Disease Resistance

A characteristic which is used to evaluate the relative impact a disease might have on a turfgrass cultivar. Different species are assessed for different disease resistance:
• Perennial ryegrass: Red thread;
• Smooth stalked meadow grass: Rust;
• Red (Chewings / Slender / Strong fescues) fescues, Hard fescue, Browntop bent and Creeping bent, Tufted hairgrass: Red thread.
Whilst this does provide some benefit in contributing to cultivar evaluation, the causes of red thread can be readily controlled by various turf maintenance practices, including reducing stress on the grass plant (especially by not mowing too low or too frequently) and by correct nitrogen applications.