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Mowing Your Baseball Field Turf
Mowing
Your Baseball Field Turf
Step
one in baseball field turf maintenance is to mow the grass
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What
you're going to do Mow
the baseball field turf.
If you are removing quite a bit, then you need to use a grass catcher
or rake up the grass.
If your field is normally mowed at least once a week, then you probably
can let the clippings lay on the turf.
Why you do this
You need to get a
good mowing in before proceeding with overseeding and fertilizing.
You'll need to wait now for at least three weeks before mowing again.
Otherwise the new seedlings will be destroyed.
How you do this Outfields
are typically mowed via riding mowers or park district mowers. These are
huge rotary mowers that don't catch the grass, but let the clippings lie.
Infields can be mowed
by riding mowers or walk behind mowers.
I prefer the walk behind mowers.
See
this section on various machines you can use to mow your baseball field.
Tips & Hints
- The infield turf
should be given extra attention. I prefer mowing it with a walk behind
mower. That way you get a feel for the ruts, holes, and undulations
that cause the bad bounces. You'll know what and where the problem areas
are. When you topdress you can fix these. You'll also get a good first
hand look at the edges and lips for further repair. There's nothing
like mowing an infield to really know your field.
- Reel mowers can
safely mow the grass shorter. If you use a rotary mower on a field that
is not perfectly flat, you'll end up with some scalped spots. Well,
that's one way to level out the lumps.
- Time your project
with the scheduled mowing by park or school districts. Let them cut
the outfield with the larger machines and trim the infield and foul
areas with their smaller machines.
- Try to mow it just
a bit shorter than normal. It will be about three weeks before you mow
again if you overseed.
Mistakes to avoid
- Skipping this step
because your grass doesn't look that long. You'll be surprised how much
it will grow after you finish the rest of the turf maintenance steps.
I can tell you from experience, if your field hasn't been mowed in over
a week before proceeding, you'll have to fight through the grass later
when you start mowing again.
- Mowing the infield
with large riding mowers can put ruts in there. Yikes.
- Mowing too short
on very hot days. You'll stress the grass.
- Not waiting three
weeks after overseeding before you mow. You'll kill a lot of the little
seedlings if you mow too soon.
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mowing
the outfield
a little
too long...
Park &
Rec type mower
rotary
mower
reel mower
too short
when it's hot
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