Reducing Mowing Requirements in Home Lawn and Golf Course Turfgrass

Authors

Mark A. Keck, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

William Kreuser

Second Advisor

Roch Gaussoin

Third Advisor

Humberto Blanco

Date of this Version

Fall 11-23-2020

Citation

Keck, M.A. 2020. Reducing Mowing Requirements in Home Lawn and Golf Course Turfgrass. MS Thesis, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE.

Comments

A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science, Major: Agronomy, Under the Supervision of Professor William Kreuser. Lincoln, Nebraska: December 2020

Copyright © 2020 Mark A. Keck

Abstract

Turfgrass systems are routinely managed by frequent mowing to increase aesthetics and function. Mowing is resource intensive with a high labor and energy demand. Reducing the number of mowings events in a growing season will decrease the labor and energy but may reduce quality as well. Previous work has looked at reducing mowing by changing the frequency and by using a plant growth regulator (PGR). Limited information is available about how to reduce mowing while maintaining acceptable quality. We looked at two different management practices to reduce mowing and maintain quality. The first study evaluated seven different mowing frequencies at two mowing heights (7.6 cm and 5.1 cm). Dry clipping yield mass was measured and the total number of mowing events were recorded from the different treatments. Weekly visual quality ratings were recorded using the NTEP scale. Removing one-third of the leaf biomass at mowing minimized mowing requirements while it sustained turfgrass quality rating. Mowing more frequently increased further improved turfgrass quality. The second study examined lengthening the longevity of suppression from two PGRs by the inclusion of various surfactants with the application Clipping suppression was modeled with sine wave regression to determine the suppression of both PGRs and for comparison of clipping yield suppression provided by the PGR applied alone. Visual quality declined in with the straight block co-polymer surfactant.

Advisor: William C. Kreuser