Lighter Rates of Seeding for Playing Areas and Lawns Likely to be Satisfactory

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 95, Issue 2, 15 August 1957, Page 185

Lighter Rates of Seeding for Playing Areas and Lawns Likely to be Satisfactory

By

C. WALKER,

Assistant Fields Superintendent, Department of Agriculture, Palmerston North IN the past it has been accepted fairly generally that seed for the establishment of summer playing areas and home lawns should consist of 2 parts of chewings fescue and I part of browntop sown as a mixture at loz. per square yard. At this rate a dense coverage is provided, and such density was particularly desirable before the advent of modern weedicides to combat seedling weeds and clovers. Today, with the aid of weedicides and adequate manuring, the position is quite different, and it seems possible that lighter sowings, nursed by manuring and suitable spraying, could provide adequate ground cover at less expense.

TO test this theory two areas were sown during the past year, one in spring and the other in autumn. In each instance seeding rates were l/50z., 2/50z., 3/50z., 4/50z., and loz. per square yard, spraying for weed control was practised, and the standard 3 : 1 sulphate of ammonia and superphosphate fertiliser dressing was applied at loz. per square yard quarterly. Spring Sowing From the spring sowing establishment was good and in the early stages was proportionate to the quantity of seed sown. Since then, with manuring and spraying, the areas sown with lighter rates have improved considerably in ground coverage, but the leafage is somewhat coarser than that on heavier-seeded areas. From present indications joz. would appear to be sufficient for home lawns and foz. for sports areas such as tennis courts, golf greens, and bowling greens. Autumn Sowing So far in the autumn-sowing trial the general pattern of results is very similar to that of the spring sowings. Again the concentration of fine-turf species has been more or less proportionate to rates of sowing, but to date insufficient time has elapsed to provide an opportunity for the lighter sowings to show the same improvement as did those sown in spring. An interesting development is that there is far. more Poa annua showing in autumn sowings than in those sown in spring, and this Poa annua establishment is greatest in the lightest

sowings. The reason for such heavy infestation in autumn sowings appears to be that summer seeding of this species had taken place before sowing. With spring sowing the . prior cultivation would destroy Poa annua seedlings and there would be little seed in the soil from which it could reestablish.

These trials show that lawns can be established successfully from spring sowings, provided preparation of the seed-bed is good and watering is adequate over dry periods. Added to this it does seem that Poa annua invasion problem in lawn establishment generallyis much less in spring-sown than in autumn-sown areas.