Influence of wear-stress on turfgrass species and cultivars in Finland

The wear tolerance of grasses used in sport and recreational turf is important both for practical and for economic reasons. It is increasingly important to identify wear-tolerant species and cultivars, especially for early spring and late autumn. In a three year experiment the performance of cool-season turfgrass species, including Agrostis L. spp. (bentgrasses), Poa pratensis L. (smooth-stalked meadow-grass) and Festuca rubra L. (red fescues), was determined in Finland (61o17ŽN, 22o14ŽE). The study contained twenty-nine, nineteen and six cultivars of F. rubra, P. pratensis and Agrostis spp. sown in three separate trials. The trials were subjected to football-type artificial wear twice a week during three growing seasons. Ground cover and tiller density were recorded. The wear tolerance of species was significantly affected by season and age ofts and treatments. Ability of species to withstand wear varied considerably; the wear resistance of PP. pratensis was excellent, whereas Festuca spp. almost disappeared after three years of intensive wear. There were also large differences within species. The recovery of Agrostis cultivars from winter was slower than other species. The highest tiller densities of P. pratensis varieties were recorded for "Melba", "Cocktail" and "Limousine" and of Festuca spp. cultivars, "Darwin", "Center" and "Rainbow". The most wear-tolerant fescue cultivars were "Epsom", "Center", "Olivia" and "Diva". There were only minor differences in visually estimated tolerance of P. pratensis cultivars, but the most dense ground cover was recorded for "Limousine", "Conni" and "Cocktail".VokKV