LANDOVER, Md. — Stress kept Pete Benevento awake during sleeping hours.
As the Washington Football Team’s director of grounds and turf, Benevento’s thoughts remain on every blade of grass at FedEx Field, even when he’s away from a stadium he has maintained since 2010. To his wife’s chagrin, the father of two refers to the field as his “first child.” The work angst in his life came from knowing that so-called first child was dying.
Replacing grass is customary, but its sand base becomes finer over time. That leads to the sand breaking down and slowing the drainage process. Already hindered by an outdated system, Benevento split his focus on game-day prep and day-to-day triage.
“The building is getting older, and the life cycle just ran its course,” Benevento said.
Waking up in the middle of the night and rushing to the stadium when an unexpectedly heavy storm moved into the area became routine. Drainage is “the key to our life,” Benevento said on behalf of his small grounds crew, which is why there’s an urgency to turn off the irrigation system with a downpour brewing. On other days, placing a tarp on the field midweek would “stress” the grass and not allow Mother Nature to do its work.
Any home gardener knows steady upkeep is critical. That’s without…
