Sweet & Low

Few homeowners intentionally ask contractors to install lawns that require maximum maintenance. In a high-speed culture with fast food, express mail and speedways, no one wants to come home to turf that slows them down.

“Customers want lower maintenance for the same reasons they want automatic car washes – to save time and resources, i.e. money,” maintained Doug Washburn, president, Agronotec Seed Co., Wildomar, Calif.

Unfortunately, no living lawn can survive without a touch of maintenance like a little water and some fertilization. “The Holy Grail for the perfect lawn in America has always been a lawn that never needs mowing, watering or fertilizing,” explained Steve Tubbs, president, Turf Merchants, Tangent, Ore. “To date, this means only Astroturf will fill the bill.”

But there is hope. Certain turfgrass species, either by themselves or blended, are more low maintenance than others. And turf seed suppliers and university researchers claim that “a truly low-maintenance lawn is just around the corner in the form of entirely new species that have never been considered as acceptable lawn grasses,” Tubbs said.

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? Before selecting the right grass, contractors must know what constitutes a low-maintenance lawn. To do that, turf seed suppliers first suggest contractors look at what traditional lawns typically need. “Conventional lawns are mowed twice per week and require frequent irrigation, fertilization, and extensive chemical and hand-weed control,” described Bill Rose, president, Turf-Seed, Canby, Ore. Therefore, low-maintenance lawns must demand less mowing, fertilization, water and pesticide applications, yet still thrive as lush, green lawns. “Simply put, low-maintenance lawns require less inputs,” said Scott Harer, regional sales manager, Seed Research of Oregon, Corvallis, Ore.

Craig Edminster, vice president of marketing, Cebeco International Seeds, Halsey, Ore., agreed, pointing out turf traits that inspire time savings. “Characteristics of low-maintenance lawns would include reduced vertical growth and greater tiller density at established mowing heights.”

Additionally, Washburn mentioned salt tolerance, root depth, insect and disease resistance, and winter/summer color options as other ideal low-maintenance turf traits. Lower-maintenance lawns are typically desired for parks, around vacation and retirement homes, along roadsides or parking lots, and in places that need erosion control, Rose said. But time and financial savings also lure other clients toward low-maintenance lawns. This is especially true for clients who have low-quality turf installed to save money and then realize after the job is done that they spend more on maintenance. “Shortly after the sweetness of saving money on the installation is forgotten, the cost of maintenance begins to hit the taste buds and leaves a sour taste,” Washburn explained.

Additionally, residential clients demand trouble-free lawns because of increasing environmental issues, Harer said. “With the supply of fresh water decreasing, which is made worse by drought conditions, lawn areas are the first to be affected,” he said. “So, low-maintenance lawns are more desirable where water availability is an issue.”

And consumers are paying attention – they know what’s out there based on the Internet, magazine articles and television gardening programs. Whether contractors like it or not, consumers are educating themselves on new turf types, Washburn said. “They are deducing that if we can go to the moon, we can make a low-upkeep lawn,” he explained, adding that a lack of low-maintenance turf availability leaves educated consumers wanting. “The end result is a consumer looking for strawberry ice cream and having to settle for vanilla. Well, consumers are getting very tired of vanilla.”

In addition to the consumer craze, turf seed suppliers and landscape contractors boost the popularity for low-maintenance turf, Edminster said. “Golf courses, lawns, landscapes and commercial sites require plenty of work and input,” he explained. “Reduction in this effort with similar aesthetic and turf functionability has value. Consumers are not the only catalyst in this trend. Turf seed suppliers have been breeding for reduced maintenance for years. Improved pest resistance, endophytes, dwarf growth habits and genetically modified turfgrasses are all a part of this process.”

Unfortunately, results are slow to develop because of the amount of time needed to produce and promote new turf varieties. “It takes an average of 10 years to generate a new type of grass and then it takes another five to 10 years to get the market to accept it,” Washburn said.

THE PRICE ISN'T ALWAYS RIGHT

Fine fescue, which many researchers and turf seed suppliers say is the most low-maintenance turf, is relatively inexpensive when compared to other low-maintenance grasses like Kentucky bluegrass or tall fescue, said Stacy Bonos, assistant professor, turfgrass breeding, department of plant biology and pathology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. But contractors searching for improved cultivars won’t find this to be the case. Regardless of turf species, “new cultivars are typically more expensive than older cultivars because they are better quality,” Bonos said. “Seed of new cultivars could reach twice the price of older cultivars, depending on the species and the quality of the cultivar.” Nevertheless, these higher prices shouldn’t sway contractors’ purchasing decisions of low-maintenance or high-quality turf because as the saying goes, “You get what you pay for,” suggested Scott Harer, regional sales manager, Seed Research of Oregon, Corvallis, Ore. “[Contractors] typically choose a lower priced mix instead of the right seed for the customer,” he explained. “They want grass that’s green now instead of looking for long-term performance. When you seed a lawn or redo a lawn, don’t skimp on the one thing that is going to be the most noticeable – the species you choose.” – Nicole Wisniewski

SPECIES SELECTION. To please fast-paced, educated clients who desire low-maintenance lawns, contractors must first choose the right species. “Selection of proper turfgrass species in one of the most important decisions to be made when establishing a lawn,” noted John Street, Ohio State University Extension, Columbus, Ohio. “Since a lawn is meant to be permanent, it is important to select a grass species adapted to the area and to the intended level of management.”

Unfortunately, contractors make the most mistakes when selecting turf, pointed out Stacy Bonos, assistant professor, turfgrass breeding, department of plant biology and pathology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. “First, the most mistakes are made in species chosen and, second, in terms of the varieties chosen,” she said, adding that education helps contractors avoid mistakes. Not all lawn species are low maintenance, but those that generally require fewer inputs include fine fescue, tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass.

Fine fescues top the low-maintenance list and are used predominantly on northern U.S. lawns. “They are fine-leaved turfgrasses that grow well under conditions of shade, low soil moisture, low fertility and soils with unfavorable pHs,” Street said. “Fine fescues require well-drained, slightly dry soils with minimum levels of management. Excess applications of fertilizer, frequent irrigation or establishment on poorly drained soils will result in a decline in quality and plant density.”

Fine fescue mixes, which include chewings, hard, creeping red, slender creeping red, blue and sheeps fescues, are particularly popular low-care lawns, Harer said, pointing out that they grow more slowly than other species and require less water and fertilizer to maintain health. Fine fescues blended with other cool-season turfgrasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass, also maintain success in shady areas, Street added.

However, contractors have to be cautious when selecting fine fescues, particularly for high-traffic sites, Edminster warned. “There are about seven or eight fine fescues that are commercially available, and most of them are not tolerant of traffic pressure,” he said. That’s where tall fescue comes in. Edminster describes tall-fescue turf as low maintenance because it tolerates acidic or alkaline soils, is pest and disease resistant, and is drought tolerant because of its extensive root system. And it has excellent wear tolerance, Street pointed out, as long as clients don’t mind its coarse texture.

“Tall fescue tolerates soils of low fertility,” Street said. “It germinates and establishes quickly but slower than perennial ryegrass. When mature, tall fescue, due to its deep-rooted nature, tolerates drought and will remain green throughout most Midwest summers without supplemental irrigation.”

Though tall fescue has its benefits, thereis another side to the coin, Edminster said. “Tall fescue grows like [crazy] in the spring and fall, requiring more mowing,” he said.

And Street said contractors must be wary of promising low maintenance on newly seeded tall-fescue lawns. “Juvenile tall-fescue seedlings are not cold tolerant and are prone to winterkill,” he said. “However, well-established seedlings and mature lawns will endure most winters.”

Although tall fescue generally adorns northern U.S. lawns, its use in the transition zone and upper South is increasing, particularly in place of St. Augustinegrass in well-shaded areas, according to The Lawn Institute, Rolling Meadows, Ill.

New turf-type tall fescues often are sold as blends of two or more named varieties, and mixtures with Kentucky bluegrass are more common, The Lawn Institute reported.

Kentucky bluegrass is the primary grass species used on northern U.S. lawns, Street said. According to The Lawn Institute: “The new named bluegrass varieties found in premium blends and mixtures have been developed with more heat and drought tolerance, and with greater insect and disease resistance. This makes the turf more persistent in crowding out weeds throughout the year. In seed mixtures, Kentucky bluegrass should be the dominant type of grass seed.”

The species produces rhizomes, or underground stems, that yield new bluegrass plants, enabling it to rapidly recuperate from injury and fill in thin lawn areas, Street said. “With proper management, Kentucky bluegrass forms a fine-textured, high-quality, long-lasting turf,” he explained. “It is winter hardy and capable of withstanding temperature and moisture extremes. During hot, dry periods, it tends to become dormant and lose color. If high quality is desired during the summer, irrigation is often necessary.” Unlike fine and tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass will not tolerate extremely acidic or alkaline soils or heavy shade, Street added.

If low maintenance is desired, there also are some species contractors should not use. “Avoid using annual ryegrass or even perennial ryegrass,” Bonos said. “Annual ryegrass is normally in a high percentage of construction mixes and will establish reasonably well and then die since it is an annual, and weeds will encroach in the voids.”

Turfgrass mixtures, which are created by mixing different species, and turfgrass blends, which are created by blending cultivars of the same species, also can be developed for low maintenance. “It all depends on what’s in the mix,” she said. “If you want a low-maintenance blend or mixture, you use cultivars adapted for low-maintenance situations.”

Turfgrass blends also require less upkeep than pure varieties. “Blends are often a better choice because they provide genetic diversity, which translates into improved disease resistance and drought tolerance,” Harer said.

Harer said improved varieties that were started in the early 1990s are just now entering the market. Some of these varieties on the horizon include tall fescues with rhizomes that accelerate damage recovery, drought- and salt-tolerant bluegrasses, nonselective herbicide-resistant and shade- and salt-tolerant fine fescues, and salt-tolerant perennial ryegrasses.

“Improvements continue in all of the cool-season and warm-season turfgrass species and they can provide benefits to low-maintenance situations,” Bonos said, adding that new cultivars will always offer more than their older counterparts. “The main reason to choose new cultivars over older ones is because breeders have done a lot of work improving the disease resistance and turf quality of them so they actually don’t need to apply as much pesticides and fertilizer – they just look better because they are genetically superior.”

The quest to develop a truly low-maintenance lawn is on-going. Bonos said some of the new chewings, strong creeping and hard fescues contain fungal endophytes that control dollar spot. “And one endophyte in strong creeping fescue has been shown to control red thread disease, which is the major low-maintenance disease in fine fescues,” she pointed out. “It’s a natural association that’s beneficial for both the fungi and the plant. The fungus provides insect, drought and some disease resistance and the plant provides food for the fungus.”

Some new turfgrass varieties that promise less upkeep include Deschampsia; the cool-season Koeleria that is replacing Buffalograss and Bermudagrass because of its extended green traits, Washburn said; and Texas bluegrass, a Rutger’s University project that is a cross-breed of Kentucky and native Texas bluegrass plants, creating a bluegrass-like lawn that has greater heat and drought tolerance than tall fescue, Tubbs said. Since these turfgrasses are fairly new, further research and development will improve their kinks, Bonos said. “Texas bluegrass is very drought and heat tolerant, but has poor turf quality,” she explained. “The idea is to try to incorporate heat and drought tolerance into Kentucky bluegrass, but maintain good color, density and mowing quality.

“Deschampsia is a beautiful dark green grass in the spring that needs very little fertilizer but is wiped out by billbugs in the summer,” Bonos continued. “Breeding for resistance to billbugs in Deschampsia will improve the use of this species as a low-maintenance grass. Koeleria can persist for many years under low maintenance and can form a dense, attractive turf, however, seed production has been difficult with this species. Breeders are working to improve those characteristics as well as turf quality.

Many of these new lawns, including Deschampsia and Koeleria, are native to the United States, Bonos pointed out. This increases their low-maintenance tendencies because a region’s native plants always need less care than non-native varieties.

The author is Managing Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine.