Check in with Briggs & Stratton’s Yard Doctor, Trey Rogers, on how the grass is growing in Beijing.

Day 7: August 15, 2008

We came back into Beijing this morning. What a contrast to Harbin! With all the people from around the world in the city, the electricity in the air is quite exciting.

Repairing the Damage
The track and field events started today. The grass will require some repair after the competition (those shot puts are quite heavy), so the Chinese turf staff will be busy at night repairing and replacing the divots. Since each divot is likely to be only 2 to 4 inches wide, the replacement will not require the removal of a whole module. Rather, they will simply use a tool similar to the cutter used to make a cup or hole in a putting green. It will remove the damaged area and 4 to 6 inches of soil and replace it with a fresh piece of turf—a “plug”.

The removal of soil is the key. The turf is damaged, not dead, so the root system transfer is critical. If you just remove the top, there will have to be root re-growth, impossible in such a short time. We call this “plugging.” The beauty of this procedure with a modular field is that we can simply bring in a few extra modules and plug from them.

Plugging is a practice I strongly advocate for repairing small areas in high profile places of the yard. “Borrow” plugs from an inconspicuous side of your home. Just cut out square plugs with a regular shovel. I think you’ll be happy with the results and the matching turf color and texture.

Watching the Weather
As a turf person, I watch the weather constantly this time of year, hoping things will cool off. Any little bit helps actually. Any relief is welcome and will benefit the grass in the stadium. From this point on, there is little that we can do to change the overall strength of the turf. It is what it is, as they say. The keys are to keep up with mowing and not over water. Sound familiar?

Fortunately, the weather has been a little less humid than it was last week. The grass all over the city seems to be perking up a bit. They have gone to enormous lengths to beautify this city (a fact lost on me until I visited Harbin). The landscaping is incredible and it is well-thought out and coordinated. The colors are vibrant and everything seems to be in bloom (I suspect there is some plant/shrub manipulation going on by the chief horticulturalists here.) Ah, money and manpower! A lot can be done with that combination.

Until next time,

Trey Rogers, the Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor

Read more of Trey's blog posts from China.