SGT RYE FAIRWAY

MIXTURE: 

30% Perennial ryegrass

30% Strong creeping red fescue

20% Chewings red fescue

20% Hard fescue

USAGE: 

Overseeding, divoting and/or construction of a balanced blend of medium-fine turf across a range of soil types.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS:

SGT RYE FAIRWAY is an innovative mixture of four grass species and sub-species, designed for the overseeding, divoting or construction of a balanced blend of medium-fine turf across a range of soil types.
SGT stands for “Sustainable Grass Technology” - Barenbrug’s research-driven concept designed to deliver outstanding turf performance with reduced fertiliser, chemical and water inputs.

The “driver” of the mixture is 30% Barprium perennial ryegrass. Barprium is an outstanding fine-leafed ryegrass with proven capacity for nitrogen-use efficiency. Put simply, it requires far less nitrogen (up to 50% less) to deliver equivalent turf performance. Figure 1 shows the Live Ground Cover (LGC) results of an independent 18-month trial with STRI.

STRI researchers concluded in their trial report:
“The best performing cultivar in this trial was Barprium, with good turf quality and coverage observed at all N levels and N types. Even at very low levels of N, Barprium still showed good quality and coverage. Conversely, at high levels of N, Barprium did not promote excessive vertical growth.”

“When Barprium was fertilised at 7.5g N m-2 year-1 was compared to all other cultivars at 15g N m-2 year -1, the turf quality and coverage of Barprium was greater than all other cultivars, despite having received 50% less N.”

Figure 1: STRI N-Efficiency Trial data: Barprium gives equivalent mean turf cover to all other cultivars over 18-month trial at 50% less nitrogen input.

Barprium is highly ranked in the BSPB/STRI Turfgrass Seed 2021 booklet with a mean score of 7.6 on Table L1 and exhibits strong summer colour – another useful characteristic for low-input golf fairways.

The fine fescue cultivars in the mix are chosen for their sustainable performance characteristics also. In trials at Landlab in Italy, Hardtop hard fescue and Barjessica strong creeping red fescue perform particularly well in periods of heat and drought. Figure 2 shows data from the harsh summer of 2018, in comparison with other fine fescue cultivars. The turf quality of hard fescue stood alone during the most intense heat and the recovery capacity of Barjessica was exceptional.

Figure 2: Graph to show fluctuations in fine fescue performance (NTEP Turf Quality (TQ) assessments) over 9-month perdiod during (hot and dry) 2018 in Landlab, Italy. Note the superior scores of Hardtop hard fescue and Barjessica strong creeping red fescue.

Beacon is a newer variety of hard fescue, currently undergoing BSPB trials at Bingley. Its performance on the GEVES list in France (#1-rated for a range of traits, including “lawn index”, “shoot density”, “summer aesthetic aspect” and “global aesthetic quality”) is of particular relevance to this product.

In addition to drought tolerance, the fine fescue components all exhibit superior colour and excellent Red Thread disease tolerance.

For sustainable medium-fine turf, SGT RYE FAIRWAY represents a thoroughly researched product, offering benefits in terms of low-nitrogen input performance, drought and disease tolerance, and superior grass colour.