Module 6:

6.1 Turfgrasses

1   What is a desirable turfgrass?

Whether a grass is desirable will depend on the situation and sports surface, but for a football pitch the main and often only desirable turfgrass species used in the UK is perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne). We will look at how to identify this grass shortly.

Other species might be considered for inclusion within a mixture, but this will depend on specific situations and requirements. We won’t be looking at any other desirable grass species in this module, but you might be interested to know that other species that are sometimes included in seed mixtures are:

• Smooth stalked meadow grass (Poa pratensis).
• Tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus, previously classed as Festuca arundinacea).

Occasionally Browntop bents (Agrostis capillaris and Agrostis castellana) and Red fescues (Festuca rubra subspecies) are included as a small percentage in a mixture. However, these grasses do not stand up to football type wear and would most likely be included where a pitch doubles up as a cricket outfield, or similar, over the summer period, and also where usage is light and on a sandier soil.

2   What is an undesirable turfgrass?

Have a go at this question first.

Having just looked at the most desirable turfgrass species for a football pitch surface in the UK, do you know which one of the following grasses is the most undesirable species?

3   An undesirable grass species is one that survives in a mown sward, but which does not provide as a good a playing experience as desirable grasses.

These grasses will also negatively impact on the quality of a sward, for example, by being patchy in appearance, more easily kicked out of a sward or may be more susceptible to disease attack. In addition, some will typically require more watering and fertiliser applications to maintain a good appearance.

The most common undesirable turfgrass plant in a football pitch is Annual meadow grass (Poa annua). We will look at how to identify this grass shortly.