Turf Nursery

An area of land which is maintained so that a ready supply of suitable turf, grown on appropriate rootzone, can be cut and relaid on the main sports surface. This can be especially helpful where a sporting surface has been damaged by disease, overuse, general wear and tear or vandalism. Common areas where turf cut from a turf nursery would be used were golf tees, bowling green ends and football goal mouths, as well as cricket pitch ends and also base lines for tennis courts.

The instant availability of turf was a distinct advantage, especially prior to around the mid-1980s, however, with the wide availability of specialist turf (primarily on sand-based soils / rootzones) and relative speed of delivery of turf for many years, the need and justification for a turf nursery, which can be costly to maintain, has significantly diminished.

With the rapid establishment of perennial ryegrass cultivar seeds and improved renovation techniques the need for turf for cricket and tennis has effectively been eliminated and seeding blends in much easier than turf on these particular areas. However, another benefit of having your own turf nursery is that of being able to have an exact rootzone match with that on the main sports pitch, something which would be unlikely with turf grown commercially elsewhere.