| Bermudagrass is arguably the most important turfgrass grown in the transition zone in the United States. It has a wide variety of uses and many characteristics desired by consumers. Learning to properly manage bermudagrass under a wide variety of conditions is a special skill set. There are many cultivars of bermudagrass available that are better suited for certain situations. These studies have evaluated bermudagrass under simulated sod production and athletic field paint application scenarios to look for characteristics that can potentially be improved to make bermudagrass even more desirable by the end user. In order for experimental bermudagrasses to be commercialized, they must not only possess characteristics sought by the consumer, but also the producer. In the sod production study, there were many experimental bermudagrass lines that showed improved characteristics when compared to commercially available varieties, which shows promise for our breeders to release improved varieties in the near future. In athletic field paint study, results showed a negative impact on turfgrass health from continued applications of paint. At this time, we can only make suggestions for further improvements to both athletic field paint itself and further investigate the response of the turfgrass plant to the paint applications. The overall goal of both of these studies was to show areas that bermudagrass has both improved and areas where it can be further improved. |
