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Tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.) is the most widely used species in the European transition zone, however, despite its good wear tolerance, its use is still limited to lawns and landscape areas due to concerns about its ability to withstand low mowing regimes. A two years field study was conducted to access performance of twenty tall fescue cultivars ('Ares', 'Armani', 'Dynamites LS', 'Firecracker SLS', 'Firewall', 'Foxhound' 'Granditte', 'JT-LT2′, 'JT-338′, 'Karakum', 'Lexington', 'Olympic Gold', 'Rebounder', 'Rhambler SRP', 'Starlett', 'Supersonic', 'Talladega', 'Thunderstruck', 'Titanium 2LS', 'Turfway') mowed weekly at 18 mm. Turfgrass was evaluated every two weeks for visual quality, color, density, texture and uniformity, as well as percent green cover (PGC) and dark green color index (DGCI), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and traction twice per year. Although no cultivars showed sufficient quality throughout the year, 'Turfway', 'Titanium 2LS' and 'JT-338' achieved high quality rating during spring and fall, the two seasons with the highest frequency of games played on sports field in northern Italy. Traction ratings collected in these study fell within acceptable range for football fields. Our results suggest that improved dwarf-type tall fescue cultivars can be used in sport fields in Northern Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of minimal N requirements for sustaining turfgrass quality and functionality became necessary to reduce N fertilization inputs and avoid potential environmental impacts in the European Union. A two year study was conducted at Padova University in Legnaro, northeastern Italy to investigate the performance of four tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.) cultivars ('Lexington', 'Rhambler SRP', 'Rhizing star', and 'Thunderstruck') fertilized twice per year at either 75 or 150 kg N ha−1 year−1. Turfgrass was evaluated every two weeks for turfgrass visual quality, percent green cover (PGR) as well as dark green color index (DGCI) through digital image analysis and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). 'Rhizing star' was the only cultivar that showed poor adaptation to the environment, achieving acceptable turfgrass quality (6.0 or higher) only during June and July 2019. Turf fertilized at 150 kg N ha−1 year−1 generally showed higher performance than 75 kg N ha−1 year−1, however, the increase in turfgrass quality was mostly negligible and detected only during the winter months. Results suggest that well adapted tall fescue cultivars could be fertilized at 75 kg N ha−1 year−1 in Northern Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]