HORT 1030 – Turf Management

October 2010

Growing Grass Project

Weekly updates/ progress

Week 1 – When I got my soil it was very clumpy and had a few rocks in it. It is lighter brown
when dry and gets darker when wet. The seeds are in a little tube and look like wheat or something
similar. I will be setting up my plant on my window ceil where it will be getting sunlight from the
sun and also my room light. Ill be keeping my window open a bit to get some fresh natural outside
air rather then just air from in the house.

Week 2 – I saw no progress with my grass so I took a classmates advice and put a small layer of
dirt over the seed and put a little more seed over top. Hopefully some grass grows this week. I also
moved my grass from my room, to outside in a garden.
Week 3 – Glass still is having trouble to grow. At this point I’m wondering if my grass will ever
grow. Just going to leave it and hope for some warmer weather and continue to water it regularly.

Week 4 – Finally have some progress. About 1 inch of grass has sprouted up and is looking good.
Unfortunately it’s getting colder and colder each day and is going to slow down the growing
progress. Might have to bring it inside under a light soon.

Week 5 – Still outside and hasn’t grown much since week 4. I don’t know if it’s the cold that’s
affecting the growing process, or if this grass is supposed to be short. I plan on bringing it in under
a spot light soon and hopefully it grows some more. It’s a light green, looks similar to fairway
grass.
Week 6 – Nothing different from week 5.

Week 7 – Moving the grass back in the house as it is just too cold to grow anymore. Its about 1
inch right now and still very green. Grass is somewhat glossy which means it could be Perennial
Ryegrass or Rough bluegrass

Week 8 – Nothing different from week 7.

Before planting observation:
Seeds.
- Seeds are light brown/ beige.
- Very small in size. Comparable to ice cream sprinkles
- Pointed ends
- Upon first view, my guess was it was some type of wheat/ fescue.
- Used about 3/4ths of the seed given as I didn’t want it to get too crowded in the soil when
growing.

Dirt:
- Was the same color as standard dirt. Just plain brown.
- Very clumpy and looked like pebbles. Was mixed in with a few stones but still very
clumpy.
- Soil was quite dry
- Used about 3/4ths of the soil given to us.
Effects/ Conditions
I started out by putting a bunch of seed on the dirt and put it in my window ceil, thinking the mix
of natural sun and my light would enhance the growth of the grass. I was mistaken as it hadn’t
made any progress in 2/3 weeks. The weather was about 20+ degrees Celsius when I first put the
pot outside. I started out watering it every day and I assume this flooded it as it made no progress,
so instead of watering it every day I didn’t water it at all and just let the rain be the only source of
water. In a week of leaving it outside it had grown a quarter of an inch and looking bright green
and healthy. After a couple weeks of being outside progress was still good as it grew another ¼
inch. During the final few weeks of decent weather the grass peaked and stayed at about an inch –
inch and a half and still bright green and healthy as ever. The weather at this point was getting
pretty cold at about 0 – 10 degrees Celsius which I assume stopped the growth of the grass.

Grass characteristics and grass type possibilities.

- Grass is 1 – 1 ½ inch high and quite thin.
- Grass is fair green colour with a glossy coating.
- Very soft.
- Pointed ends.
- Yellowish base.

Possibilities:
- Creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris) - Bluish-green color, very fine leaf texture, tall
membranous ligule, tolerates close 1/2 inch. Leaves may appear slightly rough along the
edges, strongly stoloniferous. Not intended for lawns but contaminates low quality
bluegrass seed mixtures.

- Rough bluegrass (Poa trivialis) - Light green/bronze color, boat-shaped leaf tip,
extremely glossy underside, stolons may possess an “onionskin” near the base. A mat-
forming grass that thrives in shaded moist environments. Contaminates inferior seed lots.

- Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne) - Dark-green, fine texture, ridged leaf surface,
prominent midrib, and very glossy underneath, reddish-purple crown. Rapidly germinates
(5-7 days) and establishes. Often mixed with Kentucky bluegrass, inferior cultivars mow
poorly and are extremely susceptible to disease.

Conclusion and Information on the grass:

I’ve observed and concluded that my grass is Rough bluegrass (Poa trivialis). This is a perennial
plant and is regarded in America as an ornamental plant and is in the Poa family. I’ve came to this
conclusion based visuals of them both and on the key similarities of my grass and the description
of rough bluegrass. Some similarities are Light/bright green color, glossy, thrives in a shaded moist
environment, lighter around the base, etc. This type of grass buds from June onwards throughout
the summer.

Rough bluegrass was first discovered in the Great Lake regions in 1843.

This type of grass is very common in meadows and copes well with the polluted atmosphere of
towns/ cities. This type of grass is considered a weed at a golf course, although some use it to
enhance a lighter green color.
 Rough
Bluegrass
Characteristic (Poa
trivialis)

Spreading Habit short stolons

Leaf Texture med fine to fine
Shoot Density high
Soil Type Needed wide range
Establishment Rate slow
Recuperative Ability fair
Wear Resistance least
Cold Tolerance excellent
Heat Tolerance least
Drought Tolerance poor
Shade Tolerance good
Salt Tolerance fair
Submersion Tolerance fair to good
Maintenance Level medium
Fertility Needs medium
Mowing Height (in.) 0.5 - 2.0
Thatching Tendency medium to low
Disease Potential medium