New drought-tolerant turf makes debut at field day

Turfgrass professionals and scientists discussed results of grass breeding trials at the Turfgrass & Landscape Research Field Day.

Nearly 170 turfgrass professionals, academics and scientists met at the Turfgrass & Landscape Research Field Day at the UC Riverside Agricultural Operations Research Station to learn about the latest research on turfgrass on Sept. 15.

Topics included drought management, drought-tolerant species and cultivars, weed control, salinity management, reclaimed water use and more. 

New drought-tolerant cultivars that better retain green color during winter – UCR 17-8 and UCR TP6-3 – developed by UC Riverside's Turfgrass Breeding team were featured. Fifteen exhibitors showcased their services from irrigation supplies to fertilizer to seeds.

“This grass we're about to release — they meet the state's water requirements,” Jim Baird, UC Cooperative Extension turfgrass specialist, told the Los Angeles Times, which referred to Baird as “the state's Mark Twain of turf. Our LeBron of lawns. The Ira Glass … of grass.” 

The new cultivars use about half as much water as most Southern California lawns and are soft to touch. 

Participants visited bermudagrass demonstration plots and discussed them with the researchers. 

“There are 24 bermudagrass hybrids developed by our breeding team and six commercially available cultivars as checks – ‘Bandera', ‘Bullseye', ‘Celebration', ‘Midiron', ‘Santa Ana' and ‘Tifway II',” said Marta Pudzianowska, UC Riverside postdoc researcher.

The Turfgrass & Landscape Research Field Day is held every year in September. More information about the 2023 event is online at https://ucanr.edu/sites/turfgrassfieldday.

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