In July, the Quiet Village Landscaping team joined the Landscape & Nursery Association of Greater St. Louis on a behind-the-scenes landscaping and grounds tour of Busch Stadium in Downtown St. Louis. We toured alongside several other local St. Louis-area nurseries, landscaping companies, and industry professionals for a walking tour of the landscaping features of our beloved Busch Stadium where the St. Louis Cardinals play, giving us a glimpse inside the Fox Sports Midwest Broadcast Box and the ballpark grounds, followed by lunch in Cardinals Nation.
We thought we would share some of the interesting facts we learned about the Busch Stadium grounds here on our blog, and share a few fun snaps of the tour too!
- The grass at Busch Stadium is a HGT Bluegrass that is grown in Fort Morgan, Colorado. This bluegrass has a difficult time growing in hot climates, so during the hot St. Louis summer months of June, July, and August, a chilled water system works to distribute sixty degree water throughout the field, simulating a cooler climate.
- Busch Stadium’s infield, base paths, pitcher’s mound, and home plate area are made up of a unique high clay mixture.
- The field requires 23 employees to maintain. The crew includes Head Groundskeeper, Assistant Head Groundskeeper, Operation/Field Crew Memebers, and several part-time seasonal positions.
- On game days, the crew arrives at 7:00 a.m. to remove a protective tarp, tend to the infield dirt and mounds, clean the bullpens, edge the outfield grass, paint foul lines, mow the grass, and maintain moisture throughout the field until batting practice at 2:30 p.m.
- Busch Stadium hosted the 2009 All-Star Game and received rave reviews on the Arch and Court House mowing design.
- In July 2011, the field was completely removed for the first time in stadium history for the U2 360 tour, and replaced immediately after the concert.
Below are a few behind-the-scenes photos from our tour, taken by our Marketing Manager from Hot House Digital, Sally Evans:
Our next landscaping field trip will be to the aeroponic rooftop greenhouse of Charleville Brewing Company’s new St. Louis location! We’ll get a sneak peek tour from Hamilton Farms, to see how their delicious produce is grown from heirloom seeds in their new state of the art growing facility!