HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Fu, J. Articles by Murphy, J. A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Fu, J. Articles by Murphy, J. A. Agricola Articles by Fu, J. Articles by Murphy, J. A. Related Collections Turfgrass Management Soil Organic Matter Turfgrass

TURFGRASS SCIENCE

Creeping Bentgrass Color and Quality, Chlorophyll Content, and Thatch–Mat Accumulation Responses to Summer Coring

^a Wuhan Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Science, Wuhan City, Hubei 430074, P.R. China
^b Dep. of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
^c Dep. of Plant Biology and Pathology, Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ 08901

^* Corresponding author (pd{at}umd.edu).

Coring is a common cultural practice used on golf courses. The reported effects of coring alone on thatch–mat accumulation have been mixed. The objectives of this field study were to examine the effects of spring and summer coring on thatch–mat thickness and organic matter accumulation in creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.). Turfgrass color and quality and chlorophyll content were also monitored. The study site was ‘Providence’ creeping bentgrass grown on a sand-based rootzone maintained as a putting green. Three coring regimes were assessed as follows: spring-only coring (1.27-cm-diam. tines), spring plus three summer corings (0.64-cm-diam. tines), and a noncored control. At the end of the second year, spring-only and spring-plus-summer cored plots had developed a 66 and 89%, respectively, thicker thatch–mat layer compared with noncored bentgrass. The total organic matter content (weight loss-on-ignition) in thatch–mat layers, however, generally was similar among all three regimes in both years. This indicated that the organic matter was diluted by inclusion of sand from topdressing or reincorporation of cores. Thus, organic matter concentration (i.e., gravimetric organic: dry weight of the cores) in the thatch–mat layer was much lower in plots of both coring regimes vs. noncored plots. Both spring-only and especially spring-plus-summer coring caused substantial reductions in turf quality for a 2-wk period. Spring-plus-summer coring resulted in increased chlorophyll levels as well as improved turf color and quality in late summer.

Abbreviations: LOI, loss-on-ignition