Lesson 19: Exploring the Blues
While visiting an associate whose home is adjacent to a golf course in Central Pennsylvania, he asks about the large patches of bright-green grass distributed throughout much of his back yard, especially in poorly drained, shaded locations. You identify these as rough bluegrass (Poa trivialis L.), a specialty grass for use in moist, shaded environments, and one of the species widely used for overseeding bermudagrass turfs in subtropical climates for winter color and play. He responds "You can have it for overseeding bermudagrass, I'd like to get rid of it." His preferred turfgrass is the Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) that dominates his front lawn. You explain that, while this is is the most widely used perennial turfgrass in temperate-continental and subarctic climates, it is not very shade tolerant nor is it very well adapted to poorly drained soils (that's why the rough bluegrass has become such a problem in the back yard). He then directs your attention to the golf course adjacent to his home and asks: "What is the grass in the fairways? It's so dense and beautiful, I would love to have my lawn look like that." At a distance, you're pretty sure it's mostly annual bluegrass(Poa annua L.), but you invite him to walk with you to take a closer look. Sure enough, it's solid Poa and looking especially good, given the fact that it's early summer and temperatures are at nearly peak levels for the season. You explain that, despite the fact that annual bluegrass is rarely planted intentionally, it occurs in intensively cultured turfs in subarctic, temperate and subtropical climates throughout the world. You also explain that it requires meticulous care to sustain annual bluegrass in this condition throughout the growing season.
As you reflect on this experience, consider the following questions:
What to do...
The purpose of this lesson to to review the following turfgrasses:
As you review the turfgrasses above, be aware that the information will appear in a second window (as you have seen with some material in earlier lessons). Use the links to review the characteristics of each grass. Close the window to return to this page....
In this lesson you will review information on Fungal Endophytes. When you are finished going through the lesson, access the Lesson 19 Quiz. You can take the quiz up to 5 times. Practice! The questions are just like those you will find on the exams.