shade

Learn more about our research! A new article from our group has been published in Plant Methods. This research found that layering photoselective filters results in more accurate simulations of foliar shade and offer advantages over neutral density shade cloth in research.

Petrella, D.P., Breuillin-Sessoms, F. & Watkins, E. Layering contrasting photoselective filters improves the simulation of foliar shade. Plant Methods 18, 16 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-022-00844-8

Check out our team’s latest efforts in educating the public about our work. Articles about the UMN Turfgrass Science team were featured in the last several editions of the MGCSA's Hole Notes publication.

Just before the 2016 annual meeting of the Crop Science Society of America, I was contacted by a graduate student from Ohio State University named Dominic Petrella who was interested in joining our group. We met for breakfast, and after talking about some AL Central baseball (Dominic is a rabid Cleveland fan), we started talking about the ways a plant physiologist could support turfgrass breeding and genetics--early in our conversation it became quite clear to me that he would be a great fit in Minnesota.

Check out our team’s latest efforts in educating the public about our work. Dominic Petrella and Eric Watkins wrote an article for Golf Course Management magazine and Maggie Reiter wrote an article for Hole Notes magazine!

Learn more about our research! Two new research articles from our group have been published in Crop Science. Florence Sessoms and Eric Watkins have published an article on heat stress in cool season turfgrasses, and Dominic Petrella and Eric Watkins have published an article on the differences in shade responses in the fine fescues.

By Dominic Petrella

When we think about turfgrass shaded by trees we as researchers often focus on reductions in light intensity, reductions in the red to far-red ratio (R/FR ratio) along with other changes in spectral quality, competition for water and mineral nutrients, and alterations to temperature compared to full sun environments. However, another challenge for turfgrass plants under shade is exposure to sunflecks.

By Dominic Petrella

This article was originally published on the Low Input Turf Using Fine Fescues blog.

By Florence Sessoms

Cool-season turfgrass seed production in Minnesota is localized in Roseau and Lake of the Woods counties in northern Minnesota. Perennial ryegrass is the primary turfgrass being produced for a total of 55,000 to 60,000 acres. Perennial ryegrass is intercropped with spring wheat to allow a better survival during the harsh winter months present up north. Also, the presence of another cash crop, such as spring wheat, allows the farmer to get some income from the field in the first year while the grass is establishing as described in Figure 1.

By Dominic Petrella

It is a common misconception that turfgrasses respond the same to neutral and foliar shade conditions. However, this is not true, and even some of the best turfgrasses for shady areas exhibit contrasting growth under these different types of shade. Let’s define the two types of shade:

Check out our team’s latest efforts in educating the public about our work!  We have a video, an upcoming Minnesota legislature address and three articles.

Water Irrigation Audit - a video from the city of Woodbury, MN features Dan Sandor demonstrating how to conduct an irrigation audit on a home lawn.

Chase Straw will be addressing members of the Minnesota legislature on October 17, 2019 advocating for benefits to golf course superintendents who implement water conservation strategies.