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Maintaining the Most Famous Grass in the World07-31-07 | News

Maintaining the Most Famous Grass in the World

The Wimbledon grass, kept to 8mm height, is 70 percent rye grass and 30 percent creeping red fescue. The grass is specially grown at an institute in Bingley, England. The soil mix (22 percent clay and 78 percent sand garden soil) is 10 inches deep over a layer of stone (ash on the centre court) for drainage. The soil is rolled continuously through the year. The grass, however, tends to grow sideways and produce a thatch, so it is aerated and scarified to make it grow vertical.

Well, it?EUR??,,????'???s time again for Wimbledon and watching the best tennis players in the world lurch at balls that bounce oddly and low, fall down when trying to change directions, and generally looking like fish out of water. According to studies, a moderately hit topspin ball will bounce up about 52 inches on a hard court, but only about 29 inches on grass. And if you wonder why the players hit lots of backspin shots, it because a moderate backspin shot will bounce only 21 inches, sure to strain the backs of those 6-foot plus players.

It?EUR??,,????'???s a year-round job to maintain the courts, of course, requiring a ton of seed, six million pints (how very British) of water and 14 groundsmen. Prior to the tourney, the turf is well watered, but when play begins it is kept very dry and constantly rolled to compact the grass and create a truer bounce. No aeration, of course, is done during the tournament. The dry courts get quickly worn down along the baselines. To repair divots, a mixture of cement and loam is rolled on. The cement holds the loam in place, at least for the next match.

When the tourney is over, the groundsmen quench the thirst of the embittered turf.

Each year there?EUR??,,????'???s speculation when the grass will go and be replaced with a surface more conducive to better tennis. Eddie Seaward, chief groundsman at Wimbledon for 17 years, takes such suggestions as sacrilege.

The groundskeepers will soon get help in maintaining the center court. A translucent retractable roof will cover the stadium in time for the 2009 tournament, improving growing conditions throughout the year.