Effects of mixture sowing on establishment and diseases of turf

Mixture and mono sowing turf were established by Poa pratensis L cv Fortunate, Lolium perenne L cv Crocdile and Festuca arundinacea Schreb cv Watersaver The rates of emergence, growth, turf establishment, coverage, over summering, over-wintering and yellowing were measured The main diseases were surveyed as well The results indicated that both emergence and growth rate of Lolium were higher than those of Poa and Festuca , but turf establishing rate of Lolium was as equivalent as those of Festuca and mixture sowing turf The ratio of Lolium, Poa and Festuca among mixture sowing established turf was decreased gradually, increased gradually and no big increase, respectively However, Lolium still was predominant species in one and half years after turf established The main diseases were melting out on Poa caused by Drechslera poae , leaf spot on Lolium and leaf spot on Festuca caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana The disease incidence of mixture sowing turf was lower than that of mono sowing turf