The root to an environmentally friendly lawn - With changing environmental and climatic conditions, lawn management is becoming more challenging
United Kingdom
Airll 1, 2022
To meet these changing needs, we have screened grass varieties to understand which varieties can handle spring and early summer drought, while still making optimal use of nutrients and result in a beautiful green lawn for an extended period.
The secret is in the roots of the plants. We have gained extensive knowledge about grass root architecture and offer lawn grass varieties aimed at mitigating the effects of drought.
Through R&D network and the one-of-a-kind RadiMax root screening facility, we have unique knowledge about the root architecture of our grass seed varieties. Results show that varieties with roots that go deep and have a high root mass, are better able to cope with changing environmental and climatic conditions like drought. Varieties with a deep root mass give a strong foundation resulting in a green lawn sooner, better visual appearance and saves you money because of the reduced need for irrigation.
A deep roots mass means:
Greener, healthier and more attractive surface
Quick and better rooting gives higher wearability and the lawn is usable sooner
Less maintenance
Less input of resources like water and fertilizer makes it environmental friendly
Seeds coated with SeedBooster® have what it takes to prepare for a spring drought
Lawn owners do not have to risk losing a newly sown lawn to spring drought. Our SeedBoster® seed coating gives their tender new plants the targeted nutrition they need to get ahead with stronger growth and deeper roots. SeedBooster®-coated seeds produce seedlings that establish faster and grow 30% longer roots. This gives them a greater capacity to survive a spring drought.
A fast root growth is always an important factor as it helps the plant establish faster. The root architecture is also very important under drought situations where there is still water at deeper soil layers.
Together with Copenhagen University, DLF is testing the root architecture of varieties at the worlds most advanced root screening facility, RadiMax. It enables imaging of roots down to 3.0 m depth and at the same time the grasses can be exposed to increasing drought conditions through a soil moisture gradient, which can be induced in the system. In this way, we can screen the root architecture of our varieties and find out which ones stay green longer under drought conditions.
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