Total Ground Cover

A structural quality performance standard which states the minimum area of ground cover, as a percentage, which can be assessed as having some form of vegetation. The inverse of this is that the remaining area is therefore bare area. This might also be qualified by having sub-class of live and decaying-dead ground cover. This performance standard should be linked to the Sward Colour, a Presentational category standard.
An additional sub-class could be that of Sward density to measure the number of shoots per unit area. A sward with good ground cover might consist of fewer plants but with broader leaves, or many plants tightly packed together with finer leaves producing a more compact sward. This might be more appropriate for fine turf surfaces such as that found on golf courses and bowling greens.