By Ross Braun and Aaron Patton, Purdue University
One component of the multi-state USDA-SCRI fine fescue initiative was to create effective educational materials that cover the benefits of fine fescues and information learned in our first project as well as in the current projects with objectives that focus on overcoming establishment and management barriers relevant to different consumers and turf practitioners.
By Gary Deters and Eric Watkins, University of Minnesota
For a golf course superintendent, managing creeping bentgrass/annual bluegrass putting greens on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis is always a challenge. The goal, regardless of turfgrass species, is to manage the turf to be as healthy as possible while the greens are subjected to daily play from golfers. Cultural practices, nutrition, and water management are important to the success of the golf course playability and overall health of the turf.
By Ross Braun and Aaron Patton, Purdue University
In the blog post last month (November 2021), Emily Braithwaite and Dr. Alec Kowalewski, Oregon State University summarized the findings and how a recent experiment was conducted to investigate optimal seeding dates for fine fescues across four U.S. locations. In summary, seeding a fine fescue mixture in August and September provided the best establishment with the lowest weed pressure across all four locations. However, the Mediterranean climate of Oregon allowed for more flexibility in fine fescue seeding timing with more success for all the months of May through September.
By Emily Braithwaite and Alec Kowalewski, Oregon State University
Part of the multi-state USDA-SCRI fine fescue initiative was to identify ways that people can incorporate these low-input grasses into existing landscapes. We know that the fine fescue species persist in shade, with low water requirements, and low fertility requirements, but overcoming the social barrier for adopting more sites with these grasses was a primary focus of this initiative.
By Jing Luo and Ning Zhang, Rutgers University
Summer patch is an economically important root disease on turfgrasses used on golf courses, sports fields, and lawns. It causes root, crown and stem rot that develop during periods of summer stress.
By Aaron Patton and Ross Braun, Purdue University
These five fescues are often grouped together and called “fine fescues” because of their similar appearance of fine (narrow or bristle) leaves, which means they are difficult to distinguish from one another visually.
Turfgrass researchers from Rutgers recently produced many interesting videos as part of their 2020 Virtual Turfgrass Research Field Day. This video features Brad Park, a laboratory researcher at Rutgers who conducts research as part of our Low Input Turf project, discussing research on optimal seeding times for fine fescues.
By Emily Braithwaite and Alec Kowalewski, Oregon State University
Fine fescue golf courses are a staple of the Pacific Northwest. Director of Agronomy Eric Johnson has been managing fine fescues on golf courses since 2001. He began at Bandon Dunes, but has spent the last 8 years at Chambers Bay in Washington. When he first arrived, the course was wall-to-wall fine fescue and colonial bentgrass. But in the last two years, he has transitioned his greens over to annual bluegrass.
Learn more about our latest work! The Low Input Turf project team has written two recent articles and led a webinar.
Recently, a team of researchers working on our grant have published an exhaustive scientific review of the fine fescue turf species. This review clearly documents differences in growth, production, establishment, management, utilization, pest tolerance, and stress tolerance of the fine fescue taxa.