Grass Roots
Check in with Briggs & Stratton’s Yard Doctor, Trey Rogers, on how the grass is growing in Beijing.
Day 6: August 16, 2008
This will be my last Olympic blog post, as we leave for home tomorrow. Our work is done. The field is in relatively good condition. (As a lawn geek and a perfectionist, this is a pretty high grade for me, especially since grass is a living entity with a fine line between acceptable and unacceptable.) Now the games and events must simply be played out. School starts soon, so it’s time for me to leave.
One question I have been asked on a fairly consistent basis involves the varied grass conditions of the preliminary Olympic soccer matches. These are games being played at different venues around the country with only one site in Beijing—Workers National Stadium. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to answer those questions since I wasn’t involved with the grass there or the management of those fields. We were only charged with the portable field for the Bird’s Nest (and believe me, that was enough).
Renovating by resodding
As we are preparing to leave, I sometimes catch snippets in the press about the beauty of the landscape, the sculptures and the grass. It makes me smile, because I understand how the green color of the grass complements the landscape, the ornaments and the statues. I also know that 3 weeks ago quite a bit of Beijing was resodded with fresh turf so the city would look perfect for the Olympics (and it does). Since the resodded areas are in public places and are inside right-of-ways, there’s just no way the grass could have been unmarred going into the Olympics, given the brutality of the weather in Beijing. Renovating through resodding was the only answer, and it certainly appears to have worked.
Goodbye from Beijing
So, as I close this blog, let me say how much I enjoyed these Olympics and blogging about them from a “grass roots” perspective. The end of this experience is bittersweet. On one hand I’m glad my responsibilities are over since the weather and the distance made this a tough project. On the other hand, it will be hard to beat the excitement and the attention, and I never really know when a project will be my last. I sure hope this one isn’t.
Goodbye from Beijing,
Trey Rogers, the Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor
Read more of Trey's blog posts from China.
Day 6: August 16, 2008
This will be my last Olympic blog post, as we leave for home tomorrow. Our work is done. The field is in relatively good condition. (As a lawn geek and a perfectionist, this is a pretty high grade for me, especially since grass is a living entity with a fine line between acceptable and unacceptable.) Now the games and events must simply be played out. School starts soon, so it’s time for me to leave.
One question I have been asked on a fairly consistent basis involves the varied grass conditions of the preliminary Olympic soccer matches. These are games being played at different venues around the country with only one site in Beijing—Workers National Stadium. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to answer those questions since I wasn’t involved with the grass there or the management of those fields. We were only charged with the portable field for the Bird’s Nest (and believe me, that was enough).
Renovating by resodding
As we are preparing to leave, I sometimes catch snippets in the press about the beauty of the landscape, the sculptures and the grass. It makes me smile, because I understand how the green color of the grass complements the landscape, the ornaments and the statues. I also know that 3 weeks ago quite a bit of Beijing was resodded with fresh turf so the city would look perfect for the Olympics (and it does). Since the resodded areas are in public places and are inside right-of-ways, there’s just no way the grass could have been unmarred going into the Olympics, given the brutality of the weather in Beijing. Renovating through resodding was the only answer, and it certainly appears to have worked.
Goodbye from Beijing
So, as I close this blog, let me say how much I enjoyed these Olympics and blogging about them from a “grass roots” perspective. The end of this experience is bittersweet. On one hand I’m glad my responsibilities are over since the weather and the distance made this a tough project. On the other hand, it will be hard to beat the excitement and the attention, and I never really know when a project will be my last. I sure hope this one isn’t.
Goodbye from Beijing,
Trey Rogers, the Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor
Read more of Trey's blog posts from China.
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Nick Maceus