TURF PARKING LOTS: PERFORMANCE OF DIFFERENT GROWING MEDIA AND COOL SEASON TURFGRASS MIXTURES

Aesthetic and environmental benefits in public and private areas can be obtained by replacing common asphalt and impervious paved car parks with turf-based parking lots. A good balance between high water retention, infiltration rate and low susceptibility to compaction of the root zone mix are crucial points in designing such areas. Results reported here refer to a trial carried out from 1996 to 2000 in which eight different growing media (two mixes of crushed gravels + soil, lapillus + soil, two mixes of lapillus + pumice, perforated concrete blocks, plastic paver, sand + peat + Netlon) and two cool season turfgrass mixtures were compared, under car traffic. All growing media tested were suitable for turf parking lot construction, with water holding capacity and wear tolerance being the main difference between treatments. The cheapest growing media were gravels amended with soil, although frequent irrigation was required to maintain turf quality. Mixes of lapillus and pumice had a high available water content (about 5-fold higher than the sand + peat mix) and a good cation exchange capacity, thus providing conditions that grew good quality turf. Perforated concrete blocks and plastic paver provided the best results on heavily trafficked areas even though they were expensive techniques and did not allow cultivation to manage organic matter accumulation. A combination of plastic pavers in driveways and growing media without rigid elements in car parking spaces was considered a good compromise for construction of turf parking lots