Evaluation of diverse turf grass species suitable for lawn under Punjab conditions

Abstract

Turf grass provides benefits in the form of aesthetic, recreational and relaxation activities for improved physical fitness and functional components. The study was conducted with the purpose to find out the best turf grass species through evaluation studies of different turf grass species for effective lawn management under Punjab conditions. The turf grass species consisted of Selection No. 1, Local Tif and Tif dwarf varieties of Cynodon dactylon species along with Korean grass species viz. Zoysia japonica and Zoysia tenuifolia evaluated for various growth parameters. The longest leaf (3.77 cm), leaf width (2.13 mm), length of root (16.10 cm) with 1.85 mowing was observed in Selection No. 1 variety. The maximum density of shoot i.e. 269.31 shoots/ 100 cm2 was recorded in Local Tif. Whereas, both varieties of Zoysia species did not show any significant difference with regard to leaf parameters, whereas, more shoot density (352.06 shoots/ 100 cm2) was exhibited by Zoysia japonica. The longest root (14.31 cm), clippings fresh weight (74.23 g), clippings dry weight (36.24 g) with 1.28 number of mowing was recorded in Z. tenuifolia. Among the species evaluated, Cynodon dactylon var. Selection No. 1 was found to be the best for all the morphological parameters whereas, Zoysia japonica was also observed having finer leaf texture, that makes it suitable for turf development in home lawns.