Articles
ARTIFICIAL SUBSTRATES FOR SPORT TURF CULTURE
Traditional playing fields utilizing modified native top soil have variable characteristics.
In some patented construction methods (Cell system Purr Wick System), the growing medium is an artificial substrate made with a mixture of sand and peat.
The object of the experimentation was to conceive a support material with a no-compactable and durable structure.
This material is used as support to turf roots and is isolated from the around soil so as to supply the water by means of subirrigation.
The tested materials have been selected by means of their characteristics : range of particule size, field capacity, wilting point, capillarity.
Three different growing media were studied :
- a substrate of silica sand with a range of particle size 0–2 mm,
- a substrate of expanded clay, 0–10 mm particle size,
- a mixture of silica sand and polyurethane foam.
Materials evolution during three years shows a climb of the biggest particles in the substrates with expanded clay.
Silica sand is stable.
With the same turfgrass species (Festuca arundinacea Schreb, cv. "Maris Kasba"), the sport quality has been determined by measurement of two characteristics : resiliency and elasticity.
The differences between the substrates can be clearly seen after the winter rest.
Moreover, the higher the resiliency is, the more important the loss of resiliency is.
When vegetation is abundant, the substrate effect can’t be seen.
The root system of five turfgrass species (Lolium perenne cv. "Manhattan", Festuca rubra cv. "Waldorf", Festuca arundinacea cv. "Ludion", Poa pratensis cv. "Monopoly", Phleum bertelonii cv. "Sport") have been extracted during two years in order to determine the root weights.
The influences of turfgrass species and nature of the substrate have been shown on the total weight and on the distribution of the roots with depth.