A custom blend of turfgrass seed from Turf-Seed recently helped transform Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta Park from an underutilized, gravel pit-type area into an attractive, visitor-friendly recreational spot.
The city-owned park is the site of the annual International Balloon Fiesta, among other smaller local events and activities. The most recent Fiesta was Oct. 5-13, 2002, and attracted more than 800,000 visitors.
The turfgrass seed mixture installed at Balloon Fiesta Park was a blend of Brightstar Perennial Ryegrass, Midnight Kentucky Bluegrass and Denim Kentucky Bluegrass.
"These grasses were selected for their extremely aggressive growing habits and drought tolerance," explained Tye Curtis, owner of Turf-Seed distributor Curtis & Curtis, Inc. in Clovis, NM. "The heavy foot traffic puts a tremendous amount of abuse on the turf. We wanted a grass that stands up to that level of traffic, plus drought-tolerance since no watering takes place several weeks prior to and during the event."
In addition, there is heavy pressure exerted on the area by trucks and trailers for the 650 to 700 balloons.
Installation of the turfgrass seed began late Spring 2002 and was contracted by Mountain West GolfScapes, Inc. of Peralta, NM. The 47-acre area was seeded at 200 lbs. per acre, as opposed to the typical 130 or 150 lbs.
"We had outstanding germination," said President John Mondragon. "This is one of the best stands we've planted. It's very even and consistent, with virtually no bare spots. In almost 47 acres, we only reseeded about 1000 square feet."
Benefits of the grass seeding extended beyond aesthetics, according to Fiesta spokesman Nathan James. "During setup, spreading the (balloon) out on grass versus dirt not only prevents unnecessary degradation of the fabric, the morning dew actually helps clean it off," he shared. "Grass is infinitely preferable. Plus, our number of slips and falls dropped 50 percent this year, and people seemed to stay longer than for just the morning and evening events. The grass was truly the major story of the event."