Barenbrug’s
JAYNE LEYLAND looks at the influences on grass seed selection for heavy duty sports pitches
GIVING TURF A
Sporting CHANCE
THE expectations of natural grass sports surface performance has increased dramatically in recent years. In anticipation, grass seed breeders continually strive to produce cultivars with significantly improved desirable characteristics in both traditional and unique species that have the capability to perform in these demanding situations. We at Barenbrug are committed to maintaining the preferred position of natural grass surfaces! Seed cultivar and mixture selection
really can have a significant impact on the overall quality and performance of the playing surface. However, sometimes choice (especially species selection) can be severely limited, primarily because of the available time for the establishment of the sward prior to play. Because different grass species have different germination and establishment capabilities at different soil temperatures, it is most often the case that the fast-germinating/establishing perennial ryegrass is the only choice
for renovation. The choice of species is considerably widened for new constructions. Let’s take a look at how this impacts on our mixture selection for stadia and open field pitches for both renovation and construction.
SPORTS STADIA
Enclosed sports stadia pitches are not the natural ideal environment for growing perennial ryegrass. Despite its hard wearing performance capabilities, the combination of poor light levels, high humidity and low nutrient availability - due to the poor cation exchange capacity of the heavily irrigated, predominantly sand- based rootzones - means the ever- hungry ryegrass is permanently under stress, even without wear. If renovation time is limited to less than 10-12 weeks there are currently two choices available, either use 100 per cent perennial ryegrass for overseeding, or re-turf with a mixture of species that have the natural potential for improved performance in these conditions.
Barenbrug Research is currently undertaking extensive trials for combined shade and wear performance, not only for individual cultivars within species but, importantly, for mixtures. The results and information from these recent and on-going trials are being used to influence mixture formulation. Recently introduced and potentially new cultivars of all species plus 16 different mixture combinations were trialled over a 12-month period in a shade tent (65 per cent Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR) reduction) with average humidity 10 per cent (to a maximum 100 per cent) higher than outside the tent. Synthesised wear was applied weekly from November 2004 until the end of April 2005, five months after sowing (to enable inclusion of slower-establishing species) at the equivalent of four consecutive matches per wear application. The trial will continue each year with the introduction of new cultivars and reformulated mixtures.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52