Playoff miracle is in the grass

Carol O’Meara
Colorado State University Extension
January 14, 2012

If you’re mesmerized by the Denver Broncos’ playoff games, you might start believing in divine intervention. But the miracle at Mile High isn’t really in Tim Tebow’s arm; it’s at his feet, growing quietly at a time when most grass lies dormant. In NFL stadiums across the USA, turf managers are working their magic to keep the fields football-ready.

“Any northern field at this time of year is going to look beat up,” says Dr. Tony Koski, Colorado State University Extension Turf Specialist. “The problem with football season is that it’s all under short days. We have sunshine but fewer hours really slow the grass down, bringing it to a near halt.” Recovering after the big guys get done playing is challenge, especially if your team makes the playoffs in January.

Solutions vary, such as artificial turf or re-sodding repeatedly, but when your team wants real grass and plays in a stadium nicknamed The Frozen Tundra, you’ve got to harness technology to give your field a competitive edge. That’s precisely what the Green Bay Packers do in Lambeau Field.

“We have the advantage of using technology to help give our field stability and safety. With us and Denver, we have the exact same thing; we’re the only fields that have the addition of synthetic fibers,” says Allen Johnson, Field Manager for the 2011 Super Bowl Champions, speaking of the DD GrassMaster system that weaves synthetic fibers in with natural grass.

Turf care is similar between the two stadiums, including a heating system under the field to keep the ground from freezing. But the Packers go a step further with a system you don’t normally associate with grass you need to mow: they use grow lights. Spanning the field in nine rigs, 540 grow lights bathe the field in faux sunlight.

“I use them from the beginning of October to the first week of December, and if I’d known it would be as mild as it has been I probably could have used them longer. But it started getting cold and it looked like we were going into the heart of winter, so I put them in storage,” said Johnson. “I think you have better light levels in Denver then we do in Green Bay.”

At the temperature tipping point, letting the grass go dormant makes it more durable, even though it wears down in the middle of the field. That’s where all the traffic is, and 300-pound linemen make short work of the turf, grinding out play after play between the narrow, 18-and –a-half foot hash marks of the NFL. “I only use the heat system to keep the surface thawed out, keep it from freezing. That’s the basic function of it, to keep the ground soft so players can get their cleats in it, and so they’re not landing on a frozen surface.”

Home lawns suffer the same thing in places with dogs, says Koski, “the grass stops growing, but dogs still use the yard. If you have a small yard with big dogs, the grass can’t recover from the pounding those paws give it.” Like pro players, dogs beat up the lawn, with claws kicking up tufts of grass as they play.

“All these factors add up in winter; the damage is cumulative,” says Koski. “Foot traffic, less water, short day length, and the health of the grass going into winter make a difference on how it will come out of it.”

To keep your yard from looking like it hosted the playoffs, water it monthly in winter, especially on south or west sides where mites love to gather. Maximize sunlight by raking up leaves left from fall. Keep from walking across the lawn in the same area, and avoid it when it’s frozen - trampling the turf when it’s frozen kills the crowns.

Then kick back and enjoy the playoffs. “You never know – we might just meet Denver in the Super Bowl,” said Johnson.