Grass seeds

Time to recognise importance of ryegrass?

Pressure on golf clubs to deliver courses which can meet the often-conflicting demands placed on them is leading some Course Managers to use ultrafine-leaf ryegrasses. Luke Hunt, Product Manager for Barenbrug, explains why.

Golfers want to spend more time on course and continue playing throughout the year, footfall is increasing, and expectations in terms of turf quality are rising.

At the same time, our changing climate is bringing more extremes of weather, leading to different practical and disease challenges. The combination of generally cooler springs followed by heatwaves and drought is leading to changes in the type of grass species being selected.

To deal with these challenges, Barenbrug have been breeding, researching and trailing, fine-leaf ryegrass varieties for golf courses for many years, the latest of which form the core of the new Barenbrug Ultrafine range.

The latest Ultrafine products represent a milestone for the golf industry. Due to the popularity of the original Ultrafine 100% ryegrass offering, 2022 sees the range extended from a single product to three, the new additions adding carefully matched fescues that leverage the performance advantages of the very latest fine-leaf ryegrasses.

This is a significant development, not least because ryegrass was once a shunned species.

In his book Practical Greenkeeping, Jim Arthur said; “it has no place on any golf course”.

But times change and with developments in breeding ryegrass has gone on to fulfil almost every golf course application, even in certain extreme circumstances on greens which would once have been unthinkable.

Since 2015, the amount of Barenbrug golf mixtures containing perennial ryegrass has steadily increased.

Firstly, Barenbrug is seeing a demand increase for products which build on the inherent strengths of perennial ryegrass. This is because turf managers have seen the benefits the species can bring to tees, fairways, and high traffic areas, as well as the advantages of rapid germination at low soil temperatures.

The cold springs, which we now appear to experience year on year, present significant challenges when it comes to repairing the inevitable damage left behind after the winter. With fescue requiring 11°C and browntop bent needing 15°C for decent germination, achieving strong establishment may not be possible in March or even April. However, because ryegrass germinates readily at 7°C it gives the opportunity to restore grass cover in the spring.

Secondly, the latest ryegrass bred varieties offer previously unseen levels of fineness, shoot density and aesthetics, even when close-mown. While a perennial ryegrass dominant sward will not produce a surface that meets the expectations of golfers in terms of putting quality, there are scenarios where using ryegrass on a green is a viable option and can provide a solution.

For greens that may struggle with shade or higher moisture levels, some thinning of the sward is not uncommon, particularly on the clean-up lap or walk on/ off areas. Overseeding such areas with ryegrass will increase the overall wear tolerance, protect the existing grasses, and help to reduce thinning of the sward.

All products in Barenbrug’s Ultrafine range include ultrafine-leaf ryegrass, so the decision on which one to choose is primarily a preference as to how much high-performance ryegrass the customer perceives to be best matched

Time to recognise importance of ryegrass?

to their individual situation.

The backbone of the Ultrafine range, Barolympic, scores 8.6 in the 2022 BSPB G4 table. Top for colour and second for fineness of leaf, it blends easily with other grass species.

Ultrafine 100, a 100% blend of fine turf perennial ryegrasses, offers the best fine ryegrasses on the market. It is designed for overseeding and construction of fine turf with intense wear that demands tolerance to close-mowing, golf green surrounds, pinch-points and walk-off areas.

This blend comprises 50% Barolympic; Barprium, an exciting new cultivar from Barenbrug’s breeding station in France, bringing independently proven drought tolerance, efficient nitrogen use, and disease resistance. Ultrafine 100 also includes Barsignum.

Designed for constructing or overseeding medium-fine and fine turf subjected to high wear pressure, Ultrafine 60 contains 60% ultrafine perennial ryegrass – the Barenbrug varieties Barolympic and Barprium. These are blended with 40% fine, highly ranked varieties of red fescue in the form of Barrisse, the strong creeping red, Viktorka, a slender creeping red, and chewings Bodega.

Ultrafine 30 is for overseeding and construction of fine turf with moderate wear. It too uses these three fescues, each featuring in the top 10 of their own specific tables, which are blended with 30% Barolympic. n www.barenbrug.co.uk/ultrafine

MM Seed: Fit for a King

MM grass seed is working wonders for the King’s Bruton Foundation according to Director of Grounds, Graham Kitley.

The King’s Bruton Foundation, in Somerset, comprises three schools – King’s Bruton, Hazlegrove Preparatory and Bruton School for Girls.

Before being promoted to the position of Director of Grounds in July 2021, Graham spent just over four years working solely on the Hazlegrove site. He now oversees the King’s Bruton and Hazlegrove sites the two separate grounds teams.

“How the schools are presented is incredibly important. We take pride in the grounds because it is the first thing you see when you arrive, and first impressions are everything,” said Graham.

“Furthermore, both of the Headmasters are very sport minded people, and it is important that the pupils are out playing as much sport as they can on the very best facilities.

“As a grounds team we are backed by the School and the Bursar in terms of budget for products and machinery.”

Graham admits to being in a fortunate position and insists on using only the finest products. This was certainly the case when it came to choosing a grass seed.

“I speak to many people in the industry about products and it became apparent that a lot were using MM seed. Because everyone was raving about the benefits of MM, I thought I’d try it. It did exactly what everybody said it would do and it has been phenomenal ever since.”

Graham uses MM50 - a hardwearing ryegrass mix and MM7 – a mix of fine leaved ryegrass, fescue and bent which is suitable for fine turf.

“Across both schools, we use MM50 on all our cricket pitches and all our formal lawns, and then we use MM7 on our golf greens.

“We have such a short turnaround period between terms, and I need to have faith in the products,” he continued. “MM seed has excellent germination and is up and growing strong within days. This is particularly beneficial because it allows us to get on with other jobs while having confidence in the seed to be working away.

“It also responds well over the winter, and we have very little disease. The recovery is good, the colour is good, and it has never let me down. n www.mm-seeds.co.uk

Seed for perfect surfaces for both winter sports and cricket

Matt Parry, Head Groundsman at Kingston Grammar School, has praised mixtures from DLF for delivering great results at a great price, all backed up with great support from his local Technical Manager, Craig Spooner.

With the whole 22-acre site sown with seed from across the DLF portfolio, this season the focus has been on the outfields and four cricket squares, where a combination of ProMaster 79, ProMaster 80 and ProMaster 36 from the Masterline range has delivered a first-class finish.

DLF seed has been Matt’s choice for the last five years, creating the perfect playing surfaces for winter sports, tennis and cricket – used by pupils alongside teams from the local community. “Over time, we’ve sown mixtures from both the Johnsons Sports Seed and Masterline ranges, with an unwavering confidence that whatever we use is going to perform” explains Matt, who heads up a team of three.

“We conduct a full renovation on the football surfaces in spring to prepare for the cricket season, with overseeding roughly every six weeks throughout the season where it’s needed. For this we selected ProMaster 80 Renovator, purchased from Core Amenity, which gives us strong, equal establishment and a resistant and hard-wearing sward to cope with the pressures of a high wear season.”

As the name suggests, PM80 Renovator is ideal for the renovation of worn playing surfaces – featuring 25% Tetragame 4turf tetraploid and 75% diploid perennial ryegrass for a disease resistant, drought tolerant and nitrogen efficient mix.

As the temperatures cool, Matt then switches to ProMaster 79 as a 50% tetraploid mixture for more effective autumn/winter overseeding.

“PM79 has proven to deliver great colour and great recovery on our outfields through the colder months. Completing the programme is one which establishes quickly and gives us a dense, resistant sward on our squares.

“The service we get is as equally important as the quality of the product for me,” added Matt

“I speak regularly to Craig, who will update me on what research is taking place and what’s new and upcoming in regard to mixtures. This means I am always able to make an informed choice and gives us the confidence and trust to trial new formulations.”