Low Maintenance Options for Turf in the North Central U.S

Low maintenance turf is of interest due to low input requirements and positive ecological impact. Ten different mixtures: 1) Sunnylawn (a mixture of perennial ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, fine fescue); 2) Wolfpack, 3) Bingo and 4) Grande II tall fescue; 5) Barcampsia Deschampsia cespitosa;  6) Barleria Koeleria macrantha; 7) Barkoel Koeleria macrantha; 8) Poa compressa; and 9) dryland ecology mix (perennial ryegrass, fine fescue, white clover, yarrow and other forbs); and 10) No Mow (mixture of fine fescue species); were planted at St. Paul and Rosemount, Minnesota in late summer of 2004 and evaluated for three years for color and cover. Maintenance included 2”, 4” and no mowing (twice annually); no irrigation after establishment; and an annual fall application of 0, 1, or 2 pounds of actual nitrogen fertilizer. There were significant differences between the cover of the ten mixtures. Poa compressa and Barcampsia almost always had significantly less cover than the ecology mixture, sunnylawn and no mow. Grande II and Bingo usually provided significantly better cover than did Wolfpack tall fescue. Grande II and Bingo tall fescue along with ecology dryland mix and sunnylawn were similar in cover and in this study, were acceptable low maintenance turfgrasses in USDA Hardiness zone 4.