The following information provides a quick reference to assess the state of a sports pitch or similar turf area. The regular assessment of these areas will allow for better informed decisions to be made on the necessary maintenance and renovation work required.
It is best to take a number of readings for each performance criteria on a turf area. This will give a more realistic assessment of the prevailing situation . The Performance criteria can be assessed in a number of ways:
Performance criteria 1 -9 can be either visually assessed for a quick estimate, or alternatively a quadrat can be used to provide a more objective assessment, although this will take longer.
Performance criterion 10 can readily be assessed by observing the cut end of the grass leaves.
Performance criterion 11 can be quickly measured using a steel ruler.
Performance criterion 12 will require a straight edge such as a spirit level, 0.5 - 1 metre in length, and a steel ruler to provide a good indication of surface evenness.
| Location: | Date & Time: | Prevailing weather & ground conditions: |
|
| Performance Criteria | Assessment Results |
Readings & Comments | |
| 1. Total vegetation cover (Sum of 3, 4 & 5 below) |
% | ||
| 2. Total bare area | % | ||
| 100 | % | ||
| 3. Desirable grass species | |||
| Fine fescues | % | ||
| Bentgrasses | % | ||
| Perennial ryegrass | % | ||
| Smooth stalked meadow grass | % | ||
| Other species | % | ||
| Total desirable grass species | % | ||
| 4. Undesirable grass species | |||
| Annual meadow grass | % | ||
| Yorkshire fog | % | ||
| Other species | % | ||
| Total undesirable grass species | % | ||
| 5. Weed & Moss content | |||
| Fine-leaved weeds | % | ||
| Broad-leaved weeds | % | ||
| Moss | % | ||
| Total Weed & Moss content | % | ||
| 6. Disease content and type of disease | |||
| Fusarium patch | % | ||
| Red thread | % | ||
| Fairy ring | % | ||
| Leaf spot | % | ||
| Other disease | % | ||
| Total disease content | % | ||
| 7. Dry Patch | % | ||
| 8. Earthworm activity - number of worm casts | m² | ||
| 9. Length of vegetation | |||
| Lowest / Highest reading | / | mm | |
| Average reading | mm | ||
| 10. Quality of cut | [Clean/Sharp] or [Bruised/Jagged] | ||
| 11. Surface debris on area | |||
| Soft material (e.g. paper, leaves) | % | ||
| Hard material (e.g. stones, glass) | % | ||
| Total surface debris | % | ||
| 12. Surface Evenness | |||
| Variation, ± mm, for depressions or bumps, when measured with a straight edge | mm | ||
Additional turf sward performance criteria may also be assessed at the same time as that given above: This could include the measurement of the playing performance by means of turf speed & rolling distance for golf or bowling greens, or rebound bounce levels for cricket wickets or tennis courts.