Fine fescue
New research publication from our team - 9/19/23
Learn more about our research! A new, open access article by Ross Braun, Eric Watkins, Andrew Hollman, Aaron Patton has been published in the journal Crop Science. This research demonstrates that fine fescues are truly low-input as they require less fertilizer and pesticides, while maintaining turf quality, compared to traditional turfgrass species.
Braun, R. C., Watkins, E., Hollman, A. B., and Patton, A. J. 2023. Assessing the fertilizer and pesticide input needs of cool-season turfgrass species. Crop Science, 63:3079–3095. https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.21046 [Open Access]
New research publication from our team - 9/18/23
Learn more about our research! A new, open access article by Florence Breuillin-Sessoms, Dominic Petrella, Nancy Ehlke, Donn Vellekson and Eric Watkins has been published in the journal Crop Science. This article discusses the research in which several cultivars of Chewings, hard and strong creeping red fescue were interseeded with spring wheat to examine the potential of this method for seed production in northern Minnesota. Unfortunately, this cropping system did not seem optimal for fine fescue seed production so more research is needed.
New fine fescue resources from UMN Extension
UMN Extension now has new materials on everything you need to know to establish and maintain a fine fescue lawn! Are you interested in a lawn that needs less maintenance? Fine fescues might be what you're looking for. Not only do fine fescues have lower maintenance requirements, they have better tolerance for shade and are adapted to most growing conditions in Minnesota.
New research publication from our team - 7/11/22
Learn more about our research! A new, open access article by Ross Braun, Eric Watkins, Andrew Hollman, Nicole Mihelich, and Aaron Patton has been published in Agronomy Journal. This journal article summarizes research on using different cool-season turfgrasses for sod and found that fine fescue sod with strong creeping red fescue may be a promising option for sod producers.
New research publication from our team - 4/4/22
Learn more about our research! A new article from our group has been published in Crop Science. This research examined the effects of different levels of nitrogen fertilizer and the inclusion of clover on the establishment of fine fescues.
Braun, R.C., E.T. Braithwaite, A.R. Kowalewski, E. Watkins, A.B. Hollman, and A.J. Patton. 2022. Nitrogen fertilizer and clover inclusion effects on the establishment of fine fescue taxa. Crop Science 62(2):947-957. https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20704 [Open Access]
Evaluating fine fescues for golf greens in cold climates
By Gary Deters and Eric Watkins
This article was originally published on the Low Input Turf Using Fine Fescues blog.
University of Minnesota Turfgrass team in the media – 1/26/22
Check out our team’s latest efforts in educating the public about our work. Several members of our group including Eric Watkins, Dominic Petrella (now an assistant professor at Ohio State University), Nicole Mihelich and Florence Sessoms were featured in a video, Fescue Research at the University of Minnesota, on GCSAATV.
Watch the video below to learn more about several different fine fescue research projects we are conducting!