Seed Selection Process For My Future Renovation

[R2k]

I'm making plans for a full 7k yard renovation this fall (40% chance) or potentially next spring/fall.

I want to run a mono stand and I accept the risk profile associated with that.

My goals for a KBG mono stand:

1. Uniformity (R2k speak - I want my lawn to look exactly the same in all spots - height/blade width/color).
2. Darkest Color
3. Drought Tolerance / Wilting Tolerance (I will water to prevent death in extreme drought years - manual process for me)
4. Density
5. I believe...I prefer the look of a more upright growth profile as opposed to a lateral growth pattern. I understand I am trading off less mowing by embracing a more upright growth profile.
6. Disease tolerance - I know rust is something I've had for many years in my yard. It's annoying but tolerable. I am very weak in understanding diseases. The best thing I can think of is the find a jack-of-all-trades while meeting my other higher priorities without many tradeoffs. I have not noticed diseases in my lawn except for rust, but there could be diseases present and I'm ignorant. It hasn't been broken, so I'm not trying to fix it...that's why it's a low priority.

Those are the goals. I'm looking at NTEP data and trying to figure things out.

I've read in these forums that picking an NTEP location close to me is important for finding my best cultivar. The principle, if I understand it correctly, is that the highest-scoring cultivar in the NTEP summaries does not indicate it's going to give you the best color or perform well in your location. I think that's good stuff. The advice is to pick from an NTEP location closest to you. I have questions about this strategy.

For my situation, I'm in central Ohio. The nearest NTEP locations are at least a couple hundred miles away and the site locations don't reflect my cultural practices (cutting height/nitrogen regimen) or my pH. I will say that IN1 for the 2017 trial is a decent fit for me, but not past trials.

What things about the closest NTEP location are the IT factors for why a cultivar will do well in my location?

Temperatures?
Rainfall?
Diseases?
Soil texture?
Soil pH?

I'm trying to understand this deeper because I'm not very close to any one NTEP location and it'll help me make the right tradeoffs on picking locations. I feel like the safe thing to focus on when picking NTEP locations 200+ miles away is east/west locations of me instead of north/south because the temperatures change significantly. I personally believe that matching up soil texture and pH is a priority...anything other than a minor mismatch would make me disqualify the site.

Also, how should I think about nitrogen rates at these locations? I feel like less than 2 lbs of nitrogen per year per 1k sqft is going to produce modest results from the high-performing elite KBGs. Help me refine this understanding or misunderstanding. I feel like I would like to find a site that does 3lbs or higher of N a year because I'm looking for grasses that respond well to those inputs giving me better color, establishment, density, etc.

I'm gonna leave it there for now so this doesn't get too long in the tooth.

Please call out improvements for thinking or misunderstandings. I am listening. Thank you!

[turf_toes]

You’re in Ohio.

I’d suggest calling the Ohio NTEP site manager and asking those questions.

Site Location
Latitude: 039º 59' N Longitude: 083° 01' W
Weather Information
Weather Data
Web Information
Ohio State Univ. Turf Ohio State Univ. Sports Turf
Ohio Lawn Care Associ. Ohio Turf Fundation
Ohio Sports Turf Managers Associ. Ohio State Univ.
Contact Information
Dr. Jill Taylor
216 Howlett Hall
2001 Fyffe Court
Columbus, OH 43210
Phone 614-292-6264
Fax 614-292-8113
E-mail taylor.54@osu.edu
Ky. Bluegrass
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Not available for this site.
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[R2k]

I never thought they'd take questions from me, but I'll give it a go.

Also wondering aloud, I didn't think OSU was doing NTEP stuff since the last time they published data in the NTEP was for the 2000 trials. Maybe they do private stuff? Guess I'll find out.

Thank you, TT.

[turf_toes]

Many folks have had success speaking with professors and NTEP folks. There’s little harm in reaching out.

In my experience many are happy to discuss turf.

[R2k]

Thanks for the suggestion and for sharing your experience talking to them. I'll make that call.