In between the brand-new hedges: UGA rejuvenating plants

• Mark Schlabach, ESPN

  • Senior Citizen WriterJan 25, 2024, 11:33 AM ET Close Senior college football writer Author of 7 books on college football
  • Graduate of the University of Georgia

The Georgia football team’s lineup isn’t the only thing getting a remodeling before the 2024 season.The privet hedges sounding Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium will likewise be revitalized starting next month, the school revealed Thursday.The hedges, which cover about 5,000 square feet around the playing field, will be uprooted and replanted with the exact same family tree of plants that have actually been in place at Sanford Arena for 95 years.The athletic association stated the task also would include full soil replacement, watering and drainage work. The renowned privet hedges ringing Dooley Field cover about 5,000 square feet around the playing field and are the exact same lineage of plants that have remained in place at Georgia’s Sanford Stadium for 95 years. John Adams/Icon Sportswire

A school spokesman told ESPN that healthy plants will be replanted with brand-new ones, while unhealthy hedges will be discarded. The sports association said the hedges, which generally have a lifespan between 20 and 40 years, have to do with 31 years old.Editor’s Picks

The project is expected to be finished before the Bulldogs’ G-Day spring game.It’s not the very first time the hedges have actually been replanted. The hedges had to be removed before Sanford Stadium hosted women’s soccer games throughout the 1996 Olympics. Before they were gotten rid of, cuttings were required to propagate brand-new plants at different nurseries around the state. They were replaced before the football season that year.

“They’re the sons and daughters of the initial hedges,” then-Georgia athletics director Vince Dooley said at the time.