The impact of frost on sports turf

With Winter here in Australia one of the questions we are often asked is when is it safe to play on sports turf after a frost. To answer this we need to know what the effects are on the turf.

Damage occurs to turf after a frost because when temperatures fall the moisture inside the leaf blade freezes. This moisture expands within the leaf, causes cell walls to rupture, and so damages the turf.

Frost itself does not directly damage turf grass, but damage occurs when on frosted areas after traffic. You can usually see frost damage as the turf taking on a purple to black colour. This then progresses to a straw colour. As long as teh crown is not damaged when new leaves grow it will recover.

As dumb as it sounds to avoid damage on frozen turf avoid any traffic on it!

Any traffic over the surface will increase soil compaction, by destroying any air pockets that remain in the soil.

Most damage occurs to the turf when the top layer of soil thaws while a frozen layer remains deeper in the soil. This layer of thawed soil is saturated with water and becomes spongy. When you walk on this you can see footprints and this in turn causes the surface to become uneven.

In severe cases root shearing occurs as the turf moves above the frozen layer. This damage in areas around where the hole is located on these days will appear as weaker turf later in the year.