Turf Talk with the Maryland SoccerPlex

With the Maryland SoccerPlex

A weekly newsletter to keep you informed about EVERYTHING Turf at the Maryland SoccerPlex.

This week we will take a look at the different types of grasses across the United States!

Zone it out!

The types of grasses across the United States can be broken up by zones to determine if cool season or warm season is the best grass for the particular zone. As you can see from the map, we have 3 different zones: cool-season grasses, transition zone, and warm-season grasses. These zones were formed based on multiple climatic factors. A major determination on what zone an area is in the average temperature as that has a significant influence on the soil temperature. Another factor is the humidity levels of the geographical area. The final factor is the amount of rainfall a certain area receives. There are 4 sub-groups to the cool-season zone and the warm-season zone which are cool/humid, cool/arid, warm/humid, and warm/arid.

The cool-season zone of the country is where cool-season grasses are the most successful. As we have learned before, cool-season grasses germinate and grow best when soil temperature is between 50 and 65 degrees and air temperatures are between 60 and 75 degrees. Some examples of cool season grasses are: creeping bentgrass, fine fescue, tall fescue, annual ryegrass, perennial ryegrass, and Kentucky bluegrass. Here at the Plex our cool-season fields are Kentucky bluegrass and Perennial ryegrass.

The warm-season zone of the country is the southern part of the US because warm-season grass germinates with soil temperatures between 70 and 90 degrees and air temperatures between 80 to 95 degrees. Some warm season grasses are: Bahiagrass, carpetgrass, St. Augustine, zoysigrass, and bermudagrass! Our warm-season grass on fields 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 are all bermudagrass fields.

As you can see, there is a large section through the center of the United States known as the transition zone. This area includes the climatic factors that both the cool-season and the warm-season zones have. At the Maryland SoccerPlex we are right in the heart of the transition zone. This is just one reason we have both cool-season and warm-season grasses at the Plex!

Within each type of grass there are often sub-types that have been made to perform better under certain conditions. For example, there are over 15 different variations of bermudagrass that all have different specializations based on traffic, purpose of use, and of course, the area in which it is being grown in.

Next Week

Check in next week as we take a look at the Emerald Ash Borer and what its affect has been in our park!

Ask Us Your Questions

Do you have a burning turfgrass related question? Ask us! We will be happy to answer it in future iterations of Turf Talk - just email us at [email protected], subject line Turf Talk Question.

Many Thanks to Fine Earth Landscape, Inc. for

Their Continued Support of the Maryland SoccerPlex.

Learn more about Fine Earth here.

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