Lawn and Sport Turf Benefits
Eliot C. Roberts and Beverly C. Roberts, The Lawn Institute, Pleasant Hill, Tennessee
Silt has filled many water systems around the world. The U.S. Soil Conservation Service found that reservoirs with dams averaging 30 feet high often filled in with silt completely in 29 years. Grass areas protect soil from eroding and prevent the loss of lakes and reservoirs [Heady 1968]. They also lessen the cleanup of drainage channels [Schery 1976]. These water storage spaces are important for water supply and also provide desirable recreation areas.
Lawns and Small Animals
A lawn mowed a 1-2 inches is not a safe home for many small animals and they will seek taller cover. Use of the yard is therefore more pleasant in the absence of rodents, snakes, ticks, skunks and other small animals [EngeI 1980]. Since they move away from lawn areas, they are less likely to invade the home.
The other side of the coin suggests that a lawn serves as a source of food for birds [Robey 1977] and insects like earthworms which are beneficial to our environment [Johns 1970].
Traffic Control
Plants can help direct movement of people in a controlled way. When plans are made for an area accessed by numbers of people, the predictable movement of pedestrians and vehicles must be considered before traffic circulation systems are designed. Plants, including lawns, not only add to the visual quality of the environment, but can direct the movement of traffic through an area in planned directions. A grass area, of the proper width, can be an effective barrier in many instances.
Roadside turf areas provide a stabilized zone for emergency stopping for vehicles that lose control or are in trouble [Beard 1973]. Lawns along roads provide areas free of obstructions that reduce visibility and prevent collision hazards.
Sport Turf
The National Football League Players Association has studied player injuries and has taken a position in favor of natural grass playing fields. Injuries on natural grass are fewer and less severe than on other surfaces [Macik 1987]. Some baseball players contract to play only on teams that have home fields of natural grass [Anonymous S 1987]. Natural grass fields were part of the NFL players demands in their 1987 contract dispute. There are injuries on grass fields but these are most often noted where the condition of the field is poor. Improper field construction, inadequate seeding and poor management practices can mean slippery or hard fields which can cause injuries [Aungst 1986]. Injuries often happen on practice fields which are not as well maintained as the playing field. Some coaches indicate that as their grass fields improve, the numbers of injuries decrease [Kuhajda 1986].
Americans are very sports minded and sports like golf and softball are especially popular. Football and baseball, as well as golf, are staged for the enjoyment of spectators. In other countries, soccer, cricket, and lawn bowls are also very popular and are played on turfgrass fields. In sports, the surface on which the game is played contributes a great deal to the outcome of the contest, the safety of the players and the aesthetic enjoyment of the fans. Turfgrass provides resiliency and durability which adds to the quality of playas well as to the safety of the players.
The quality of turf on a playing field can make or break a game. Training of athletes is important but this advantage can be lost unless the turf surface is of high quality [Emmons 1984]. The new improved turfgrasses have high recuperative power to heal when torn up by heavy play. Natural turf provides for good traction between the ground and the shoe sole. This means safe footing on home lawns, playgrounds and sports fields. A sod cover helps keep shoes from contact with loose stones and slippery wet soil that are often responsible for unexpected falls. Turfgrass is cooler than artificial surfaces; thus it is more comfortable to play on. When the air temperature is 90°F, synthetic turf can be 140°F [Anonymous S 1987]. In a 1978 poll of trainers from 6 major college football conference~ showed that 75% felt that there were detrimental effects on the players from the absorption of heat from artificial surfaces [Roberts 1985].
Hardness of playing fields is being studied. An egg drop test shows the resiliency and cushioning of turfgrasses. When a dozen eggs were dropped from 11 feet onto a 2 inch high, dense bluegrass/ryegrass turf, none broke. Two thirds of the eggs dropped from the same height onto a thin turf broke. All dozen eggs dropped from just 18″ onto an all-weather track broke [Turf Seed 1986].
Turf on home lawns, playgrounds and sports fields feels good to walk or run on because of its cushioning properties. There is a resiliency that helps keep legs healthy. It’s a good surface for play from roughhousing to football. No other surface material feels as good on bare feet or is as good for games like croquet, badminton and volleyball [Emmons 1984].
School enrollment in the United States, kindergarten through college, is over 58,000,000 [1988 Information Please Almanac]. Physical development of school children is thought to be so important that physical education is part of the mandatory curriculum in this country and others. The condition of playing fields and playgrounds contributes to the safety of children. In 1984 there were over 189,000 children who received injuries on playgrounds that required hospital care [Kurtz 1987]. The University of Pennsylvania found that over 40% of ankle and foot injuries to school athletes were attributed to field conditions [Roberts 1985]. Well grassed surfaces can prevent injuries that may interfere with a young person’s or athlete’s future. Unfortunately, the majority of playing fields in local communities are in dire need of improvement and there is increasing concern about this issue [Macik 1987].
Golf has long been the favorite game on turf. The game dates to the 1500’s when the Dutch practiced a combination of winter hockey and summer golf. By 1754, St Andrew’s of Scotland had become a public golf course. Golf is played by millions of people world wide as a means for exercise, relaxation, and as an avenue for business transactions. The first U.S. golf course was built before 1890 [Daniel and Freeborg 1979]. Today there are an estimated 20,200,000 golfers who play 445 million rounds of golf a year in the United States and by the year 2000, it is expected there will be 40 million golfers. The 13,181 U.S. golf courses spend $3,400,000,000 a year to maintain their facilities [Golf Course Maintenance Report 1971].
Horse racing, tennis, polo, rugby, grass skiing, lacrosse, bocce, archery, badminton, croquet, horseshoes, field hockey, Frisbee, lawn darts, softball, steeplechase, tetherball and volleyball are other popular sports played on grass surfaces.
Common recommendations can for 6 acres of publicly-owned land to be maintained as communal recreational facilities, not including public golf courses, for every 1000 people [Dawson 1977].
Conclusion
“I believe a blade of grass is no less than the journeywork of the stars” – Walt Whitman
Grass plants are a unique gift of nature and give the world enormous benefits. They provide beauty, enhance health, provide recreation, and help maintain environmental quality -all for a very low cost. The role grass plays in preventing soil erosion and run-off is of major importance to the world’s environment. Grass and other green plants are important in the environmental balance that makes our life on earth possible. The importance of turf needs to be recognized for those necessary benefits it provides, especially in cities and suburbs where the current focus is towards inert, man-made surroundings rather than dynamic, living plants. Vegetation around us is basic to social stability and personal confidence [Horsbrough 1972].
