Quality and Weed Infestation of Lawn Mixtures in the Forest-steppe of the Middle Volga Region

The purpose of this research was to identify the effect of components (factor A) and their seeding rates in mixtures (factor B), as well as the level of mineral nutrition (factor C), on weed infestation in the formation of lawn mixtures and on the quality of lawns over the years of grass stand use in order to recommend the most effective of them for production. The experimental design included the following variants: factor A: white clover + meadow grass, white clover + perennial ryegrass, and white clover + meadow fescue; factor B (percentage of the seeding rate in pure form: 70 + 40, 55 + 55, and 40 + 70%; factor C: control (without fertilizers); P45K45; and N30P45K45. In the forest-steppe of the Middle Volga region, two experimental plots were established on leached chernozem (in 2019 and 2020) to study grass mixtures for 3 years of use (2020–2023). The lawn mixtures were mowed 4–5 times per season when they reached a height of 10–12 cm. In terms of weed infestation, the mixtures were rated at 1 point (slightly weedy) in the first and second years of use and 2 points (moderately weedy) in the third year. By the third year of use, the lowest amount of annual weeds was recorded in mixtures of white clover with meadow grass (10.1–19.0 pcs/m2). The increase in the fertilizer dose led to a decrease in the amount of weeds compared to the control (by 10.1–22.8 pcs/m2) (by 10.5–26.4 pcs/m2 in the control variants). In the first year of using the mixtures of white clover with meadow grass and meadow fescue, the quality of the lawns was rated as “excellent.” In the second year, fescue mixtures showed “good” and “excellent” ratings, while bluegrass and ryegrass mixtures mostly received “good” ratings, with some “satisfactory” variants. In the third year, clover–bluegrass mixtures showed the best characteristics: excellent density (6 points), high projective cover (5 points), and integrated rating of 30 points, which corresponds to the highest quality level.