Relative Rooting Depths of Native Grasses and Amenity Grasses With
HORTSCIENCE 45(3):393–400. 2010. [Tripsacum dactyloides (L.) L.] was as effec- tive as any of the tree species studied at mechanically stabilizing soil and that switch- Relative Rooting Depths of Native grass was significantly more effective. Beard (1989) reported that bermudagrass [Cynodon Grasses and Amenity Grasses with dactylon (L.) Pers.] was the most deeply rooted of the commonly used turfgrasses with Potential for Use on Roadsides a depth of more than 2.5 m under mowed conditions. Fairway wheatgrass [Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn.] and tall fescue were in New England the most deeply rooted of the cool-season Rebecca Nelson Brown1, Cynthia Percivalle, Sophia Narkiewicz, grasses. In a study of 16 tall fescue cultivars and Samantha DeCuollo and lines, Kim et al. (1999) found that all entries rooted to 60-cm depth, and five entries Department of Plant Sciences, University of Rhode Island, 210 Woodward rooted to 75-cm depth. There was no differ- Hall, Kingston, RI 02881 ence in rooting depth between tall forage types and lower-growing turf or dwarf types Additional index words. Festuca rubra, Sorghastrum nutans, Panicum virgatum, Andropogon when plants were clipped. Sprague (1933) gerardii, Festuca brevipila, Elymus canadensis, Elymus virginicus, Elymus villosus, Elymus found that almost all the roots of kentucky hystrix, Panicum amarum, Pucciniellia distans, Festuca arundinacea, Lolium perenne, Agro- bluegrass and multiple species of bentgrass stis perennans, Schizachyrium scoparium, Deschampsia cespitosa, Muhlenbergia schreberi, (Agrostis spp.) occurred in the top 10 cm of Eragrostis spectabilis, Bouteloua courtipendula, Koeleria macrantha, Sporobolous cryptan- the soil profile, whereas hard fescue had drous, Bromus inermis a more even root distribution and that weekly mowing at lawn height versus annual mow- Abstract.
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