The Wimbledon Grass

Wimbledon is the only one of the four major tennis championships to be played on grass.

At one point in time, three of the four majors were played on grass but the US Open and the Australian Open have switched to hard court surfaces.

To maintain the courts in playing condition at Wimbledon, a crew of 14 full-time and 8 part-time employees is employed. This crew has to maintain 32 courts at the Wimbledon site.

The actual type of grass that is used is 70%"Lorina" perenial ryegrass and 30%"Barcrown" creeping red fescue.

The grass is cut to an average height of 8 millimeters.

Center court is actually only played on for the 2 week tournament and on the Sunday the day before the tournament start. A group of 4 plays to determine the speed of the court. If it plays too slow, they instruct the groundscrew to cut it a little shorter. If the court is too quick, they instruct the groundscrew to let it grow a little.