Adaptability and Character Traits of Turf-type Tall Fescue Cultivars Grown under Limited Irrigation in Northern Italy

The use of tall fescue is increasing in the European transition zone because of its inherent tolerance to heat and drought stresses. Climate change, as expressed by more frequent drought occurrences, presents a challenge for selecting appropriate turfgrass cultivars. A field study was conducted at the Experimental Agricultural Farm of the University of Padova (Legnaro, Italy) to assess the response of 20 tall fescue cultivars grown without irrigation for 2 years (with a single emergency irrigation application in Jul 2022). The cultivars were evaluated every 2 weeks from Mar 2021 to Mar 2023 to determine the texture, uniformity, density, color, quality, green turf cover, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The cultivars tested were Bullseye, Darlington II, Detonate LS, Forlaine, Grande II, Lexington, Melya-ne, PPG-TF238, PPG-TF254, PPG-TF315, PPG-TF336, RGT Nuance, Rhambler SRP, Talladega II, Thor, Thunderstruck, Tough, Triad, Turfway, and ZRC-1. The results confirmed the ability of tall fescue species to tolerate drought stress as imposed within the parameters of this field study. For all cultivars, a slight decrease in quality was observed only in the summer of the second year under severe drought conditions. The inherent low cold tolerance of tall fescue compared with that of other cool-season species observed for all the study cultivars resulted in lower quality, color, and uniformity during the winter, but density was maintained throughout the entire study period. The best-performing cultivars based on quality, NDVI, and green turf cover were PPG-TF336, Triad, and ZRC-1. Therefore, tall fescue provides a sustainable solution for amenity turfgrass lawns in water deficit climates, and turf-type tall fescue cultivars with the desired characteristics of optimum quality and drought tolerance should be considered for lawns with the European transition zone.