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The article presents a study on alternative management options for multiyear perennial ryegrass seed production in Northern Minnesota. Topics include the use of plant growth regulators (PGRs) and fall residue management, such as open burning, baling, and mowing, to achieve multiyear seed production in northern climates.

The lack of winterhardiness of some cool-season grasses limit their usefulness in northern climates. Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) lacks winterhardiness in Minnesota but has desirable qualities, such as wear tolerance and rapid establishment, that are useful in many turf applications. While domesticated germplasm may lack winterhardiness, undomesticated wild or landrace germplasm may have genes for better winterhardiness in environments like Minnesota's. In 2004, 300 accessions from two public sources in the USA were planted with eight check varieties and populations in two environments in central Minnesota, St. Paul and Becker. Thirty individuals of each accession were evaluated for seedling vigor and tiller survival after the first winter. Other turf-quality traits and tiller survival after the second winter were evaluated on those plants that survived the first winter. The first winter was extremely harsh and resulted in the death of all accessions and checks at Becker. There was good differentiation among accessions at St. Paul for tiller survival, with 8 of the 300 accessions performing better than NK200, the most winterhardy check variety. The second winter was considerably less harsh, with less death of tillers and whole plants. While the accessions do not have suitable turf quality for direct domestication, turf quality can be improved through breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turf‐type perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) success depends on adequate turfgrass quality and economical seed yield. In most breeding programs, spaced plants are the initial unit of selection in which observations of related individuals dictate the selection of superior germplasm for further testing. Therefore, spaced plants must be predictive of seed production and turfgrass growing environments. This study investigated the effectiveness of standard (three plants m−2) and competitive (23 plants m−2) spaced‐plant nurseries as selection environments with respect to two sward environments as well as applying a novel image analysis technique for several key traits. Seed production, turfgrass, and the two spaced‐plant growing environments were tested at two locations in Minnesota. Turfgrass quality traits were measured in 2017 and 2018 and seed production traits were measured in 2018. Automated image analysis was able to predict the traditional visual scoring values at both locations for crown rust (Puccinia coronata f.sp. lolii) severity [Pearson's correlation (rp) > 0.79, P <.001], winter injury (rp > 0.89, P <.001), and turfgrass texture (rp > 0.88, P <.001). Increasing the competition among spaced plants altered the plant phenotype and improved accuracy for vegetative biomass, crown rust severity, seed yield, and, at one location, turfgrass quality. There was no benefit of increasing competition for several traits such as genetic color, fertile tillers, and spikelet number. Although the competitive design was not useful for all traits, pragmatically, the competitive design used less space and often made measurements and observations easier for bunch‐type grasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public concern for the conservation of pollinating insect communities, such as bees, has created demand formore florally diverse landscapes. In urban environments, lawns form a large portion of cultivated land, and are typically managed to exclude flowering species richness. In this study, we investigated the establishment of eight flowering plants with pollinator value (plants that provide floral nectar and pollen for visiting insects) when coseeded with the turfgrass hard fescue (Festuca brevipila Tracey). The study was established as a dormant seeding at two locations in central Minnesota with substantially different soil types. Plots were maintained at either a 6- or 9-cm mowing height. We monitored these plantings over the 2014, 2015, and 2016 growing seasons for vegetative establishment and flowering of planted forbs.Of the eight forbs tested, Trifolium repens L., Prunella vulgaris ssp. lanceolata (W. Bartram) Hulten, Thymus serpyllum auct. non L., and Astragalus crassicarpus Nutt. established in at least one location. Mowing height did not affect vegetative establishment, but had a negative effect on the number of blooms produced by P. vulgaris ssp. lanceolata. Vegetative establishment was affected by location, with P. vulgaris ssp. lanceolata establishing in higher abundance in the moist loamy site, whereas T. serpyllum and A. crassicarpus established in higher abundance at the dry sandy site. This study represents an important first step in identifying appropriate plants and management practices for improving lawns as a resource for pollinators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little information exists on establishment vigor differences among fine fescue taxa (Festuca L. spp.) and on the effects N fertilizer levels or clover (Trifolium L. spp.)‐inclusion during establishment. Five replicated field experiments in Indiana, Minnesota, and Oregon were conducted from 2019 to 2021. Data collection continued for 9 mo after planting to investigate differences among four fine fescue taxa and determine optimal N fertility or clover‐inclusion programs for the establishment of fine fescue taxa. Six N fertilizer levels ranged from 0 to 122.5 kg N ha−1 during the 8 wk after planting, and two treatments included clover‐inclusion + 0 kg N ha−1 at seeding. The three taxa of the Festuca rubra complex—strong creeping red fescue (F. rubra L. ssp. rubra Gaudin), slender creeping red fescue [F. rubra ssp. littoralis (G. Mey.) Auquier], and Chewings fescue (F. rubra ssp. commutata Gaudin)—were similar to one another and required the shortest amount of time until 90% establishment (i.e., faster establishment) compared with hard fescue (Festuca brevipila Tracey). Providing 24.5 kg N ha−1 at seeding hastened establishment of all fine fescues compared with no N fertilizer (0 kg N ha−1). Applying 49 kg N ha−1 at establishment provided faster establishment than the 24.5 kg N ha−1 treatment; however, treatments receiving 73.5–122.5 kg N ha−1 during the first 8 wk after planting provided a similar rate of establishment as 49 kg N ha−1. Inclusion of clover with fine fescue resulted in slower establishment than fertilizer levels of ≥24.5 kg N ha−1. Core Ideas: Festuca brevipila has a slower establishment rate than the three Festuca rubra subspecies.Fine fescues should receive 24.5–49 kg N ha−1 during the first 8 wk after planting.Applying >49 kg N ha−1 during the first 8 wk provides negligible benefits.Clover‐inclusion in fine fescue seed mixtures may slow establishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional turfgrasses found in residential lawns provide a functional and aesthetically pleasing landscape if provided adequate resource inputs, yet, as available natural resources become more limited and public concerns grow stronger about the ecological effects of urban turfgrass management, it becomes increasingly important to pursue alternative landscape options. There are non-traditional turfgrasses that require fewer resource inputs that could be made available to homeowners. The objective of this study was to estimate consumer preferences and the relative importance of aesthetic and maintenance attributes of turfgrasses as well as identify potential market segments of the residential turfgrass market. Conjoint analysis was conducted on survey responses of 116 Minnesota homeowners. The results indicated that maintenance attributes of turfgrasses, specifically irrigation requirement, significantly affected consumer purchasing behavior. The analysis also identified four potential market segments, the Price Conscious segment, the Shade Adaptation segment, the Mowing Conscious segment, and the Water Conscious segment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adequate seed production is essential for cultivar success in perennial ryegrass turf and forage industries, but improvement is limited by the complexity of yield components and low‐rank correlations between selection and production environments. This study examined seed yield components among 20 perennial ryegrass entries in both spaced plantings (selection environment) and swards (production environment) at two locations in Minnesota. Competitive (23 plants/m2) and non‐competitive (3 plants/m2) spaced‐plant nurseries were tested. Competitive spaced‐plant total yield was highly correlated with sward yield (rs = 0.64 and 0.66, p < 0.01) at both locations, whereas the non‐competitive environment showed no correlation. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to explore the indirect and direct relationship of fall vegetative growth, winterkill, and yield components on total seed yield in all environments. Fertile tiller number (spikes plant−1/m−2) exhibited both strong direct and indirect influence on total seed yield in all environments. However, the importance of fertile tiller number in the SEM was reduced with increased plant competition. The SEM showed that both weight per spike and seed yield per spike influenced total yield in spaced plants; however, neither consistently predicted total sward yield. The ratio of these two traits (g seed spike−1/g spike−1) gave an index of fertility that was easy to measure and had a superior correlation with sward yield at two locations (rs = 0.81 and 0.54, p < 0.05) when spaced plants were under competition. Results suggest that increasing competition in spaced plantings and selecting for spike fertility may more accurately identify superior plant material compared to lower competition environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]