Performance of various cool-season turfgrasses as influenced by simulated traffic in northeastern Italy

Abstract

Warm-season grasses are known to be more wear tolerant than cool-season grasses, but in northern Italy the latter are generally preferred for ornamental turfgrasses and athletics fields. The Po River valley, in the North of Italy, is a typical transition zone where species and cultivar selection play a very important role in establishing successful turfgrasses with high stress tolerance, including foot traffic. The aim of this research was to evaluate the traffic tolerance and adaptation of 25 cultivars of three coolseason turfgrass species to transitional growing conditions of Italy. A study was conducted over a two-year period at the experimental farm of Padova University in Legnaro. The species studied were tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum), kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis), and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne). Simulated traffic was applied using a Brinkman traffic simulator at a level equivalent to one soccer game per week. Turfgrass quality and density were assessed every week using a 1 to 9 visual scale during traffic treatments each year. Furthermore, turfgrass canopy height was measured weekly for calculating daily vertical growth rate (mm d-1) in spring, summer, and autumn. Trafficked plots exhibited lower quality than nontrafficked, primarily as a result of decline in turf density. The effect of traffic on density was more evident in the second year wherein all species exhibited ratings lower than 5.0. Traffic did not affect turf growth for perennial ryegrass and tall fescue, while a drastic decrease in growth rate in the second year of study was observed for kentucky bluegrass. Perennial ryegrass had lower density than tall fescue and kentucky bluegrass, especially in summer and autumn of the first year when it showed ratings lower than 6.0. Different responses occurred among kentucky bluegrass cultivars, while perennial ryegrass and tall fescue cultivars responded similarly. Results indicated a high quality and environmental adaptability of 'Rhambler SRP' tall fescue. Among kentucky bluegrass cultivars, 'Mystere' displayed the best wear tolerance with a decrease of density from 5.5 to 4.3 only during the second year. Perennial ryegrass cultivars were similarly affected by traffic, except for 'Yorktown III' which showed the lower performance in both traffic and non-traffic conditions reaching a turf density rating lower than 5.0 in both years of study.

Cool-season Grasses for Overseeding Sport Turfs: Germination and Performance under Limiting Environmental Conditions

“…Although VGR was found to be well correlated with both turfgrass quality and density, this trait is not always a good indicator of the overall turfgrass performance (Pornaro et al, 2016). This was confirmed by our study, in which spreading diploid perennial ryegrass exhibited both the lowest VGR and the highest clipping yields and NDVI values.…”

Response of Twenty Tall Fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.) Cultivars to Low Mowing Height

“…'JT-338' also displayed high rates of texture compared to others cultivars. Finer leaf texture would also increase tall fescue appeal among sport managers [3,30]; in this study the cultivars with the finer texture was 'Armani' (Table S4); however, its fine texture did not translate to sufficient turfgrass quality from winter to summer (Table 3); moreover 'Armani' turfgrass quality decreased from the first to the second year of the trial, and its color ratings and DGCIs were among the lowest (Tables S2 and S5). Insufficient quality ratings for tall fescue during the winter months have previously been documented in Northern Italy [4].…”

“…In Northern Italy, athletic fields are used predominantly during the cooler months, when the majority of soccer and rugby games are played [3]. For this reason, cool-season turfgrasses are still the preferred species by sports managers.…”

“…Dumort.) make it more desirable compared to other cool-season species in the transition zone [1][2][3][4]. Recently, Schiavon et al [4] demonstrated that differences in new and improved tall fescue cultivars exist in transition zones with humid subtropical climate such as northeastern Italy.…”

The influence of the grass mixture composition on the quality and suitability for football pitches

“…The selection of proper grass species and varieties is considered to be one of the most important elements in the installation of sports pitches 1 . Well selected lawn grass mixtures ensure the best functional and visual parameters of the turf 2 .…”