Performance of Fine Fescues Under Two Forms of Traffic.

Fine fescues (Festuca spp.) are low maintenance grasses that could be more widely used if the tolerance to traffic were improved. This field study evaluated the performance of ten fine fescues under abrasive and trampling forms of traffic using a 3 x 10 factorial split-plot design with 4 replications. The main plot factor was traffic form with three levels: abrasive wear applied with the Rutgers wear simulator, trampling applied with the Cady traffic simulator and an untreated control. The subplot factor consisted of ten fine fescues cultivars seeded September 2012 on a loam in North Brunswick, NJ. Plots were mowed at 6.4 cm and irrigated to avoid drought stress. Pests were controlled. Eight passes (one pass per week for eight weeks) were applied for each form of traffic during three traffic periods per year (April to June, July to August, and September to October) from 2013 to 2015. Uniformity of turf cover, fullness of turf canopy, bruising were visually rated at the end of each traffic period. Both forms of traffic increased surface bulk density with trampling causing the greatest increase. The abrasive wear bruised leaf tissue and caused more damage to turf canopy than trampling except for the first autumn traffic period when trampling caused more damage. The performances of fine fescues depended on the form of traffic. Across both forms of traffic, ‘Beacon’ hard fescue (F. brevipila R. Tracey) was the most consistent top-ranked entry for the most uniform cover and greatest FTC. Under trampling, ‘Radar’ Chewings fescue [F. rubra L. subsp. fallax (Thuill.) Nyman] was among the top-ranked entries for the most uniform cover and greatest FTC but performance under abrasive wear was variable.