Creeping Bent - Turf Grass

Creeping Bentgrass (Agrostis Stolonifera L.)

Origin: Creeping Bentgrass is a native of Europe and parts of Asia. It is a cool season grass requiring cool, humid environments. This grass forms a dense mat by creeping stolons and has a shallow root system and has long slender leaves. Bent grasses are the most beautiful of the grasses with their fine texture, deep green color, thick density, and low growing habit. They are considered the luxury grasses of the cool season grasses. There are three types of bent grass: the Colonial, Creeping, and Velvet. Each retains particular qualities relating to climate, salt tolerance, depth of color, and texture. Bent grass is a cool season lawn grass. Bent can be planted from seeds or sod and provides a beautiful golf like turf grass lawn in Northern areas. Bents requires high amounts of lawn care & maintenance.

Qualities: Creeping Bentgrass is a cool-season specialty grass primarily used for golf course putting greens, lawn bowling greens, and lawn tennis facilities. The skill and expense needed to maintain this species usually eliminates it as a possible home lawn turf. Penncross is the most popular and recommended variety for home lawns. Creeping Bentgrass is adapted to cool, humid regions and prefers sunny areas but will tolerate some shade. It tolerates low temperatures but will discolor early in the fall.

General Information: Creeping Bentgrass, (Agrostis Stolonifera L.) is a robust, fast-growing perennial grass that reproduce by stolons as well as by seeds. With golf’s rapid geographic expansion, on most of the new courses the Creeping Bentgrass emerged over the years to be dominant in the turf in many regions. It was once a highly desirable foreign species in short supply and through U.S. production efforts including encouraging propagation by stolons rather than seeds, Creeping Bentgrass became the most successful and popular grass for putting greens. It is now grown extensively and managed intensively for greens as well as tees and fairways – and that is the chief focus in continuing to improve it agronomically. The species is additionally investigated as a forage and of interest for restoring some mine sites involving heavy metals and for water treatment. It is being grazed by cattle, sheep and horses, as well as by rabbits and hares and migratory wildfowl in Europe such as the pigeon and various species of geese and it is used for nest building by grebes. Creeping Bentgrass seeds can germinate soon after their dispersal or persist for a while in the seed bank then germinate or be gone within 1-1½ years, but with some seeds remaining viable in the soil for at least 4 years.

Identifying tips: A very fine-textured bright green grass. The leaves are flat, narrow, and rolled in the bud. There are no auricles and a long, tapered ligule is present. Creeping Bentgrass is a low-growing grass with a shallow root system. It spreads by stolons to form a mat or thatch layer above the soil line.

Maintenance: High maintenance. Creeping Bentgrass requires frequent watering, mowing, aerating, and dethatching, and high levels of fertiliser.

Mowing: Mow at 0.5 inch or less. Mow frequently to avoid scalping injury.

Fertilising: Fertilse with 4 - 6 lbs. nitrogen/1000 sq. ft. per year during the period of active growth (March - June; September - November in North America).

Planting: Seed at 0.5 - 1 lb. seed/1000 sq. ft.

Irrigation: Water fairly frequently to maintain the shallow root system.

Special problems:

• Very susceptible to most turf grass diseases and insects;
• Invasive;
• Very low traffic tolerance;
• Frequent and close mowing requirements;
• Low drought tolerance; and
• Produces heavy thatch.

Tolerances:

• Cold: High
• Drought: High
• Shade: High
• Salinity: Low
• Wear/Traffic: Low

Planting Methods: Seed, sod