Turfgrass Science News

An overseeding success story

By Gary Deters

Overseeding into an existing yard can be very difficult because there are many different scenarios, challenges, and questions that go into the decision. What to do? What kind of seed? Where to buy seed? How much seed do I use? Do I need to prep the area? How much water is required to get the seed to germinate? What do I do after the seeds germinate?


Taking a closer look at perennial ryegrass vascular tissue

By Maicy Vossen

This article was originally published on the WinterTurf project blog.

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) is a turfgrass species that is quick to germinate and establish but is one of the least winter hardy cool-season species. As part of the WinterTurf project, we are trying to understand the physiologic characteristics that contribute to freeze tolerance.


New research publication from our team - 9/19/23

Learn more about our research! A new, open access article by Ross Braun, Eric Watkins, Andrew Hollman, Aaron Patton has been published in the journal Crop Science. This research demonstrates that fine fescues are truly low-input as they require less fertilizer and pesticides, while maintaining turf quality, compared to traditional turfgrass species.

Braun, R. C., Watkins, E., Hollman, A. B., and Patton, A. J. 2023. Assessing the fertilizer and pesticide input needs of cool-season turfgrass species. Crop Science, 63:3079–3095. https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.21046 [Open Access]


New research publication from our team - 9/18/23

Learn more about our research! A new, open access article by Florence Breuillin-Sessoms, Dominic Petrella, Nancy Ehlke, Donn Vellekson and Eric Watkins has been published in the journal Crop Science. This article discusses the research in which several cultivars of Chewings, hard and strong creeping red fescue were interseeded with spring wheat to examine the potential of this method for seed production in northern Minnesota. Unfortunately, this cropping system did not seem optimal for fine fescue seed production so more research is needed. 


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