Why Types of Grass are Used on Sports Pitches in Major Stadiums

Every avid gardener has the same thought whenever they sit down to watch a sports game. While everyone else is thinking about their team, how they might win, or the odds of them losing, you’re sitting there thinking: that’s all well and good but how on earth do they keep that grass looking so pristine?

It’s fair to say that nearly every major stadium blows our measly gardens out of the water. Whether they’re in the depths of Spain or the heart of London, these stadiums always manage to look greener than green and mown by the finest grass-barber in the world. 

But believe it or not, the process of getting these sports pitches looking perfect is not all to do with maintenance. For every sports pitch, the grass needs to be exactly the right kind – anything that can withstand countless studs being kicked into the soil! In fact, we’d go as far to say the results are 30% maintenance and 70% the grass itself.

With this in mind, let’s celebrate the absolute beauty of these sports pitches by looking at the types of grass used and what makes them so perfect:

Perennial Ryegrass For Football

If you play any games with a football theme, computer graphics ensure the pitch is always the most perfect strip of land you’ve ever seen in your life, and it’s not too far from reality either! For football pitches, perennial ryegrass is the most common grass type used, as it’s known to withstand heavy usage and grow quickly once planted. 

Perennial Ryegrass For Rugby

The next time you watch a rugby match against England and Scotland in Twickenham, make sure you pay close attention to the colour of the grass. For stadiums like this, perennial ryegrass is, once again, the most popular grass to withstand heavy usage. In fact, perennial ryegrass is the grass of choice for most lawn guides, even in your own backgarden! But along with this grass, there’s also stalked meadow grass. This can be recognised if the grass is darker – as many rugby pitches tend to be compared to football. 

Bermuda Grass For American Football

There are a lot of things to be considered when choosing grass for a major stadium. First and foremost, it needs to be tough enough to withstand more than 15 athletes trampling upon it at any one time. But as well as this, the climate of the facilities must also be taken into account. This is why, in North America, bermuda grass is typically preferred over perennial ryegrass in the summer season. This is an all-around athletic grass, perfect to withstand the heat and repair quickly even when the air is dry.

Kentucky Bluegrass For Baseball

When it comes to baseball, the grass used for major stadiums needs to assure five things: it can handle traffic, recover quickly, resist pests – no, not the New York Yankees – have a deep-rooted system, and be malleable to fit inside the intricate system of a baseball pitch. Of course – as with any major sports pitch in the USA – it also needs to have drought tolerance, and water tolerance, and look perfect!

Hybrid Grass For Football

To finish off, we thought we should mention the latest trend in grass fashion – yes, that’s a thing because we say it is. That is the hybrid grass systems that are used for major league football. These are sports pitches that are made from natural grass – most likely perennial ryegrass or tall fescue – that are then reinforced by 20 million artificial turf fibres. 

This is mostly used to increase strength and durability, while also reducing the risk of injury for the players, as the grass is consistently stable. For the players, too, hybrid grass means that they can train on the same pitch that the match will be played on, so it’s a win-win. And yes, you can use hybrid grass for your own backgarden, but we rather think that’s cheating!