The toughest grass in the world?

 
Hi guys,


I'm Stu and I'm trying to find some advice. I wasn't sure where to look,
but thought some of you guys might be able to help?

My problem surrounds grass, as per the title.

I'm part of a local club the run electric radio control cars on a grass
track. On a normal club meet, the cars take quite a toll on the grass.
It gets slightly discoloured where the track has been and ruts up in
places where drivers apply the power. However it usually recovers well
as we only use it once a fortnight.

The real trouble comes when we hold big regional meetings. 120 Drives
soon destroys the place.


I was hoping to find some ideas on what we can do with the grass. Some
parts of the track have been astro turfed, however keeping the grass is
what attracts the drivers, so we don't want to cover the whole thing.

Does anyone have any experience with extreemly high wear areas or indeed
any suggestions on either helping stop the ground rutting up in the
first place, or helping the ground recover?


Thanks in advance
Stu




--
Stu L

 Stu L wrote:

The toughest turf grass is probably Bahia, but it's a warm season
grass so it might not be useful for you.

-Bob

 Stu L wrote:

There is no perfect solution to this.  While some grasses are more durable
than others heavy traffic will always chew up grass.  I think you are stuck
with the rutting.  You can make the best of it by making conditions so that
it grows well and recovers as soon as possible.  This involves loosening
campaction, appropriate feeding and watering, replacing very damaged areas
with new sods, etc.  If you can avoid holding meetings while the grass is
dormant in winter or the ground is wet then do so.  Try to get a greenkeeper
interested in model cars.

David

 On Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:48:15 +0000, Stu L


Grow hay.  Hay is ten times tougher and grows ten times faster than
common turf grasses and when mowed at a two inch length looks as good
if not better than any lawn. The only negatives are that hay is
coarse, not very comfortable to walk on barefoot... but would probably
work well for racing toy cars... and you'd need to mow it every other
day at a minimum, during hot wet weather mow every day.

 Brooklyn1 wrote:

What grass species are characteristic of those cut for hay that are not
found in common turf grasses?  What specifically is hay seed so that the OP
can buy it?

D