fine fescue

By Ruying “Wrennie” Wang and Alec Kowalewski, Oregon State University

The inherent disease resistance associated with fine fescues is partially the result of Epichloë endophytes. Epichloë endophytes are symbiotic fungi that live within the turfgrass and help protect the host plant from various environments stress and pathogens. Previous research has identified Epichloë endophyte strains in hard fescue that provide resistance to dollar spot and red thread diseases.

By Ross Braun and Aaron Patton, Purdue University

A team of scientists at Purdue University, Oregon State University, and University of Minnesota investigated establishment differences among the fine fescue taxa and at the same time investigated the influences of different levels of nitrogen fertilizer and including clover. The objectives were to investigate differences among fine fescue taxa and determine optimal N fertility or clover-inclusion programs for fine fescue taxa during establishment for future low-input sites.

By Nicole P. Anderson and Brian C. Donovan, Oregon State University

Since the late 1940s, open-field burning has been used as a widespread practice in grass seed production in the Pacific Northwest. Post-harvest residue management is an important factor in several fine fescues, including creeping red fescue and Chewings fescue, and Kentucky bluegrass seed crops.

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 Emily Braithwaite and Alec Kowalewski, Oregon State University

It’s not uncommon for homeowners to begin using commercial “patch and repair” products on their lawns to seed bare or damaged areas from the previous seasons. These products contain about 85 to 90% inert matter (i.e. wood or paper based-mulch) to help retain moisture, and the other 10 to 15% is fertilizer and grass seed.

By Paul Koch, University of Wisconsin – Madison

As the Midwest and Northeast U.S. emerged from their winter snow covers in mid-March, it was clear that snow mold across the region was more damaging than normal. This was especially true in areas that don’t normally experience lots of snow mold such as southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

By Kristine Moncada, University of Minnesota

The Low Input Turf project is not the only fine fescue work we do at the University of Minnesota. Our team does other research that includes: fine fescues in roadside mixes, fine fescue sod, fine fescues in golf course roughs and fine fescue seed production. Yet another project that involves fine fescues is bee lawns.