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Advances in Sustainable Turfgrass Management
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Advances in Sustainable Turfgrass Management

A special issue of Grasses (ISSN 2813-3463).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 8202

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Marco Fontanelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto, 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Interests: farm mechanization and farm machinery; precision agriculture; conservation agriculture; nonchemical weed control; machine for turfgrass and landscape management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Mino Sportelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Interests: turfgrass; sustainable turfgrass management; conservation agriculture; sustainable weed control; weed detection; autonomous weed control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Green areas such as gardens, parks, sport facilities, and farmhouses play a key role within urban, peri-urban, and recreational–rural contexts. The presence of plants can mitigate the negative anthropic impact and give to citizens comfortable areas where they can spend their free time and relax. Turfgrass management is the major issue in green areas’ maintenance; thus, there is increasing interest in the definition and application of sustainable strategies for this task. Challenges around this topic are, for instance, exhaust gas local emission and noise pollution reduction, together with the precise application of inputs (fertilizers, herbicides, and so on). Turfgrass care can also be improved using innovative smart and autonomous technologies for mowing, watering, pest control, fertilization, and many other operations.

In this Special Issue, all contributions regarding innovative management strategies, technologies, machines, and products as well as new cultivars for turfgrasses’ sustainable management are welcome, including applications in sport fields, municipalities, and sub-urban areas. We hence invite experts and researchers who can provide relevant original research, reviews, and opinion pieces on the topics of this Special Issue.

Dr. Marco Fontanelli
Dr. Mino Sportelli
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Grasses is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • precise turfgrass management (PTM)
  • GHG reduction
  • non-chemical weed control
  • UAV and/or UTV for turf care
  • sustainable pest management in turf
  • precise input application
  • use of biostimulants
  • use of innovative turf species

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 2468 KiB  
Article
Water Conservation Practices and Nitrogen Fertility for the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Creeping Bentgrass Putting Greens
by Kristina S. Walker and Katy E. Chapman
Grasses 2024, 3(3), 221-239; https://doi.org/10.3390/grasses3030016 - 18 Sep 2024
Viewed by 577
Abstract
Irrigation practices that conserve water use have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but may adversely affect turfgrass appearance. The purpose of this study was to identify irrigation practices and N fertilizers that will decrease carbon dioxide (CO2), methane [...] Read more.
Irrigation practices that conserve water use have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but may adversely affect turfgrass appearance. The purpose of this study was to identify irrigation practices and N fertilizers that will decrease carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4,), and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions while evaluating turfgrass color and quality. In both years, supplemental rainfall (SRF) soil moisture content was higher than business as usual (BAU) irrigation and syringing (SYR). Higher soil moisture led to increased fluxes in both soil CO2 and soil N2O. In 2017, the SRF fluxed lower soil CO2 as soil moisture reached levels that restricted respiration. Soil moisture was also an important predictor of soil N2O flux with BAU and SRF having higher soil N2O fluxes. SRF produced the greenest turf from May to July, whereas SRY and SRF produced the greenest turf from August to October in 2016. Both BAU and SRF had the greenest turf in 2017. BAU had the highest turfgrass quality ratings in 2016 followed by SRF and SRY, respectively, whereas in 2017 SRF and SRY had higher turfgrass quality ratings. When adopting water conservation practices to reduce GHG emissions, soil moisture content and site-specific rainfall should be closely monitored to prevent overwatering. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Turfgrass Management)
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10 pages, 2631 KiB  
Communication
A New Method for Hybrid Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dactylon × C. transvaalensis Burtt.-Davy) Vegetative Propagation
by Simone Magni, Giuliano Sciusco, Lisa Caturegli, Mino Sportelli, Tommaso Federighi, Marco Fontanelli, Alberto Minelli, Joseph Scott McElroy and Marco Volterrani
Grasses 2024, 3(1), 1-10; https://doi.org/10.3390/grasses3010001 - 23 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1805
Abstract
Hybrid Bermuda grasses (Cynodon dactylon × C. transvaalensis Burtt.-Davy) represent one of the greatest contributions to the growing quality of turfgrass in the warm season and transition zone areas of the world. Hybrid Bermuda grass production relies on vegetative propagation from sod [...] Read more.
Hybrid Bermuda grasses (Cynodon dactylon × C. transvaalensis Burtt.-Davy) represent one of the greatest contributions to the growing quality of turfgrass in the warm season and transition zone areas of the world. Hybrid Bermuda grass production relies on vegetative propagation from sod or sprigs. In the past, efforts have focused on improving the technique of stolonizing (or sprigging) for establishment in new areas. Such propagation requires bulk harvesting and planting of all rhizomes and stolons. We have developed a novel method of propagation and establishment from a single node harvested from greenhouse grown stolons. Despite a stolon fraction bearing a single node being suitable for effectively propagating a warm-season turfgrass, the technique has been held as economically impractical until now. Our method has been developed to obtain the multiplication of plant material in soilless conditions by harvesting single-node sprigs, propagation of plants from the single nodes, and transplant of single plants in the field. The investigation aimed to identify values for method set-up. Indeed, node and internode size variability with differential between maximum diameters is crucial for discrimination. For Patriot Bermuda grass stolons, nodes exhibited a maximum diameter of 2.43 ± 0.46 mm, while internodes had a maximum diameter of 1.54 ± 0.16 mm. Based on these findings, a 2 mm sieve was selected, achieving an optimal ratio between the node fraction and internode residues. The sieve yielded 87% of node fractions and only 1% of internodes from the initial mix, demonstrating its efficacy. Further results for the transplanting phase indicated that a double release resulted in an average success rate of 98.8%, with only 6.9% blank cells when using a single release. The average was 149 plants per tray over 160 cells, representing a 93.1% success rate. These results underscore the efficiency and acceptability of the overall propagation process in alignment with market references. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Turfgrass Management)
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20 pages, 1352 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Fertilizer Sources and Site Location on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Creeping Bentgrass Putting Greens and Kentucky Bluegrass Roughs
by Katy E. Chapman and Kristina S. Walker
Grasses 2023, 2(2), 78-97; https://doi.org/10.3390/grasses2020008 - 5 May 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1684
Abstract
Understanding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from turfgrass allows managers to make cultural management decisions to reduce GHG emissions. The objective of this study was to evaluate fertilizer source [urea (URE), polymer-encapsulated urea (POL), and milorganite (MIL)] and site location (green, wet rough, and [...] Read more.
Understanding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from turfgrass allows managers to make cultural management decisions to reduce GHG emissions. The objective of this study was to evaluate fertilizer source [urea (URE), polymer-encapsulated urea (POL), and milorganite (MIL)] and site location (green, wet rough, and dry rough) on GHG [carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O)] emissions. Greenhouse gas data, soil temperature, soil moisture, canopy greenness, and turfgrass quality were collected. High soil temperature and moisture were correlated with soil CO2 and N2O flux. The wet rough fluxed more soil CH4 across the 2-year study. The POL fluxed the highest amount of soil CO2, while POL and MIL fluxed the largest amount of soil N2O on the wet rough. Milorganite and POL increased canopy greenness in both roughs during the spring. On the green, URE produced greater canopy greenness in the spring and fall. Our results indicate that when soil moisture and temperature are high, turfgrass managers should employ methods of reducing soil temperatures that do not increase soil moisture to reduce GHG emissions. Under warm and wet conditions, gaseous losses of GHGs are accelerated with slow-release fertilizers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Turfgrass Management)
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Review

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8 pages, 266 KiB  
Review
Grasscycling: A Key Practice for Sustainable Turfgrass Management
by Cristina Pornaro, Alberto Novello, Micheal Fidanza and Stefano Macolino
Grasses 2022, 1(1), 45-52; https://doi.org/10.3390/grasses1010005 - 12 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2630
Abstract
For aesthetic considerations, grass clippings are removed from lawns during mowing. When turfgrass clippings are returned, this practice is called “mulching” or grasscycling. Thus, grasscycling has increasingly become a standard practice for low-input lawns managed under a simpler maintenance system, and grasscycling has [...] Read more.
For aesthetic considerations, grass clippings are removed from lawns during mowing. When turfgrass clippings are returned, this practice is called “mulching” or grasscycling. Thus, grasscycling has increasingly become a standard practice for low-input lawns managed under a simpler maintenance system, and grasscycling has many environmental benefits. Primarily, grasscycling facilitates an increase in soil nitrogen content and soil carbon sequestered by the turfgrass ecosystem. Several studies reported that grasscycling positively influences turfgrass colour and quality. When clippings are returned, turfgrass colour and quality can be maintained with a lower amount of fertilisation than turfgrass with clipping removal. Together with these positive effects, grasscycling practices can contribute to an increase of thatch in the turfgrass sward, while its influence on weed invasion is still questionable. This grasscycling practice can result in a maintenance cost-savings and represent a low-input approach to turfgrass management in terms of nutrients returned and utilised by the turfgrass, and with carbon (C) emissions mitigated and C sequestered. The unwelcome appearance linked to grass clipping residues and vegetation on the turfgrass canopy can be easily obviated by the use of machinery that delivers clippings forcefully toward the ground to incorporate them into the verdure or by using mowers that produce clippings small enough to be returned and quickly decomposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Turfgrass Management)
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