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The public has an opportunity to get the latest information on the care and maintenance of home lawns and landscapes at the 2011 Turfgrass and Landscape Research Field Day, presented by the University of California, Riverside.

Field Day will take place from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Sept. 15, at the university’s Turfgrass Research Facility, 1060 Martin Luther King Boulevard, Riverside, Calif.

The registration fee is $70 ($90 after Sept. 9). This registration fee is waived for reporters interested in covering the annual event.

“Grasses are the most widespread plants on earth,” said Thomas O. Baldwin, the dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, who will attend Field Day. “The health and maintenance of grass are very important, not only to homeowners but also to golf course managers and other landscape professionals. UC Riverside is the only university in California conducting turfgrass research. It's part of our land-grant mission to communicate the results of that research to the public through this Field Day.”

Industry professionals, advisors and specialists will be available at the event to answer the public’s questions on issues related to the care and maintenance of turf and landscape plants.

“Turfgrass directly and significantly impacts California’s economy,” said James Baird, a turfgrass research specialist in UC Riverside’s Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, who is leading the event. “Attendees will find that Field Day is an excellent opportunity to learn in just half a day about the breadth of turfgrass research activities.”

Field Day attendees include professional turfgrass managers and their supervisors from golf courses, athletic fields, parks, and lawn care companies.

The event includes a research field tour for participants to get familiar with research results and observations of ongoing, or recently completed, turfgrass research projects at UCR. Field Day attendees will learn about fungicides, drought tolerance among turfgrass varieties, irrigation salinity management, as well as the use of recycled water for turf and landscape plants.

Researchers from around California will discuss measuring water use efficiency and carbon sequestering abilities of all major warm- and cool-season turfgrasses grown in the state. They also will discuss the effectiveness of groundcovers as a means of conserving water in the landscape, as well as the best ways to manage turfgrass diseases, pests and weeds.

To see the full agenda of Field Day, click here.

Registration information can be found here.

Walk-ins are welcome on Sept. 15; registration can be done on site.

Parking will be available in Parking Lot 30, from where the Turfgrass Research Facility in Agricultural Operations is a short walk.