Assessing the fertilizer and pesticide input needs of cool-season turfgrass species

Ross C. Braun, Eric Watkins, Andrew B. Hollman, Aaron J. Patton

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Professional turfgrass managers and consumers continue to express interest in low-input turfgrasses; however, the potential reductions in maintenance inputs from “low-input” turfgrasses are largely assumed and have not been well-quantified. Over 3 years, replicated field experiments at Purdue University and the University of Minnesota quantified the performance and the amount of fertilizer and pesticide inputs of cool-season turfgrass species when managed as variable-input turfgrass systems. Fifteen turfgrass cultivars including eight cultivars across five taxa of fine fescue (Festuca spp.), two cultivars of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), four cultivars of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis), and one perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) cultivar were investigated. Cultivars were selected to represent advances in breeding efforts. Plots received no irrigation after establishment and individual plots only received fertilizer or pesticide inputs from 2019 to 2021 if the turf in the plot exceeded or fell below a set threshold (i.e., too many pests or too low turf density). Monthly data collection and fertilizer and pesticide inputs were recorded for 3 years at each site. New fine fescue taxa cultivars provided consistently higher turf quality at both sites and required an average 56% and 41% fewer fertilizer and pesticide inputs than traditional species (tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, and perennial ryegrass) in Indiana and Minnesota, respectively. Compared to traditional species, older Festuca rubra ssp. cultivars reduced fertilizer and pesticide inputs by an average of 37% and 25% in Indiana and Minnesota, respectively. Fine fescue taxa, especially new cultivars, are good choices to reduce inputs and provide high turf quality for low-input turfgrass systems.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3079-3095
Number of pages17
JournalCrop Science
Volume63
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the funding support by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Specialty Crop Research Initiative under award number 2017-51181-27222. The authors would also like to thank the Knox Fertilizer Company (Knox, IN) for supplying fertilizer and Mountain View Seeds (Salem, OR), DLF Pickseed (Halsey, OR), La Crosse Seed (La Crosse, WI), Barenbrug USA (Tangent, OR), and Landmark Seed Company (Salem, OR) for supplying seed for this research.

Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the funding support by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Specialty Crop Research Initiative under award number 2017‐51181‐27222. The authors would also like to thank the Knox Fertilizer Company (Knox, IN) for supplying fertilizer and Mountain View Seeds (Salem, OR), DLF Pickseed (Halsey, OR), La Crosse Seed (La Crosse, WI), Barenbrug USA (Tangent, OR), and Landmark Seed Company (Salem, OR) for supplying seed for this research.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Crop Science published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Crop Science Society of America.

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