Yinjie Qiu

By Yinjie Qiu

Turfgrass grows in a complex environment that is full of stresses. For example, in the summertime, turfgrasses may be under abiotic stresses such as heat and drought stress. Some biotic stresses, such as summer patch and dollar spot disease, can occur at the same time. Situations like this cause stress for golf course superintendents and other turf managers. Some of these problems could be solved by cultural management methods; however, these methods can be labor intensive and expensive. Breeding turfgrass species with better stress resistance could solve these problems in more economical and ecosystem-friendly ways.

By Yinjie Qiu

The fine fescue species, which include Chewings fescue, hard fescue, sheep fescue, strong creeping red fescue, and slender creeping red fescue, have been shown to perform well as turfgrasses in low-input environments in temperate climates such as in Minnesota.  Fine fescues grow well in the shade or sun, have reduced mowing requirements, and possess good drought tolerance.

What are our former graduate students, postdocs and researchers doing now?

Sam Bauer received an M.Sc. in Applied Plant Sciences in 2011. His thesis work focused on late fall nitrogen fertilization and methods for increasing creeping bentgrass in golf course fairways. Later, he joined UMN Extension as Extension Educator for turfgrass, a position he held until 2018. He is now the executive director of the North Central Turfgrass Association and a consultant, working on a number of turf-related projects in Minnesota and the surrounding states.