FAYETTEVILLE — Whether it’s a football field, a golf course, or a home lawn, a new multi-state study offers recommendations for keeping some varieties of turfgrass greener, longer.
Researchers currently based in six states collaborated to identify three simple management tips to extend green color and reduce cold-weather injury in hybrid bermudagrass. Those recommendations include raising the mowing height, applying nitrogen fertilizer in the fall, and most importantly, maintaining adequate soil moisture in the lead-up to a short-term freeze event, such as a spring-time cold snap.
The study, “Improving winter survival of interspecific hybrid bermudagrass in the Mid-Atlantic region through cultural practices,” was published in the Crop, Forage & Turfgrass Management journal in August.
Wendell Hutchens, co-author of the study and an assistant professor of turfgrass science with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, noted that although the work focused on golf courses, the recommendations could apply equally in other situations.
“The practices can be used universally,” Hutchens said. “Sod growers can use the same practices, as can sports field managers and homeowners for their lawns.”
Hutchens said the research team set out to evaluate the effects of soil fertility, mowing height and moisture to avoid cold-weather injury, also known as winterkill.
Roberts noted that historically, avoiding late-summer applications of nitrogen on bermudagrass was the standard.
The work with mowing height also yielded an interesting insight, Hutchens said.
“The general rule of thumb is to increase mowing heights slightly as bermudagrass approaches winter dormancy,” McCall said. “How much depends on the starting point while actively growing in-season.
Due to mild and wet winter conditions at the field trial locations in Maryland and Virginia, the researchers performed several experiments using freeze chambers to mimic winter weather conditions. When Hutchens started his job in Arkansas, he worked with Battaglia and DeBoer to evaluate the relationship between soil water content and level of cold-weather injury.
“There is definitely a positive correlation with increased soil moisture prior to short-term freezing events, resulting in better turf survival,” DeBoer said.
One possible explanation according to DeBoer may be a temporary heating effect from the irrigation water buffering the roots from cold temperatures. DeBoer cautioned there is a high degree of variability from year to year and site to site.
