By Caleb Schwartz
Everyone Loves A Great Lawn
The aesthetic appeal, childhood memories, and sense of pride that comes with a great lawn make it a cherished part of Aussie life. Whether it’s the smell of fresh-cut grass, the vibrant green underfoot, or the open space it offers for relaxing, playing, or gathering, a well-kept lawn has a way of making any home feel more inviting.
For me, I’ve always admired Adelaide Oval’s (AO) ability to consistently produce an amazing surface, and I’ve recently had the privilege of doing some casual work with the grounds team responsible for this. I was lucky enough to help with the ‘Pitch Switch’ during Gather Round, and the international rugby union game and am now manifesting a career trajectory like Nathan Lyon! I was also fortunate to get insights from head curator Damian Hough and turf manager Pete Foreman about their work. I had a few questions for the gurus about some of the technical details and how this could be applied to our own backyards.
Nutrition: Trialing And Observing
At AO, nutrition decisions are based on regular soil, tissue, and water testing. A bit of gut feel also never goes astray as well, after years of experience getting great results. For the home lawn enthusiast, this testing would be overkill, and rather than spending money, making observations and being curious as to what you’re seeing will provide value. Running small ‘safe-to-fail’ trials are also a great way to keep costs low. If you are going to chuck something on the lawn, maybe only do a certain proportion (I know this will agitate those tarnished by the perfectionist brush!) and see what happens.
Nutrient needs change with the seasons. Nitrogen is applied year-round at AO, while potassium is boosted during warmer months. Around major events, they use silica to improve leaf strength and iron for cosmetic greening. At AO, liquids come from Living Turf and Floratine, with granular blends from Greenway Turf Solutions.
At AO they like their combination of liquid products from Living Turf and Floratine with granular fertilisers coming from Greenway Turf Solutions. Suited to the backyard, we have Troforte M and a Lawn Porn Charger product in store that are a great fit. AO will also use products that contain beneficial soil bacteria to aid their soil biology. For the backyard, compost, worm juice, Seasol, Charlie Carp, or Popul8 would all be great options.
A couple of rules of thumb – fertilise in spring when growth kicks off, and again in early summer to align with natural growth cycles, will give you the best return on product use. Feed light, and feed often, and watch colour and growth, not a calendar. If your lawn is growing well and looks healthy, it may not need anything.
Watering: What Quality And Quantity?
Adelaide Oval uses moisture sensors to track soil conditions and typically waters early in the morning when winds are low and evaporation is minimal. That helps ensure even coverage and efficient water use.
If you’re dealing with hard water or quality issues, it might be beneficial to check out HydroSmart https://hydrosmart.com.au/ systems. These water conditioners utilise resonance frequencies to treat water and can also help improve the quality of stock water on farms. The cost of this might also be able to be claimed through PIRSA’s On-farm Drought Infrastructure Rebate Scheme.
In the backyard, water early morning, not in the heat of the day or at night. Early watering reduces loss to evaporation and helps avoid fungal issues caused by overnight moisture.
Quantity of water is a consideration as well. Less frequent, deep watering encourages roots to grow deeper, making your lawn more drought-hardy. How much water your lawn needs depends on your grass type, climate, rainfall, and soil conditions. The goal is to moisten the soil down to the root zone, then let it dry slightly before the next watering. This promotes healthy growth and reduces waste.
Tip: If your lawn doesn’t spring back when you step on it, it probably needs a water.
Mowing: Why Do Height And Direction Matter?
At Adelaide Oval, turf is cut at 12mm up to five times a week in summer and raised to 25 – 30mm in winter, depending on how the surface is holding up. They exclusively use cylinder mowers, which provide a cleaner, more precise cut than rotary mowers. These are preferred at elite venues because they cause less tearing of the grass blade, reducing plant stress and promoting a denser, more uniform sward. Keeping your mower blade sharp is a cheap fix for this at home. There are a lot of good YouTube videos on this.
Mowing too low is known to harm your lawn. It exposes the roots to direct sunlight, which can lead to dry, brown patches and create ideal conditions for weeds to thrive. Weeds often take hold more easily in hot, dry soils. A good rule of thumb is to never remove more than one-third of the grass height in one go and modify this for the season (lower in summer and higher in winter).
At AO, all clippings are caught to minimise organic matter entering the soil profile. This helps maintain a firm, fast-draining, and consistent playing surface, essential for elite-level sport. In contrast, backyard lawns benefit from higher organic matter, as it improves moisture and nutrient retention, making the lawn easier to maintain.
The direction of mowing at AO is regularly varied to avoid ‘grain’ in the turf, where it stays leaning in a certain way, and also to avoid wheel marks showing up. This is a quick-change worth considering that might just make the turf look fresher.
Renovations: Keep It Breathing
Renovations are undertaken regularly at AO as they don’t have long periods free to complete major renovations as they did before AFL. They like to hollow tine aerate as often as possible, which is difficult with their regular content. They do this every other month, and then also solid tine aerate every second or third week during winter and once a month during summer. This all ensures enough oxygen is in the root zone.
Topdressing is carried out during the changeover periods between football and cricket in autumn and spring, and a lighter dusting of sand is done every other month when possible. Managing thatch is also important, with grooming completed every 8 weeks or so.
Keep renovating simple at home – time it in early spring or autumn by mowing low, aerating (a pitchfork will do), and topdressing with sand or compost – then water well.
While we might not all be managing a world-class sporting surface, I feel like there’s plenty we can take away from their work. A few good habits can go a long way, and anyone’s backyard can become a real patch of pride.
