Last spring when our school season started I noticed nobody does a thing on our diamonds but drag them before games. The school coach had 2 loads of material put on the diamond 1 year before this but they never compacted it or anything. When it dried out, it got really loose and was almost like running on a beach between the bases. I bought some material from a local sand/concrete business and sifted all the stones out and added about 6-7 yards of this mostly spread out in the baselines. once it was blended in, I watered it good and rolled it with a lawn roller. That made a big difference. All season long as well as all of the summer youth season, I kept it watered, rolled and drug it when I could. I also did a ton of other work like oversedding the outfield, removing built up material and added sod in some places. While it was alot of work and took up alot of time, I loved it. I worked with the city who owns the diamonds and will keep it fertilized and the weeds sprayed. It is starting to look pretty good. We also have a smaller diamond nearby that was neglected for years also, but I could not get to it much with getting the other diamond in shape a priority.
I now have been working with the city, our athletic club, American Legion and business where I work and just got word today I can get 7 loads of infield material to add. That really made my day. My daughter is a sophmore in high school this year and plays softball. That helped my interest in doing this, but if things go right, I will keep doing the work after she is out of school. It is work, but to me it is so rewarding in the sense you can see the work you did and know how many kids use that diamond between the school season and youth league. I am learning alot along the way to. There is so much information online that has helped me learn how to do this type of work. Plus the head groundskeeper, who owns the local golf course with his Dad has been a huge help with the outfield related work. I am lucky to be able to get this kind of help and to get the money to put material on.
Does anyone else here maintain their diamonds? Do you have any luck in getting the help, either financial or otherwise? It is not easy to get money now as alot of businesses are going through hard times. Any tips or tricks you learned along the way to correct different problems that come up? I am just looking to learn as much as I can and am open to helping out if I can. I am in central Wisconsin.
Rob
I now have been working with the city, our athletic club, American Legion and business where I work and just got word today I can get 7 loads of infield material to add. That really made my day. My daughter is a sophmore in high school this year and plays softball. That helped my interest in doing this, but if things go right, I will keep doing the work after she is out of school. It is work, but to me it is so rewarding in the sense you can see the work you did and know how many kids use that diamond between the school season and youth league. I am learning alot along the way to. There is so much information online that has helped me learn how to do this type of work. Plus the head groundskeeper, who owns the local golf course with his Dad has been a huge help with the outfield related work. I am lucky to be able to get this kind of help and to get the money to put material on.
Does anyone else here maintain their diamonds? Do you have any luck in getting the help, either financial or otherwise? It is not easy to get money now as alot of businesses are going through hard times. Any tips or tricks you learned along the way to correct different problems that come up? I am just looking to learn as much as I can and am open to helping out if I can. I am in central Wisconsin.
Rob
