Turfgrass demonstration trial in Dalarna, Sweden

Summary

The purpose of the grass trial in Dalarna was to improve knowledge of grass for golf greens among members of greens committees and golf course staff in the region. Another objective was to illustrate species tolerance against diseases, especially winter kill/injuries and tolerance to wear. The plots were constructed according to USGA specifications with 30 cm of ‘green mix’ overlying 10 cm of gravel. Seeding was carried out on the 6th September 2006. 16 varieties representing four different species are included in the trial. Preliminary results of the project suggest that bentgrass is less tolerant against snow mould than festuca species. Another observation is that a seeding rate of 10 g/m2 appeared too much for Agrostis canina (velvet bent) varieties.

Results
During 2008, the fescues continued to show the best overall results. They did not develop any diseases during the year and showed great environmental quality and playable ability. ‘Leonora’ was the outstanding fescue variety and ‘Baroyal’ was the only variety that did not show the same quality as the other fescues. Of the creeping bentgrass varieties, ‘Nordlys’ showed very promising results and was the second best performer of the year after ‘L-93’. The colonial bentgrass variety ‘Leirin’ was at the bottom of the list quality-wise, mostly because of repeated damage from snow mould.

Fundings (kSEK)