By Chengyan Yue, Manlin Cui and Eric Watkins, University of Minnesota; and Aaron Patton, Purdue University
There are clear environmental and social benefits to increasing the use of low-input turfgrasses in home landscapes; however, to increase the market share and use of these grasses, it is crucial to understand the factors that influence consumers’ adoption decisions.
Turfgrass researchers from Oregon State University recently produced many interesting videos as part of their virtual 2020 OSU Field Day. This video features Emily Braithwaite, a faculty research assistant at Oregon State University who conducts research as part of our Low Input Turf project, discussing some of their fine fescue management trials.
By Ross Braun and Aaron Patton, Purdue University
Fine fescues are being intensively studied by a team of researchers, which includes Drs. Aaron Patton and Ross Braun from Purdue University, working a grant titled "Increasing Low-Input Turfgrass Adoption through Breeding, Innovation, and Public Education" from USDA-NIFA through the Specialty Crop Research Initiative.
By Michael Barnes, University of Minnesota
A recent article by Maria Ignatieva and colleagues has prompted me to reflect on the importance of going beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries in turf research and both my past work as part of the Low Input Turf project as well as my current work. Ignatieva and her colleagues led a 3-year research project investigating lawns in Sweden aptly named the LAWN project. It brought together researchers from multiple disciplines, decision makers such as city council members, and users such as golfers and local residents.
By Chengyan Yue, Yufeng Lai and Eric Watkins; University of Minnesota
In the past decades, plant breeders have developed turfgrasses that exhibit low-input characteristics such as drought tolerance and reduced nitrogen requirements. Although previous studies document the relative strengths and comparable advantages of low-input turfgrass species, little is known about consumers’ preferences for turfgrass attributes. Our team has been working to fill this knowledge gap.
By Kristine Moncada, University of Minnesota
We are happy to announce that from now on, we will be posting twice-monthly articles about our research on fine fescues. The long-term goal of our project is to increase the use of well-adapted fine fescue turfgrass cultivars in sustainable landscapes.