The city of Kodiak overseeded a sports field on June 17, 2008. They seeded the field with a blend of bluegrass, red fescue and arctared red fescue (special red fescue for Alaska). They screened the soil for stones after seeding. With this screening they were trying to blend the seed with the top soil. They got rid of the stones but most likely they also got rid of some seed. Result was a very poor field at the beginning of the season.
So Ian Fulp, Director of Kodiak Parks and Recreation, was looking for a solution. In September the field needed to be in use and the field was really poor looking. Ian Fulp called Barenbrug and asked for the SOS Cool Season program. Barenbrug supplied Ian with the product and on August 17, 2008 they over seeded their sports field with a little more than 8,5 lbs per 1000 sq. ft. of SOS Cool Season. At September 16 the field was looking great.
Ian Fulp: “Everyone was very satisfied with the result: a thick grass cover with a beautiful medium-green color that blended well with the remaining bluegrass. We were especially pleased that we were able to do this so late in the year, with temperatures in the forties and fifties.”
SOS Cool Season consists primarily of turf type annual ryegrass. The advantage of annual ryegrass is fast establishment and good wear tolerance. The name of SOS is already saying what it is supposed to do. It needs to help the sports turf manager to save his sports fields. SOS can germinate at cooler temperatures as perennial ryegrass and also germinates quicker. During the season SOS is a perfect product for overseeding and keeping a sports field in good shape between games.
Also Tony Leonard from the Philadelphia Eagles relies on the SOS system for overseeding of Financial Field.
This article originally appeared on www.barusa.com.