Nitrogen based establishment and seedbanking potential of Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass in athletic fields

Abstract

Seedbanking is a practice associated with heavy over-seeding to help athletic field managers sustain turf cover in high traffic scenarios and whether a true seedbank is being formed or if multiple inputs offer a source of fresh seed remains unanswered. Kentucky bluegrass was seeded at 30, 60, and 120 g m-2 and perennial ryegrass at 150, 300, and 450 g m-2 , both on bare ground, under two seeding schedules, and trafficked weekly during a US football season. Evaluations on percentage cover were made monthly during the season and emerged seedlings from plot cores were evaluated 3, 7, and 12 months after seeding to determine seedbanking potential. At the end of the traffic season, Kentucky bluegrass cover was 23.2% greater and perennial ryegrass was 10.6% greater for a single seeding compared to multiple. At 3 months after planting, multiple seedings resulted in 28.0 and 141.5 greater emerged seedlings for Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass, respectively, than single seeding. Very few seedlings emerged from cores of either species taken at 7 and 12 months after seeding. Turf managers will maximize turf cover on bare areas by seeding heavily in early fall, and can provide a fresh source of seed through the season by multiple seedings. No beneficial seedbanking ability was observed with either species.