Turfgrass Science

By Gary Deters

Raise your hand if you thought this was going to be an article about the latest University of Minnesota variety or cultivar of tree. What I am referring to is the tree of learning that extends from the educators and researchers at our university.

When I had my in-person interview with the turfgrass research team, I had the opportunity to walk the hallways of Alderman Hall for the first time in twenty years since I was a turf student. It brought back some great memories of Dr. Don White and my horticulture classmates. Dr. White was a fantastic turfgrass professor, but better yet, he was a very kind and caring person.  

Check out our team’s latest efforts in educating the public about our work. Some of our team are featured in an article in CFANS News!

Eric Watkins and Nancy Jo Ehlke were interviewed in an article, Seed money, on grass seed production in northern Minnesota.

By Michael Barnes

Globally many cities have implemented ‘re-greening’ programs to meet sustainability goals and deliver enhancements to the quality of life for their residents. However, turfgrass has most often been thought of as a problematic part of urban landscapes, being not ‘green’ enough to be part of re-greening programs that have largely focused exclusively on trees. To date, such approaches have mostly ignored advancements in turf management as well as low-input varieties of turfgrasses for both warm and cool climates. 

By Dominic Christensen

What is planted along roadside boulevards and how they are maintained is often a heavily debated subject. There are those who are more concerned about accomplishing the perceived primary goal to seed simpler nonnative mixtures to prevent erosion, and some who think the goals and functions of these boulevards should behave similar to a short-statured prairie, and others who are not so opinionated.

Did you know that the University of Minnesota conducts research on turfgrass seed production in northern Minnesota? If you are interested in learning more, our website now has information on Seed Production Research at Magnusson Research Farm.