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. 2021 Oct 18;11(1):20592.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-99859-9.

The influence of the grass mixture composition on the quality and suitability for football pitches

Karol Wolski  1 , Joanna Markowska  2 , Adam Radkowski  3 , Marek Brennensthul  4 , Łukasz Sobol  4 , Grzegorz Pęczkowski  5 , Henryk Bujak  6   7 , Wiktoria Grzebieniarz  8 , Iwona Radkowska  9 , Karen Khachatryan  10
Affiliations

The influence of the grass mixture composition on the quality and suitability for football pitches

Karol Wolski et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The selection of grass mixtures with appropriate visual and functional parameters for sowing football fields is a key element in shaping the sports infrastructure, ensuring the spectacularity of a match and comfort for players. The aim of the research was to investigate the properties of lawn grass mixtures and their suitability for football pitches. The experiment was conducted at the Toya Golf & Country Club (51° 20' E, 17° 07' N), Wrocław, Poland, between 2007 and 2009. 12 grass mixtures were selected, mainly based on red fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, and perennial ryegrass. The assessment was carried out using a nine-point scale, according to the Plant Variety Office methodology for crops and turf grass. Six features of sports turf were studied: appearance, density, colour, leaf fineness, overwintering, and susceptibility to disease and they significantly varied, depending on the grass mixture and the year of research. Our study showed that mixtures based on the dominance of meadow grass were characterized by higher values of the general visual aspect, colour and slenderness of the leaf blade and these based on the dominance of perennial ryegrass and co-dominance of perennial ryegrass and meadow grass were the most useful in terms of wintering, resistance to diseases and sodding.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Ratings of pitch overall aspect across grass mixtures and research years.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Ratings of pitch density across grass mixtures and research years.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Ratings of pitch colour across grass mixtures and research years in different seasons.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Ratings of leaf fineness across grass mixtures and research years.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Ratings of susceptibility to diseases across grass mixtures and research years.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Ratings of winter survival across grass mixtures and research years.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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