Tyler VanLandingham, Dominic P. Petrella, Edward Nangle, & David S. Gardner
Abstract
Healthy turfgrass lawns impart several benefits for both people and the environment. To have healthy lawns nitrogen inputs are needed. However, due to a lack of statewide recommendations in Ohio, there is often excessive nitrogen use. We need to understand how we can maintain a healthy turfgrass lawn while simultaneously decreasing the amount of nitrogen inputs to the turfgrass system. Two-year research plots will be established in Columbus, Wooster, Findlay, and Cincinnati. We will examine new and old cultivars of perennial ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, and hard fescue by treating plots with either 0.0, 24.4, 48.8, 97.7, or 195.3 kg of N per ha per year to evaluate nitrogen requirements. Data to evaluate turfgrass health and vigor will be collected bi-weekly from April-November. Turfgrass health and vigor will be measured by NDVI and height via a laser distance device, respectively. Soil samples will be collected at the end of years 1 and 2 to measure organic matter. The results we will gain will show if we can decrease nitrogen application rates and maintain healthy Ohio lawns, if nitrogen requirements vary across the state, and if “low input” species or new cultivars require reduced nitrogen amounts compared to “high input” species such as Kentucky Bluegrass. This research could show that we can drastically reduce the amount of nitrogen that is typically applied to home lawns resulting in lower costs for homeowners and an increase in environmental stewardship.
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