Sods were harvested 9, 11, and 13 months after planting (MAP) in both years. Our small plot sod cutter cut a 9-inch by 24-inch (22.86 cm by 60.96 cm) piece of sod for each treatment. Sod strength was tested with a sod tensile strength device, which provides output to measure the required work (force over distance, Newton-meters) and the peak force required to tear a piece of sod (i.e., maximum tensile load, Newtons) (Friell et al., 2016). Sod handling, turf quality, and soil moisture levels were also measured at the time of sod harvest. Sod handling was rated on a 1 to 5 scale (1=poor, complete breakage of sod during handling, inability to transport to sod tearing device, unacceptable quality; 3=good, our suggested minimum acceptable quality for industry handling, moderate cracking of the sod may occur; and 5=excellent, very tight, no cracking, best handling quality) (Gopinath et al., 2015). In this work, sod handling and sod strength device response variables were positively correlated with one another across all turfgrass species, which is similar to findings in past sod research. Here, we report the analysis of this data across the two years of testing.
Turfgrass species differed in terms of turfgrass quality and the percentage of annual bluegrass cover. Tall fescue had the lowest annual bluegrass, whereas sheep fescue had the highest annual bluegrass coverage, followed by hard fescue and Kentucky bluegrass (Table 1). Tis finding highlights how the slow establishment of some species creates an opportunity for weed encroachment.
Table 1. Visual annual blue grass coverage during the establishment of turfgrass species in West Lafayette, IN. Grasses were planted on 24 Aug. 2022 in year 1 and 11 Sept. 2024 in year 2
Turfgrass Species
Annual bluegrass coverage (%) 5/5/2003
Strong creeping red fescue 8.7 b
Slender creeping red fescue
Chewings fescue Hard fescue Kentucky bluegrass Tall fescue p-value 8.2 b 9.9 b 35.0 a 26.3 a .08 b <.0001
Annual bluegrass coverage (%) 5/31/2004
6.9 c 2.4 c 5.6 c 25.7 b
0-6 inch (0-15.24 cm) (Soil 35.5 ab
1.7 c <.0001
22
TPI Turf News September/October 2025
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