Nitrogen Fertility for Establishment of Velvet and Creeping Bentgrass Fairways and Tees

Velvet bentgrass (Agrostis canina L.) has potential as a turf for low-input fairways and tees, but N fertility requirements during establishment are unknown. Our study compared the N fertility requirement of velvet bentgrass (VBG) cultivars to creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) cultivars for fairway or tee establishment. Four N rates (0, 49, 146, and 293 kg/ha in six applications over 12 weeks) were tested on two cultivars of both bentgrass species [‘Memorial’ creeping bentgrass (CBG), ‘Penncross’ CBG, ‘SR7200’ VBG, and ‘Vesper’ VBG], on silt loams in Minnesota and Wisconsin during 2009. Treatments were arranged in a randomized block, split-plot design with four replications. Vesper established slower than Penncross through week 4 or 11, depending on location, after which all bentgrasses had ground cover approaching 100%. Increase in turf cover corresponded with increasing N rate for the first nine weeks after seeding (WAS). While all cultivars showed acceptable quality near trial end, CBG had better quality than Vesper in Wisconsin. In Minnesota, Memorial and SR7200 had better quality than Penncross and Vesper. The two greatest N rates provided similarly acceptable quality by about 8 WAS in both locations, while 0 kg N/ha never provided acceptable quality. All cultivars of VBG and CBG have similar N requirements during fairway or tee establishment.