Performance of Fine Fescues Under Two Forms of Traffic.

Performance of Fine Fescues under Two Forms of Traffic

H. Chen, B.S. Park, and J.A. Murphy

ABSTRACT

Fine fescues (Festuca spp.) are low maintenance grasses with better shade and drought tolerance compared to other cool-season grasses. However, the tolerance of fine fescues to traffic is not well understood. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of six fine fescue species under abrasive and trampling types of traffic. This trial used a 3 x 10 factorial split-plot design with 4 replications. The main plot factor was traffic type with three levels: abrasive wear applied with the Rutgers Wear Simulator (RWS), trampling applied with the Cady Traffic Simulator (CTS) and an untreated control. The subplot factor consisted of ten fine fescues entries seeded September 2012 on a loam in North Brunswick, NJ. The trial was mowed at 6.4 cm and irrigated to avoid drought stress. Pests were controlled as needed. Eight passes (one pass per week) of each traffic simulator were applied to main plots over 8 weeks during each of three seasons: autumn 2013 and spring and summer 2014. A rest (no traffic) period of 4 weeks occurred between spring and summer traffic. Turf quality was visually evaluated monthly during these seasons. Uniformity of turf cover, fullness of turf canopy (FTC), and bruising were visually rated; green cover was measured using digital image analysis (DIA). Abrasive wear (RWS) caused more bruising injury than trampling (CTS) during autumn 2013; whereas, greater reductions in uniformity and FTC occurred for trampling traffic compared to abrasive wear. During spring 2014, both types of traffic reduced uniformity and FTC but only uniformity of turf cover differed between the two types of traffic; uniformity was poorest under abrasive wear. Bruising injury was more severe in autumn 2013 than spring 2014.