Bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.) turf is often overseeded with a cool-season species such as perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) to provide an improved winter surface for activities such as golf or athletic events. Perennial ryegrass can become a persistent weed in overseeded turf due to the heat and disease tolerance of improved cultivars. Intermediate ryegrass is a relatively new turfgrass that is a hybrid between perennial and annual ryegrass (L. multiflorum Lam.). Very little information is available on intermediate ryegrass as an overseeding turf. Greenhouse, field, and growth chamber studies were designed to compare two cultivars of intermediate ryegrass (`Transist' and `Froghair') with three cultivars of perennial ryegrass (`Jiffie', `Racer', and `Calypso II') and two cultivars of annual ryegrass (`Gulf' and `TAM-90'). In a greenhouse study, the perennial ryegrass cultivars had finer leaf texture (2.9-3.2 mm), shorter collar height (24.7-57.0 mm), and lower weight/tiller (29-39 mg) than the intermediate and annual cultivars. In the field studies, the intermediate cultivar Transist exhibited improved turfgrass quality (6.1-7.1) over the annual cultivars (4.5-5.8) and the other intermediate cultivar Froghair (5.4-5.7). However, neither of the intermediate cultivars had quality equal to the perennial ryegrass cultivars (7.0-7.9). The perennial ryegrass cultivars exhibited slow transition back to the bermudagrass compared to the annual and intermediate ryegrass cultivars. In the growth chamber study, the annual and intermediate cultivars all showed increased high-temperature stress under increasing temperatures compared to the perennial cultivars, which did not show stress until air temperature exceeded 40 °C. Collectively, these studies indicate that the intermediate ryegrass cultivar Transist may have promise as an overseeding turfgrass due to its improved quality compared to annual types and a lack of heat tolerance relative to perennial cultivars, but with transition qualities similar to perennial ryegrass.
management practices as they reduced the amounts of pesticide used in their turf management program. Notably, it was hypothesized that there would be an increase in the use of minimum risk 25(b) products with the implementation of the pesticide ban
, the need for salt-tolerant turfgrasses is increasing ( Harivandi et al., 2008 ). Ryegrasses are among the most widely used C 3 turfgrasses in cool regions as well as the most commonly used species for winter overseeding of dormant C 4 turf in warm
thank Quality Turf L.C. (Lithia, Florida) for donating bermudagrass for these studies. Appreciation is extended to Lisa Huey and Margaret Glenn for their technical assistance.
-3-03. Thank you to everyone on the turf breeding crew for helping take measurements. We also thank Stacy Bonos for helping with statistical analysis.
Fairy ring is considered one of the most common turfgrass diseases globally, and over 60 species of basidiomycetes are known to cause fairy ring symptoms in turf, making it one of the most common turfgrass diseases globally ( Couch, 1995 ; Smiley
control of winter weeds on zoysiagrass turf ( Harrell et al., 2005 ; Johnson, 1980 ; Vargas and Turgeon, 2004 ). However, the main strategy adopted by golf course superintendents in this region is winter application of the non-selective herbicide
Placing organic mulch over the root system of newly planted trees is common landscape practice. Mulch helps conserve soil moisture, moderate extremes in soil temperature, reduce competition for resources from weeds and turf, and minimize trunk
1 Research Associate. 2 Graduate Research Assistant. 3 Professor of Turf Management. Alabama Agr. Expt. Sta. Journal Series no. 3-881823P. We thank Beck's Zoysia and Nursery, Auburn, Ala., for the donation of sod production areas for these
The use of lesser-quality waters for landscape irrigation in the water-deprived western United States, seawater intrusion into turf facilities located on coastal sites, water conservation, and road deicing have contributed to the increasing