2.3 Assessing Pitch Quality
2.3.4 Assessing your own pitch
1 Guidance for completing a worksheet
Important Note: All percentage values (except earthworm casts) relate to the total of ground cover being 100%. This means that the three main categories of live (which then consists of desirable grasses, undesirable grasses and weeds), dead/decaying, and bare areas, will all add up to 100%.
2 Example: The live ground cover might be assessed as being 65%, with the desirable grasses cover as 50%. This means that 50% of the total area being assessed is composed of desirable grasses.
It doesn’t mean that 50% of the total live ground cover is composed of desirable grasses, which would result in an incorrect 32.5% being recorded for the total area.
This is an important point to remember because it can be a common mistake to make. The following graphic illustrates this point.
3 By carrying out routine and evenly spaced-out assessments a groundskeeper will be able to have valuable data that shows what is happening to the pitch and the type of trend that might be developing. Addressing a potential problem before it becomes an actual problem is one of the key benefits of this assessment approach.
If you wanted to do a more detailed pitch assessment, then double up your worksheet and use the following locations: