Building a field question

[Megobee]

We have planned the renovation of a softball field on the HS campus for use of the Varsity HS team. (They currently play at a mens slow pitch field, 2 mi from the school)

A question I have for all of you with experience in this department- what do you do about weed control in bullpens and warning track? the town will be taking care of the field and the "Head Groundskeeper" said he doesn't like the stone dust in those areas because grass and weeds always find there way in there and it becomes difficult to maintain. because it is a public school facility, they cannot use pesticides. He did not have any recommendations.

just wondering how others have successfully dealt with this situation.,
TIA

 

[Cornbread]

Weed control is gonna be tough if you can use herbicides. If no herbicides I wouldn’t use any warning tracks. They are tough to maintain anyway and have to be edged frequently. You could use some type of heavy turf mats but that would be expensive. Bullpens can be framed and elevated and just hand pull weeds. I can’t imagine what the grass would look like without using herbicides

 

[Gags]

Megobee,

While you used the term pesticides, I believe the correct term is herbicides. I only mention this b/c you may want to look into how the school policy defines the term. Because household vinegar is actually a very effective herbicide - it will "burn" any foliage if applied in sunny weather. It won't kill the root, but should crisp up anything above ground. However, sometimes the policy is written so broadly that ANY form of weed control short of manual pulling or raking must be done by a licensed applicator.

I would look into artificial turf - not necessarily the mats you'd find for a batters box, but just a 6-8' wide strip of field turf that can be laid down. There may be some initial expense, but when you consider how long it will last (due to how little wear and tear your warning track, hopefully, will see), it may turn out to be negligible once you compare it to the yearly costs for bags of turface and gamesaver. (And I'm one of the last people that would push for a 100% artificial turf field, as nice as they can be nowadays.)

 

[bmakj]

propane torch could do trick as well, great for getting rid of all growth. no residue.