Tall fescue and hybrid bluegrass response to soil water matric head limits

With the increasing demand for water by municipalities and industry, water availability for irrigation purposes, especially for non-food commodities such as turfgrasses, will become increasingly scarce. It is therefore important to have turfgrass cultivars that maintain their desired characteristics while minimizing the use of irrigation water during periods of insufficient rainfall. The objective of this field study was, therefore, to monitor water-use patterns of two hybrid bluegrasses (HB 129 and HB 329) and two tall fescue cultivars (‘Southeast’ and ‘Rebel III’) when subjected to irrigation at soil water matric head minima of −300 and −600 cm of water pressure, and no irrigation. These treatments represent no, intermediate, and high water stress, respectively. It was concluded that, on average, the two hybrid bluegrasses were able to survive stress periods better than the two tall fescue cultivars.