WRAL'sJim Payneis at the ballparkwithWRAListens, where he found outthat spring means more than baseball. It also means green grass, whosegroomers have some advice for every other homeowner slaving away on theirown lawn.
DBAP Head Groundskeeper Mike Boekholder said it took constant vigilanceand planning to maintain one of the Carolina League's most respectedfields.
It all starts almost a foot below the surface where with a 10-inch base ofsand on top of a crushed pea gravel sub base. It's on top of that levelthat the drainage system is placed.
Once you've laid all those elements, it's time for the green stuff.
Boekholder said the DBAP used a hybrid Bermuda grass. Tiffany 419 to beexact.
It's probably not the kind of grass your neighbors have.
"It's rather high maintenance," Boekholder said. "It's used on golfcourses and places like that where you want more of a formal type turf."
That doesn't mean homeowners who don't want to spend all their time in theyard, he said. The N.C. Department of Agriculture Extension Service willtest your soil for free.
"Unless you soil test on your lawn, you don't know what your lawn needs,"Boekholder said.
The test will help you decide on the type of fertilizer to use, or whetheryou need to add lime. And then it's time to choose seed.
"In this part of the country, the fescues and things like that are reallythe way to go for your average home owner," he said.
Boekholder said most people would probably enjoy their yard and not makeit their job like he has.
"I think most people would rather sit on a chair and enjoy their lawnrather than have to work on it all the time."
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