Experimental Sites

Columbus, Ohio

West Lafayette, Indiana

Carbondale, Illinois

Columbia, Missouri

Manhattan, Kansas

SUMMARY STATEMENTS

1. Clipping twice per year resulted in lower turf quality and less percent cover than clipping twice monthly or monthly, averaged over all locations. The difference became more pronounced during the second year after planting, compared to the first year after planting.

2. Significant interactions among locations, years, species, and clipping frequencies show that the reductions in quality and percent cover and reaction of species to location and clipping frequency were different by locations.

SOME SPECIFIC STATEMENTS

Year Main Effect

Among all species and locations, there was 42% increase in cover in spring the second year compared to spring the first year after seeding, a 23% increase between summers, and a 5% increase between falls.

Location by Species by Year Interaction

SPRING At Columbus, Ohio, all the fescues showed high levels of cover by the first spring and held those levels to the second spring. But at Columbia, Missouri, the fescues showed a lower level of cover by the first spring and improved levels of cover by the second spring. Colonial bentgrass, redtop, and Kentucky bluegrass performed better at Columbia than at Columbus during both springs.

SUMMER Buffalograss, sheep fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, hard fescue, and zoysiagrass showed similar to improved summer cover at Columbus, Ohio, Columbia, Missouri, and West Lafayette, Indiana from the first to second year. Whereas, the summer cover of tall fescue, colonial bentgrass, and redtop showed no improvement in cover except tall fescue without endophyte, and colonial bentgrass at Indiana.

FALL Buffalograss, zoysiagrass, tall fescue, colonial bentgrass, and redtop had similar

or better levels of cover at all locations from the first to the second year .Kentucky bluegrass, sheep fescue, and hard fescue had similar or better levels of cover at all locations except Carbondale where cover had decreased by the second fall.

Clipping Frequency by Location Interaction

SUMMER Averaging the two summers at three locations, the twice-per-year clipping

frequency resulted in 2% less cover than the twice monthly or monthly clipping frequencies. The reduction was significant (0.10 level) at West Lafayette during the first summer and at Columbus during the second summer.

FALL Averaging the two falls at four locations, the twice-per-year clipping frequency

resulted in 4% less cover than the twice monthly or monthly clipping frequencies. The reduction was significant at Carbondale in year two, Columbus in year one and in Columbia both years.