The U/A twenty-one clone saltgtrass accession nursery received a mowing height of 7/8" (or less) in 2003. In spring of 2003, clonal accessions C-8, A51, A53, and A138 produced the quickest green-up in early April. Accessions with good quality turf performance in spring/early summer included A138, A51, C-8, A65, A48, and A53. Starting in July, all plots were split with a rolling treatment (850 lb. roller, 2 passes, 2-3 times weekly) up until early October. The main effect of rolling caused increased positive responses for certain clonal accessions, others showed no response, while yet others showed decreased performance from the rolling treatment. Rolling increased positive turf responses among turf clones with showed good turf quality when not rolled. This occurred for nine of the twenty-one clones in this test, all when mowed 3 times weekly at 7/8". Accumulated rolling increased turf performance to enhanced and acceptable levels of quality (6.0 or greater) by the end of September. This was true for nine of the twenty-one clones as well. Accessions, which produced good quality turf (after rolling started in June) throughout the summer, included the following: A138, A65, A86, A137, A48, A51, and A40. Accessions which produced the best quality turfs when unrolled included A138. Likewise, turf density visual scores produced similar accession X rolling interactions. Eleven of the twenty-one clones produced a denser appearing turf after rolling, nine of which had mean visual density scores within the range of 6.3 - 8.7, when rolled. This enhanced response to rolling improved the overall appearance (turf quality) of select clonal accessions over their unrolled counterparts. Initial response to repeated rolling and lower mowing heights showed a favorable response among certain clonal accessions.

Sixty-four overseed turf entries were evaluated from October 2002, to June 2003 for turf when overseeded on Tifway bermudagrass fairway turf. Overseed entries included 43 single variety (or experimental synthetics) of perennial ryegrass, 2 annual ryegrasses, 6 entries of intermediate or 'hybrid' ryegrass, 5 entries of Poa trivialis (PT), one blend of perennial ryegrass, 4 mixtures (two or more species together) and 3 fescues. The main effect of "overseed grass entry" was highly significant on all dates for all visual turf responses, which included establishment, color quality, density, texture, and spring transition. The greatest amount of variation occurred within the perennial ryegrass group as a whole, showing the diversity within this species for overseeding performance. Annual ryegrass provided quick germination and ground coverage in the fall and a quick spring transition, but was of poor turf quality. Intermediate ryegrasses had performance values between that of perennial and annual ryegrass, some of which provided moderately good turf performance and good transition. Poa trivialis was slow to establish, but provided good quality and excellent plot texture, however they had poor transitional qualities. Final quality mean scores ranged from 3.0 (P-02-0047 PT) to 7.7. There were three entries, which averaged 7.7 at the close of the test, which included Mach 1 PR, SR 4500 PR, and Pace PR. The entries IG-2, Greenville PR, Express PR, Bar LO 2001, Hawkeye, Partee finished at 7.3 for quality. Among the intermediate ryegrass entries, Froghair finished with a mean quality score of 7.0, followed by Pick 00- A-LH (5.3). All three fescues produced mean quality scores of 6.0 or better on 8 June (Hardtop fescue leading at 6.7 for quality). The Labarinth tall fescue did have 62% Bermuda at the end of the test, compared to 65% for all entries at that time. Entries which had a mean quality score of 7.0 or more in June, along with a bermuda transition of close to 75% or more at the termination of the test included the following entries; Citation Fore, Mach 1, BarGold, Bar LP 2001, Pace, Greenville OSP, and Express.

The new Seashore paspalum 'Sea Isle 2000' is being used as a greens surface in many tropical - semi tropical climates were saline water is available for irrigation. While it’s color retention in the fall in Tucson Arizona is good, it still enters full winter dormancy, and requires overseeding with a cool season grass for late fall, winter, and spring play. A two year test was conducted to evaluate the tolerance of Sea Isle 2000 to overseeding, and to evaluate overall turf performance of perennial ryegrass (PR), Poa trivialis (PT) and a mixture of the two when used for overseeding over Sea Isle 2000. PT alone was slow to establish as an overseed in year one, but not in year two. Turfgrass color, quality density and texture were acceptable throughout the test, noting that the 100% perennial ryegrass plot demonstrated a short-term loss of performance during the cold January of 2004. After the initial grow in period, absolute BRD was greatest when growing conditions were less than optimum in mid-winter, and again at the seasons end at the beginning of spring transition (May). This was true in both years. BRD was generally not different between the three overseeding regimes, either when turfs were double mowed prior to BRD measurements, or when a single rolling event was added on the day that BRD was assessed. The 100% PR overseed treatment showed the largest numerical increases in BRD from rolling. This was 6.5 inches in year one and 9.2 inches in year two. Yearly BRD averages of all overseeded surfaces for turfs that were double mowed in year one ranged from 91.5 to 92.4 inches, and in year two from 92.2 to 93.3 inches. Average yearly BRD values among all overseed turfs when rolling was included (including double mowing) in year one ranged from 95.8 to 98.2 inches and from 99.2 to 100.5 inches in year two. Maximum BRD values obtained were 107.8 and 114.3 inches in year one, and 100.0 and 111.1 inches in year two for the mowed only turfs, and mowed and rolled turfs, respectively.