Irrigation by remote control was the only way Dunedin’s Forysth Barr Stadium staff could water the grass during the first three weeks of the Covid-19 lockdown.

"We’ve got a good watering system where we’re able to log into our work computer from home and actually log into the irrigation system through that," turf manager Michael Watson said.

The stadium’s security cameras also helped to monitor the results of the irrigation.

Watson chose to avoid applying grass growth-inhibiting chemicals just before lockdown, unlike what was done at other stadiums and golf courses.

"I didn’t want to put too much growth regulator out and really slow it down, because when we came back to work you’d just have to pump it up with lots of fertiliser to get it regrowing again."

There may not have been any sport played at Forsyth Barr Stadium for some weeks but turf manager Michael Watson has still been taking care of the grass at the venue. PHOTO: RUDY HUETING

As a result, during the three weeks the grounds keepers were off-site, much of the grass grew to between 13cm and 20cm in height — about five times higher than it is normally cut to.

And where grow lights had been used before lockdown, it grew even higher, reaching not far off 30cm.

Watson and his team are now back to regularly maintaining the stadium’s turf for future events.

If they just let the grass die, the dead turf would need to be dug up again, followed with a two to three-month wait for the new grass to grow back.

"So that’s just what we’re doing until we know what events will come in, whether that’s in July, August, September, October, November. Whenever that will be, we’ll have the turf ready."