Virginia Tech and Purdue Turfgrass Research Collaboration

We're actually looking at cultivars of tall fescue, varieties of tall fescue. This is the most common grass that has grown on lawns. This project is led by Doctors Jada Powell and L. Bigelow at Purdue University. Taescue, very common species and home lawns in both Indiana and Virginia. One of the main problems for that species is a disease called brown patch. My research is focused on sustainable turf grass management. We're actually trying to figure out the optimal ratios of less susceptible versus more susceptible cultivars of tall fescue to figure out how we can minimize the amount of disease. One of the things we've been able to do with Virginia Tech is look at different varieties of tall fescue species that are able to reduce the overall amount of disease and also reduce overall pesticide needs for those home lawns. So one of the biggest advantages to working with Purdue is the geographic distance we have between us. It allows us to view things that may work well here at another location. You know, I've been really lucky. I've stayed in close contact since I graduated from Virginia Tech with my turf grass colleagues. And we're constantly kicking around different projects that might have applicability across our region. So our collaboration, other universities like Virginia Tech, it's been a great opportunity for us just to share ideas, learn different methods and techniques, and provide cutting edge research for Turk managers in our industry.