Determination of Effects on Turf Performance of Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) of Different Organic Cover Materials

This study was conducted to determine the effects of different organic wastes used as cover materials on turf performance of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) in Isparta. Eleven different cover materials (cattle manure, sheep manure, poultry manure, mushroom waste compost, peat, soil, %50 cattle manure+%50 soil, %50 sheep manure+%50 soil, %50 poultry manure+%50 soil, %50 mushroom waste compost+%50 soil and %50 peat+%50 soil) were used. The study was carried out at Education, Research and Applied Farm of Isparta University of Applied Sciences in Turkey, during 2014-2015 years. The trial was conducted in randomized block design with three replications. In the experiment were determined speed of germination, ground cover speed, ground cover rate, cold tolerance, leaf color, regeneration power, leaf texture, tiller number, general appearance and dry matter yield. According to the results obtained, cattle manure and mushroom compost applications showed the best performance in terms of speed of germination. The highest ground cover speeds were observed from peat applications. Sheep manure and poultry manure showed the best performance in terms of ground cover rate, leaf color, regeneration power, leaf texture, tiller number, general appearance and dry matter yield. Soil applications as cover material worst performances in all features. As a result, it was concluded that pure sheep manure and poultry manure can be used successfully as cover material in turf area establishment