Talkin' turf: how San Diego successfully delivers fertile ground, despite never-ending challenges

Parks & Recreation, June, 2004 by Carol Drummond, Steven Remley

The city of San Diego Park and Recreation Department is the nation's second largest municipal park system, and harbors 36,970 acres of developed and undeveloped open space, 337 neighborhood and community parks, three regional parks, 51 recreation centers, 25 miles of ocean and bay beaches, 13 year-round pools and three golf complexes. Every one of these facilities keeps the staff busy, but the one thing that proves difficult to master is at the foundation of everything--turf. San Diego's park and recreation maintenance workers toil endlessly to ensure that their turf can survive the daily onslaught of activity inflicted by its residents. Their experiences can be related to any sized community.

Green Thumb 101

San Diego's turf is some of the greatest and greenest in the nation. Of course the weather doesn't hurt. Because of San Diego's warm climate, a professional full-time mowing crew made up of 35 men and women, and three fulltime equipment technicians, are able to mow about 1,400 acres of turf in the city every week throughout the year.

Wherever there is a flat, turfed area, there is typically year-round play on it in San Diego. And the residents are constantly creative, transforming any large area into an available sports field. This presents a real challenge when it comes to allowing turf the time that it takes to recover from high use 12 months out of the year. Because of San Diego's climate, turf stays green and grows, even if slowly, between November and March when much of the turf in the country is white with snow.

"My staff are committed to professionally maintaining turfed areas for thousands of residents and visitors who enjoy using San Diego's parks every clay of the year for activities like soccer, disc tossing, jogging and picnicking," says Park and Recreation Department Director Ellen Oppenheim. "Our goal is to acquire, develop, operate and maintain a park and recreation system that enriches the quality of life for people of all ages, abilities and income levels, and preserve this system for future generations."

In order to maintain the lush lawns, the mowing crew depends on 10, 7-gang mowers; eight, 5-gang mowers; and 20 tri-plex mowers. The 7-gang mowers are heavily used in large open space areas such as Balboa and Mission Bay Regional Parks, where turf exceeds 350 acres. The city owns all of its mowers, and although reel mowers are more expensive to purchase and maintain, they have proven to provide a higher quality cut, which is important when it comes to maintaining sports fields.

Most turf is mowed at three-quarters of an inch, making for a tighter and more compact lawn. This surface is also for better playing conditions, whether they are soccer, softball or other organized sports. Three times a year, in the spring, the early summer and the mid-fall, staff fertilize the entire turf inventory. Prior to every fertilization, staff aerate all acres in order to open the soil and allow for maximum penetration of water and nutrients. This process helps reduce compaction, a continual problem because of heavy year-round use.

Using an integrated pest management program that was developed in San Diego, staff refrain from using chemicals whenever possible and instead use a process that controls invasive weeds through cultural practices. Turf herbicides are only used as a last resort when the weed infestation is severe. While this may not make for a perfect-looking lawn, the park and recreation department has made the decision to accept a slightly less aesthetic appearance in lieu of using excessive chemical herbicides. "As pesticide regulations become more restrictive in public areas [California Healthy Schools Act], and as an increasing number of regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are monitoring the pesticide application process, it is clearly the right time to proactively develop an integrated pesticide management program," says Stacey LoMedico, assistant to the director of the San Diego Park and Recreation Department. "These efforts have been viewed positively throughout the community by park patrons, environmentalist groups, as well as elected officials."

Kikuyugrass (Pennisetum clandestinum) can be found in most San Diego parks. Not long ago, this type of turf was considered to be an invasive weed, but turf experts decided, "If we can't live without it, then we had better learn to live with it." Thus began a relationship where, rather than attempt to eradicate it, staff created a maintenance plan and schedule to use it to their park users' benefit. The good news is when maintained properly, Kikuyugrass forms a nice "carpet" as it is fast growing, has high drought tolerance and excellent wear/traffic tolerance (See Table 1 on pages 54-55 for more information oil the different types of turf). The bad news is, it is known for its thick stolons or branches that sprout from the root and form buds, which can pose tripping hazards, especially for athletes wearing shoes with cleats. The solution is an aggressive "verticutting" or turf restructuring program, which gets rid of the excess thatch between the blades of grass. Verticutting is done on approximately 500 acres annually, covering all main sports fields in the city.