Turfgrass science: new developments in an exciting field, carefully illustrated and explained

Turfgrass science: new developments in an exciting field, carefully illustrated and explainedMicah Woods, Ph.D.Chief Scientist | Asian Turfgrass Center@asianturfgrassseminar.asianturfgrass.com/2014_mirabella.html

14 October 2014Mirabella Portland

15 countries Places visited since September 2013

seashore dropseed at sea level, 20° South

Bel Ombre, Mauritius

kikuyugrass 7,350 feet above sea level

Ootacamund, India

fine fescue at about 9,500 feet above sea level

Yamanashi, Japan

fine fescue at 64° North Westman Islands, Iceland

ATC research facility in 2008, more than 50 grass varieties Ayutthaya, Thailand

Digitaria grass and clouds

Bangkok, Thailand

seashore dropseed and clouds

Samet, Thailand

North Americamore sun

Asialess sun

grasses and microclimates in Hawaii

Honolulu, Hawaii

bermudagrass putting green, poor performance in shade

Hilo, Hawaii

manilagrass (Zoysia matrella) putting green, high shade tolerance Hilo, Hawaii

bermudagrass turf, thrives in sun

Hawaii Kai, Oahu

Manilagrass lawn Manila, Philippines

Manila American Cemetery

Manila, Philippines

Manila American Cemetery

Manila, Philippines

Manila American Cemetery

Manila, Philippines

perennial ryegrass Barcelona, Spain

PGA Catalunya, more than 10 turfgrass species grow in this region Girona, Spain

ATC research facility in 2008, different grasses and soil types Ayutthaya, Thailand

Rothamsted Manorhttp://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/Research/ParkGrassGallery.html

Harpenden, England

Harvesting plots, 1940shttp://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/Research/ParkGrassGallery.html

Harpenden, England

Park Grass January 2005

Park Grass soil samples from 1876

Rothamsted archives

Soil and leaf tissue containers

Rothamsted archives

Park Grass May 2006

Plot 1d, ammonium sulfate annually, no lime

Park Grass, May 2006

no fertilizer since 1856 Park Grass, May 2006

Plot 6, complete fertilizer Park Grass, May 2006

It seems we are inundated with new technology for golf turf management. Technology can be a vital aspect of

turf management, yet it can also be distracting. When technology distracts us from the basic biological and eco- logical principles, we lose the value of resource efficiency.

Current research can inform our decisions about technology, but often it is short term and gives rise to dogma, i.e, stating an opinion as if it were fact. However, understanding fundamental principles often requires a longer period of study and, when properly assessed with variable technology, can lead to informed decision-making.

Few would argue the value of long- term ecological research, especially when it can continue to be relevant to modern management. We would argue that the most important experiment of this type has been underway outside of London since 1856 at the Rothamsted Experiment Station.

BACKGROUNDIn 1856, 11 fertilizer treatments and two unfertilized control plots were laid out on a meadow at the Rothamsted estate in England. Rothamsted was owned by John Bennet Lawes, the holder of a patent on superphosphate and a fertilizer manufacturer. Lawes had great interest in agricultural experi- mentation, eventually selling his fertilizer business interests and establishing the Lawes Agricultural Trust.

Lawes engaged Joseph Henry Gilbert as a chemist in 1843, and together they would transform agri-cultural theory over the next 57 years. The experiment in the meadow, managed as pasture, at Rothamsted (the Park Grass experiment) is thought to have been Lawes’s favorite.

This classical Park Grass experi-ment is ongoing more than 150 years after the first fertilizer treatments were applied. The results of this experiment and the conclusions we can draw have

multiple applications to modern turf- grass management. Yet the Park Grass Experiment seems to go unnoticed by turfgrass scientists and managers.

The Park Grass experiment was initiated when there were 30 United States, before the Civil War, and before Darwin published Origin of Species. For 154 years the fertilizer treatments have been applied and plots harvested and analyzed. The seven-acre experi-ment was originally conceived to inves- tigate agricultural questions such as hay yield and quality by removing herbage twice each year. It became apparent from the start that the fertilizer treatments affected not only the yield of the plots, but also the very plants and grasses that grew on them. From an ecological perspective, the effect of fertilizer treatment on the botanical composition of the plots would be most relevant to turfgrass science.

Fertilizer treatments include nitrogen, from different sources and at different

Green Section Record Vol. 49 (00)Month 00, 2011 Page 1TGIF Record Number

A close-up view of potassium (K) versus no potassium and dandelion growth. Copyright Rothamsted Research Ltd.

A spring view of dandelion growth in a plot receiving potassium (K), and no dandelions in the adjacent plot receiving no potassium. Copyright Rothamsted Research Ltd.

The Park Grass Experiment and the Fight Against DogmaSometimes the value of a turfgrass management practice takes a long time to become apparent.

BY MICAH WOODS AND FRANK ROSSI

Woods & Rossi. Green Section Record, 2011.

We need to know 3 quantities

L-93 creeping bentgrassIthaca, New York

1. How much of an element is

present in the soil?

2. How much of an element is

needed in the soil?

3. How much of an element does the grass use?

ReferenceMinimum Levels for Sustainable Nutrition

Soil Guidelines

The Minimum Level for Sustainable Nutrition (MLSN) Guideline is a new, more sustainable ap-proach to managing soil nutrient levels that can help you to decrease fertilizer inputs and costs, while still maintaining desired turf quality and playability levels. The MLSN guidelines were devel-oped in a joint project between PACE Turf and the Asian Turfgrass Center. All soil analyses were conducted at Brookside Laboratories, New Bremen, OH.

Nitrogen requirements are best determined based on turf growth potential, which incorporates

Course Management, p. 108-113, March, 2005).

September, 2014

MLSN Soil

Guideline

pH >5.5

Potassium (K ppm) 37

Phosphorus (P ppm) 21

Calcium (Ca ppm) 331

Magnesium (Mg ppm) 47

Sulfur as sulfate (S ppm) 7

http://www.paceturf.org/journal/global_soil_survey

Studying the soil conditions that are producing good turf

Global Soil Survey year 1 locations

choosing grasses & maintenance inputs to produce good turf Hua Hin, Thailand

seminar.asianturfgrass.com/2014_mirabella.html