Stu L wrote:
Hi guys,

I'm Stu and I'm trying to find some advice. I wasn't sure where to
look, but thought some of you guys might be able to help?
My problem surrounds grass, as per the title.

I'm part of a local club the run electric radio control cars on a
grass track. On a normal club meet, the cars take quite a toll on the
grass. It gets slightly discoloured where the track has been and ruts
up in places where drivers apply the power. However it usually
recovers well as we only use it once a fortnight.
The real trouble comes when we hold big regional meetings. 120 Drives
soon destroys the place.

I was hoping to find some ideas on what we can do with the grass. Some
parts of the track have been astro turfed, however keeping the grass
is what attracts the drivers, so we don't want to cover the whole
thing. Does anyone have any experience with extreemly high wear areas
or indeed any suggestions on either helping stop the ground rutting
up in the first place, or helping the ground recover?

Thanks in advance
Stu

There is no perfect solution to this. While some grasses are more durable
than others heavy traffic will always chew up grass. I think you are stuck
with the rutting. You can make the best of it by making conditions so that
it grows well and recovers as soon as possible. This involves loosening
campaction, appropriate feeding and watering, replacing very damaged areas
with new sods, etc. If you can avoid holding meetings while the grass is
dormant in winter or the ground is wet then do so. Try to get a greenkeeper
interested in model cars.

David