COMPETITIVE EFFECTS OF PERENNIAL RYEGRASS AND CHEWINGS FESCUE ON BERMUDAGRASS SEED ESTABLISHMENT. C. Bryan Gooch

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1 COMPETITIVE EFFECTS OF PERENNIAL RYEGRASS AND CHEWINGS FESCUE ON BERMUDAGRASS SEED ESTABLISHMENT by C. Bryan Gooch Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences APPROVED: David R. Chalmers (Chairman) Richard E. Schmidt P. Lloyd Hipkins May, 1998 Blacksburg, Virginia

2 COMPETITIVE EFFECTS OF PERENNIAL RYEGRASS AND CHEWINGS FESCUE ON BERMUDAGRASS SEED ESTABLISHMENT by C. Bryan Gooch Committee Chairman: David R. Chalmers Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences (ABSTRACT) Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is widely used as a fairway turf on golf courses throughout the transition zone. The transition zone represents the geographical areas between the temperate and subtropical climates, where neither warm season nor cool season grasses are well adapted. The late-spring establishment of seeded bermudagrass could potentially enhance summer quality of a perennial ryegrass fairway during periods of extreme summer stress. Studies were conducted over two years on both perennial ryegrass and chewings fescue (Festuca rubra L. ssp. commutata Gaud.) areas to assess the competitive effects of each species on bermudagrass seed establishment. The use of fungicides, herbicides and a plant growth regulator, as well as a cultivation treatment prior to seeding, were evaluated for their effects on bermudagrass establishment, turfgrass quality, disease incidence and summer annual grass control. Turfgrass treated with preventative fungicide applications of propiconazole and chlorothalonil maintained high density and turf quality which inhibited successful establishment of bermudagrass during either year. Bermudagrass establishment in 1996 was moderately successful in plots not treated

3 with fungicides; however, due to disease severity, turfgrass quality was unacceptable. MSMA applications did not influence turfgrass quality or bermudagrass establishment. Crabgrass populations were too low to ascertain the efficacy of either MSMA (1996) or oxadiazon (1997) on summer annual grass control. Oxadiazon followed by activated charcoal prior to bermudagrass seeding did not adversely affect bermudagrass establishment. In 1996, trinexapac-ethyl slightly enhanced bermudagrass seed establishment, but the competitiveness of perennial ryegrass prohibited establishment success. During 1997, glyphosate was evaluated as a means of eliminating competition and increasing bermudagrass establishment. Glyphosate applied in small strips across existing stands of perennial ryegrass and chewings fescue significantly increased bermudagrass establishment. Preplant aerification and vertical mowing increased bermudagrass establishment, but slightly reduced turfgrass quality. Overall, bermudagrass establishment into existing stands of turfgrass was successful only where glyphosate was strip-treated over plots to eliminate competition or under circumstances where disease pressure reduced competition from the existing turfgrass. iii

4 Acknowledgments There are a number of people I would like to acknowledge that have impacted my life and my studies during my many years at Virginia Tech. First and foremost my thanks go to Dr. Chalmers for serving as my committee chairman and providing so much support, both moral and financial, through this research. Thank you also for the guidance you provided me as an undergraduate and for giving me the opportunity to work with you in graduate school. The responsibility you allowed me to assume, both at the turf research center as well as handling extension duties during your abscence, has helped me tremendously. I am especially grateful for the role you have played in getting me connected with so many people within the turf industry, and for helping me get a sweet job! Finally, thank you for helping to mold my golf game into what I feel like has become fairly solid, but most importantly thank you for your friendship and for all you have done for me. I would also like to thank Dr. Schmidt and Lloyd Hipkins for serving on my committee and for your friendships. Thank you Dr. Schmidt for keeping me focused and always giving something new to think about. This research was certainly improved because of your guidance and suggestions. Thank you Lloyd for cooperating so well even though I didn t do the best job at keeping you informed. I appreciate the weed control perspective that you brought to this research, and thanks for all the equipment and chemicals you let me use. A big thank you to Dickie Sheppard, Charlie McCoy, and the rest of the turf center staff for their friendship and helping with my research. Thanks also to David McKissack for your sense of humor, and to your predacessor, George Stanger, for iv

5 breaking me in to turfgrass research. To Phil Keating, thanks for your friendship and all the cool road trips where you gave me advice on relationships. To W.T. Price, thanks for your humor, support, and friendship...i ll see you at country night! Thank you to all of the ladies of fourth floor Smyth: Lois, Rhonda, Judy, and most recently Cheryl, for having all the answers for us clueless graduate students. Faculty who have always been supportive and provided encouragement: Dr. Hall, Dr. Abaye, Dr. McKenna, Dr. Alley, Dr. Donohue, Dr. Evanylo, Dr. Peterson, Dr. Reneau, Dr. Martens, and Dr. Baker. Graduate students that I would like to acknowledge: Matthew Wharton for so much help with my research, a great friendship, and some darn good golf matches, Sam Doak for encouragement and inspiration, Scott McBane for many good times (see you in Atlantic City), Bruce Jones for a friendship going back to freshman year, Allen Fulford, J.B. Daniel, and Nicole Fomchenko, and to the rest of the CSES grad students thanks for everything. Undergraduate students who helped out with my research: Geoff Rinehart (good luck at Michigan State), and Brian Vincel (see you at Farmington). Special thanks to Tom Knoll and staff at Chantilly National Golf and Country Club in Centreville, Virginia for providing a site for my 1996 study. Thanks to Dr. Craig Edminster and International Seeds for providing the seed for this research. Thanks also to Cale Bigelow for helping me out with a treatment during the 96 study. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their support and putting up with me spending so many years in college. Let s hope it pays off. Thanks also to Chrissy, my girlfriend through most of this research. I appreciate you helping me take data, pushing me to get things done, and putting up with me. Lastly I would like to thank the good Lord for helping me get through all this, because without some extra help, I m not sure I would have made it. v

6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Acknowledgments iv Table of Contents vi List of Tables vii Introduction Literature Review Chapter 1. Bermudagrass Seed Establishment into Perennial Ryegrass Under Golf Course Fairway Culture in the Transition Zone as Influenced by Plant Growth Regulator, Herbicide, and Fungicide Application Chapter 2. Competitive Effects of Perennial Ryegrass and Chewings Fescue on Bermudagrass Seed Establishment as Influenced by Glyphosate, Cultivation, and Herbicide Treatments Summary Vita vi

7 List of Tables Chapter 1 Table 1.1 Treatments for 1996 Centreville and Blacksburg field studies Table 1.2 Visual estimates on 9 September of percent bermudagrass in perennial ryegrass fairway plots seeded with Mirage bermudagrass at 98 kg ha -1 on 7 June, 1996 in Centreville, Virginia Table 1.3 Visual estimates on 9 September of final quality in perennial ryegrass fairway plots in Centreville, Virginia Table 1.4 Bermudagrass seeding effects on 1996 perennial ryegrass summer quality in Centreville, Virginia Table 1.5 Visual estimates on 9 September of percent bermudagrass in perennial ryegrass fairway plots seeded with Mirage bermudagrass at 98 kg ha -1 on 7 June, 1996 in Centreville, Virginia as influenced by plant growth regulator, fungicide, and herbicide application Table 1.6 Trinexapac-ethyl (TE) effects on 1996 perennial ryegrass quality in Centreville, Virginia Table 1.7 Propiconazole (PPC) and chlorothalonil (C) effects on 1996 perennial ryegrass quality in Centreville, Virginia Table 1.8 Propiconazole (PPC) and chlorothalonil (C) effects on 1996 disease incidence in perennial ryegrass in Centreville, Virginia Table 1.9 MSMA effects on 1996 perennial ryegrass quality in Centreville, Virginia. 52 Table 1.10 Bermudagrass seeding effects on 1996 summer quality, disease incidence, and percent crabgrass on perennial ryegrass in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 1.12 Trinexapac-ethyl (TE) effects on 1996 summer quality, disease incidence, and percent crabgrass on perennial ryegrass in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 1.12 Propiconazole (PPC) and chlorothalonil (C) effects on 1996 summer quality, disease incidence, and percent crabgrass on perennial ryegrass in Blacksburg, Virginia vii

8 Table 1.13 MSMA effects on 1996 summer quality, disease incidence, and percent crabgrass on perennial ryegrass in Blacksburg, Virginia Chapter 2 Table 2.1 Treatments for 1997 perennial ryegrass and fine fescue field studies in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 2.2 Visual estimates recorded on 13 October of percent bermudagrass and final quality in perennial ryegrass plots seeded with Mirage bermudagrass at 98 kg ha 1 on 20 June, 1997 in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 2.3 Preplant cultivation (aerification + vertical mowing) effects on 1997 quality of perennial ryegrass in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 2.4 Preplant cultivation (aerification + vertical mowing) effects on 1997 whole plot percent bermudagrass in perennial ryegrass in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 2.5 Influence of oxadiazon followed by activated charcoal prior to seeding on 1997 quality of perennial ryegrass in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 2.6 Influence of oxadiazon followed by activated charcoal prior to seeding on 1997 whole plot percent bermudagrass in perennial ryegrass in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 2.7 Glyphosate effects on 1997 whole plot percent bermudagrass in perennial ryegrass in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 2.8 Glyphosate effects on 1997 quality (ignoring scars) of perennial ryegrass in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 2.9 Percent healing in 2.5 cm or 7.6 cm glyphosate-treated strips on 10 October, 1997 by bermudagrass and tillering of perennial ryegrass Table 2.10 Final quality (13 October, 1997) comparisons of perennial ryegrass by ignoring and accounting for glyphosate scars in assessing turfgrass quality Table 2.11 Visual estimates recorded on 13 October of percent bermudagrass and final quality in Chewings fescue plots seeded with Mirage bermudagrass at 98 kg ha 1 on 20 June, 1997 in Blacksburg, Virginia viii

9 Table 2.12 Preplant cultivation (aerification + vertical mowing) effects on 1997 quality of chewings fescue in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 2.13 Preplant cultivation (aerification + vertical mowing) effects on 1997 whole plot percent bermudagrass in chewings fescue in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 2.14 Influence of oxadiazon followed by activated charcoal prior to seeding on 1997 whole plot percent bermudagrass in chewings fescue in Blacksburg, Virginia.. 87 Table 2.15 Influence of oxadiazon followed by activated charcoal prior to seeding on 1997 quality of chewings fescue in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 2.16 Glyphosate effects on 1997 whole plot percent bermudagrass in chewings fescue in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 2.17 Glyphosate effects on 1997 quality (ignoring scars) of chewings fescue in Blacksburg, Virginia Table 2.18 Percent healing in 2.5 cm or 7.6 cm glyphosate-treated strips on 10 October, 1997 by bermudagrass and tillering of Chewings fescue Table 2.19 Final quality (13 October, 1997) comparisons chewings fescue by ignoring and accounting for glyphosate scars in assessing turfgrass quality Appendix temperature and rainfall data in Centreville, Virginia ix