Fine Fescue Species Tolerance to Controlled Ice Encasement.

The increased interest in fine fescue species for golf course fairways has led to questions on their ability to withstand winter stresses, where golf course topography and freeze/thaw cycles during the winter and spring can lead to fairway areas that are covered with ice for extended periods of time. Our objectives were 1) to develop a whole plant controlled method to evaluate ice encasement and 2) to assess the tolerance of strong creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra var. rubra), slender creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra var. litoralis), hard fescue (Festuca trachyphylla), Chewings fescue (Festuca rubra var. commutata) and sheep fescue (Festuca ovina) to ice encasement. Individual plants were grown from a single seed in 3.81 cm cone-tainers for 10 weeks under ideal conditions in a greenhouse, then acclimated for 2 weeks at 2⁰C in a growth chamber and finally watered to saturation 24 hours before being transferred to a -2⁰C growth chamber. The growing media was allowed 24 hours to freeze before water was added. Aluminum tubing with a diameter of 3.81 cm and a length of 5.08 cm was placed at the top of each cone-tainer, and water was then added to create a uniform 5.08 cm depth of ice. Samples were removed after 63, 70 and 77 days of ice cover and placed in a 2⁰C growth chamber for 48 hours to thaw after which time the plants were moved to the greenhouse. Survival was assessed after 4 weeks of growth under greenhouse conditions by the presence of green leaf tissue. Significant differences in survival were found between species with strong creeping red and sheep fescue having the highest survival rates and slender creeping red and Chewings fescue having the lowest survival rates for all three durations.