the stadium in recent years has made it harder to maintain good field conditions.

Last year the university installed new sod at the stadium three times, including once in the middle of the season. Coach Brian Kelly had said previously he wanted FieldTurf installed.

The university announced during its spring Blue-Gold game Saturday that installation of FieldTurf will begin after the commencement ceremony on May 18 and should be completed by Aug. 15.

The Irish open the season Aug. 30 at home against Rice.

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Notre Dame to replace grass with artificial turf

A new satellite image shows grass fires scattered like seeds across the Kansas prairie.

And in fact, these fires are a bit like seeds, in that they are a crucial part of the prairie ecosystem.

"We cant have prairie without fire," Jason Hartman of the Kansas Forest Service told NASA's Earth Observatory, which released the satellite image today (April 9).

The Flint Hills of eastern Kansas are the site of most of the remaining tallgrass prairie in the United States. These rippling grasslands represent only 4 percent of the 170 million acres (688,000 square kilometers) that once blanketed the plains. The flint rock of eastern Kansas kept early farmers from tilling the land and saved the grass, according to the state's Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. [Images: The Unexpected Beauty of Tallgrass Prairie]

The prairies evolved to flourish after lightning-sparked fires, a fact humans have long taken advantage of. The Native Americans who once hunted this region lit fires to burn off dead vegetation, encouraging new growth that attracted bison and other large game. Modern ranchers also use controlled burns to clear soil for younger, more nutritious plants for their cattle, Earth Observatory reported.

Spring is controlled fire season at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. According to the National Park Service, prescribed burning was going on March 28th and March 29th, 2014. This image, snapped by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite, was acquired March 31. Red areas are burn scars from recent fires.

Tallgrass prairies may seem dull and undifferentiated to the untrained eye, but they're actually a complex and diverse ecosystem. About 80 percent of prairie vegetation is grass (40 to 60 species), with the remainder made up of more than 300 species of wildflowers, plus trees, scrubs and lichens, according to Live Science's Our Amazing Planet. The roots of these plants form tangles deep in the prairie sod, enabling early settlers to cut bricks from the soil. And these plant communities support more than 400 species of birds, 53 species of reptiles and 28 species of amphibians.

In March, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service placed one of these species, the lesser prairie chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) on its list of threatened wildlife. The prairie chicken, actually a grouse, is identifiable by its yellow head and red, puffy neck. It has lost more than 80 percent of its habitat to human development, including ranching, wild farms and oil and gas drilling.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitterand Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

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Kansas Grass Fires Seen from Space

Legislation to ban the sale or use of genetically modified lawn seed in Connecticut won state Senate approval Wednesday even though GMO grass isn't expected to be available here for at least one to two years.

The bill had the strong support of the Senate's top Democratic leader, Donald Williams Jr. of Brooklyn. But the legislation now heads to the House, where it faces opposition from that chamber's top Democrat, House Speaker Brendan Sharkey of Hamden, a fact likely to derail the bill.

Questions about what the House would do with the GMO seed ban didn't deter its Senate supporters, nor did claims by critics that such a prohibition was premature and unsupported by scientific evidence. The bill passed the Senate on a mostly party-line 25-11 vote, with three Republicans voting in favor.

Advocates of the ban warned that use of the herbicide- and pesticide-resistant GMO grass seed would encourage homeowners and businesses to use far more potentially harmful weed-killing chemicals on their lawns.

"One of the great threats to us in this country today is the invasion of pesticides," said state Sen. Edward Meyer, D-Guilford. He said allowing the use of GMO seeds in this state would result in the use of "huge quantities of pesticides" because homeowners could spread those chemicals all over their lawns without damaging the grass.

Williams said the GMO seeds being developed by Monsanto and Scott's make the grass resistant to the popular weed-killer Roundup. The primary herbicide in Roundup is glyphosate, which some studies have linked to a variety of pollution and health problems.

"All of the organic farmers I've talked to are wildly in favor of this [ban]," Williams said. He explained the great fear of organic farmers is that the GMO grass could spread to their properties and crops, while environmentalists worry about the pollution effects of increased herbicide use.

Opponents of the ban said the scientific evidence is unclear on GMO grass and that there is the possibility that it could result in less use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.

Senate Republican Leader John McKinney of Fairfield urged lawmakers to adopt a two-year moratorium on the sale of GMO seed rather than an outright ban. He said the state should "take a more cautious approach" and require further study before enacting a ban.

The Senate rejected McKinney's proposal on a 23-13 vote.

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Senate OKs Ban On Genetically Modified Lawn Seed

In a mere week $317,000 worth of grass was laid out on Highland Community Park like one giant carpet.

"I can't wait to see it," said Mike Clingman, president of the Central Little League.

Because efforts to grow grass on the park that features several baseball diamonds would not have met the deadline date for the Opening Day ceremonies on March 13, the Highland City Council voted to approve the installation of sod grass.

Throughout the week more than a dozen men worked on putting on the grass blankets across the dozens of acres of land where the new baseball fields are located. The blankets of grass were loaded on a big truck and picked up by a tractor. Then men would roll the grass in the area desired. Once in place, they stamped it down.

Guards are protecting the area from thieves and the entire area is fenced. Other than birds flying in, the grass areas will not be in use until the Opening Day ceremonies.

"We have to let the grass take root," said Councilman John Timmer.

It was Timmer's idea to assure that the Central Little League starting date would take place with a fully intact park. Both Timmer and Councilman Larry McCallon were involved in the blueprints for the park and baseball diamonds with the previous. They felt it needed to be done.

Efforts to have grass seeded and grown in the baseball fields had passed the deadline necessary for it to spout in time. The last day to put grass seed in was the last weekend in October, and due to pipeline conflicts that had to be rectified, the deadline passed.

The City Council did not want to miss the most important deadline.

"It wouldn't look good," said Timmer during the City Council meeting several weeks ago.

Excerpt from:
Fields sodded for Little League baseball season

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) March 31, 2014

Super-Sod is looking for humorous, adventurous, instructive, or inspiring tales with a lawn mower theme.

Here's a chance to tell on a relative about that "adventure" with a lawn mower or brag about your hard mowing child. Was mowing lawns a formative part of your youth? Super-Sod wants to hear such stories and anecdotes, or even poems and Haikus. The stories need not be long, a few sentences or a paragraph or two will do.

Super-Sod is running their Mower Story Contest in an app on their website and on their Facebook page and that means all entrants must have a Facebook account to participate. The story with the most votes win from Super-Sod The Allett Classic reel mower, so all entrants are encourage to share their entry with their friends and family to get out the vote for their story.

About The Allett Classic lawn mower: -It's a reel mower with 5 cutting blades; -Cuts like scissors, rather than the machete-like cut made by rotary mowers; -The Classic gives grass a clean cut (not the jagged cut like rotary mowers) and a clean cut means less water loss; -It's made for warm-season lawns (Zoysia, Bermuda, and Centipede); -It's easy to adjust mow height with only the turn of a knob; -Now a homeowner can have the golf course look: The Classic allows homeowners to cut warm-season lawns much lower than standard rotary mowers cut; -It has a back roller that gives lawns the beautiful striped look that's so desirable in nice lawns; -Gas powered; -Self propelled with a safety cut-off feature; -Cuts 17" wide; -It's built with a removable cartridge system: replace a cartridge of old blades with a new one or take just the cartridge to the shop for sharpening (rather than loading up and bringing in the entire mower).

The Mower Story Contest was launched March 26th, 2014, and will end at noon on Friday, May 2nd, 2014. The winner will be announced on Super-Sod's Facebook page at 2:00pm on May 2nd. Since Super-Sod is based in GA, FL, NC, and SC, the contest is good only in those states.

Super-Sod is a family-run business that employs experts in turf and horticulture. One of their most popular products has been their Soil3 organic compost, delivered in a cubic yard BigYellowBag, which they make partially from composted grass clippings from their sod production. Super-Sod continues to develop new garden products, foster gardening and landscaping, and always seeks to improve their farming practices, technology, environmental stewardship, and employee knowledge.

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Super-Sod's Mower Story Contest

ByJason Beck/MLB.com|3/31/2014 6:35 P.M. ET

DETROIT -- If the sight of green grass wasn't enough salvation for Tigers fans after a winter of frozen tundra, the sight of an outfield without different-colored patches was a head-turner. The 15th Opening Day at Comerica Park was the club's first with new sod since 2007.

The opener provided the first real test for the new surface, which was laid down about a week and a half ago. The Tigers and Royals worked out on it Sunday, and Austin Jackson said he wanted to check it out and see how it felt. However, it was difficult to simulate the quick cuts needed by outfielders in game action.

"You definitely want to get your feet on it a little bit and see," Jackson said. "When you put cleats on, you want to see how it is. You have to get a good feel for it."

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said they checked out the infield during the workout on Sunday.

"The field looks great, actually," Ausmus said. "We had a quick infield in batting practice yesterday. Everything went well."

The new sod is Kentucky bluegrass trucked in from a sod farm in Colorado. The Tigers will have similar replacement sod ready for repair work at a sod farm in Michigan.

"It actually looks pretty good," outfielder Torii Hunter said. "I saw the photos a week ago. It didn't look good."

Hunter told reporters after the Tigers' 4-3 walk-off win that the footing was fine, though Jackson seemingly struggled to get a good jump on an Eric Hosmer first-inning double to right-center.

DETROIT -- Despite Justin Verlander making his seventh consecutive Opening Day start, the 2014 season has a new feel for the Tigers. They have a rookie manager, a revamped infield and a completely new tail end of the bullpen.

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Tigers' outfielders green on park's new sod

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By Ashley Dunkak @AshleyDunkak

COMERICA PARK (CBS DETROIT) Thanks to months of seemingly constantsnow and unrelenting below-freezing temperatures, the process of laying a new field for Comerica Park turned out to a bit more interesting than anticipated.

Its been very difficult, head groundskeeper Heather Nabozny said Friday. Weve had to remove snow twice. One time it was almost 11 inches. The next time, we had to remove four before we could even start to think about grading the field and laying the sod and then getting warm enough temperatures during the day to lay the sod, wait until our field thawed. Sand doesnt hold much moisture, so it thaws a lot quicker than finer-textured soils the warning track, the infield, the mound.

We heated those areas the mound, the plate, the infield skin, with large heaters and a tarp, so we melted the frost out of there, Nabozny continued. Its been a challenge.

For all the trouble the winter weather caused Nabozny and the rest of the Detroit Tigers grounds crew as they worked to prepare the playing surfacefor Opening Day, the process could have been even more hectic.

We were able to take the [old] field out in the fall, which helped out a bunch. If we werent able to do that, then I probably wouldnt have slept all winter, Nabozny said. We took out, oh gosh, 700 tons of root zone and organic material, so then we had to add 700 tons of material, grade it all out. Its a big process. So we got it close so that in the spring time all we had to do was come in, touch it up and lay the sod.

The process of laying the field took several days. Arrivingfrom Colorado, the sod came toComerica in climate-controlled trucks, their temperatures kept at 50 degrees so the sod would not freeze. Cut into strips measuring 40 feet by 4 feet, each piece of sod weighs more thana ton. The transport took35 semis.

Despite the less-than-ideal conditions of this winter and the way it delayed the laying of the field, Nabozny said she is not worried about the grass.The huge pieces of sod get locked into place by a special machine that slams each strip next to the previous one, packing the pieces together so tightly thatone cannot see or feel the seams betweenthem.

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New Field At Comerica Ready To Go Despite Winter Weather Challenges

MILWAUKEE (AP) - The arctic cold that encased the Midwest this winter didnt exactly make for the most ideal of conditions to grow new grass for the Brewers, even with the retractable roof closed at Miller Park.

But the groundskeepers pressed on with the new sod. Even brought over some grow lamps from Europe to give the field an around-the-clock dose of synthetic sunlight.

All to get ready for Monday, when baseball returns to Milwaukee. The Brewers will host the Atlanta Braves to open the 2014 season for both teams.

This was a little harsher winter than we had anticipated. Were hoping for a little better spring, said Michael Boettcher, the teams director of grounds. But regardless of what Mother Nature gave us here, were going to have it ready for Opening Day.

The new field was lush and green for a two-game exhibition set against the Kansas City Royals over the weekend. Players gave it rave reviews.

The team was scheduled to get the grow lamps even before the brutal winter. Turned out to be perfect timing when the contraptions arrived this month.

It looks absolutely fantastic, outfielder Logan Schafer said. Its a lot firmer underneath. Last year, wed do a lot of burnouts trying to get jumps and wed kind of kick up a lot of grass. But you look it looks great out there, playing great.

One less thing for Ryan Braun to worry about as he switches positions from left to right field. But as if that wasnt enough of a transition, the Brewers top player is also returning from a 65-game doping suspension by Major League Baseball stemming from Biogenesis scandal.

So far, Braun looks as if hes going to follow through on his vow to again become one of baseballs top sluggers. The 2011 NL MVP hit .417 this spring with three homers and nine RBIs, and manager Ron Roenicke is also pleased with the way hes handled the move to right.

Hes working hard at it and he feels comfortable out there, the skipper said. I think with the range that he has hell save us a lot of runs.

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New field welcomes Braves and Brewers for opener

Photo by Michael Zamora

Michael Zamora/Scripps Newspapers Bluebonnets grow well in roadside waste areas, but cant compete with turf grasses.

Dear Neil: We have bluebonnets planted and growing in an area where we are going to plant El Toro zoysia sod later this spring. We will wait for the bluebonnets to go dormant before we lay the sod. Will they come up through the grass next spring? Also, how can we eliminate clover that is there before we plant the sod?

A: Wildflowers, and in this case more specifically bluebonnets, do not coexist with turfgrass at all. If you think about where you see bluebonnets growing natively, its always in an area that has poor soil with little native pasture grass. Bluebonnets succeed in bare areas, but they struggle competing with dense grasses. The highway department plants them in roadside areas that do have grass, but its not strong, assertive grass like youd have in a lawn. In fact, youll notice that many of those wildflower slopes along highways are pretty bare once they mow off the old, dried bluebonnet stubble in early summer. My advice would be to let the bluebonnets run their course, then gather the seeds just as the pods start to split open. Store the seeds over the summer in a jar or plastic bag (without moisture), either in an air-conditioned part of the house or in the refrigerator. Sow them into an appropriate place in late August or early September. A dedicated bed that receives little heroic soil preparation and that is seldom, if ever, fertilized would be great. As for the clover, once you have the bluebonnet seeds collected, rototill the area before planting the sod. The tilling will eliminate the clover.

Dear Neil: My husband and I want to put down some type of hardscape surface around a red oak tree. How much space should we leave between the trunk and the hard surface?

A: The more you can leave, the better you and the tree will both be but at least 3 or 4 feet out from the trunk. Trees major lateral roots are near the soil surface, and as the tree ages, those roots grow up and out of the soil. Its not due to erosion. Its just that they get large. As they swell, they break the hardscape surfaces. Thats why interlocking concrete pavers and other portable materials are so useful when working around trees.

Dear Neil: Why do the seedlings I start under grow lights for my flower and vegetable gardens end up getting so tall and spindly? They dont survive the transition to outdoor planting? I have lost them all.

A: That breaks my heart when somebody has that kind of experience, and unfortunately, youre not alone. This can be due to a couple of things, and I can best illustrate by telling you how a bedding plant grower will produce his or her plants. They will grow them in absolutely full sunshine, and they will grow them at 60 or 62 degrees. Grow lights provide perhaps five percent that amount of light, so the plants become lanky as they grow toward the light. That is made much worse very rapidly when temperatures are warm they try to grow more rapidly. Youd be better off investing in a small cold frame or, better yet, a home hobby greenhouse or window greenhouse that would give you more light.

Dear Neil: I have a 60-foot hedge that has gaps in it. It is 8 feet tall. Is there any way to prune the plants to get them to fill in?

A: Oh, how I wish I knew what type of plant was involved, also whether plants in the row actually died, or what else might have happened to cause the empty spaces. Sometimes you can find the same type of plant in a large nursery container and plant it into a void to solve the problem. Of course, if the gaps happened because a sprinkler head didnt water that part of the row (to use one example), the new plant would suffer the same fate. There are too many variables for a good answer. Id suggest you take a sharp photo (print, not on phone) to a local independent retail nursery for their suggestions. They can show you the replacement plants for the voids, if that becomes an option.

Continued here:
Bluebonnets do not coexist with turfgrass