UC Riverside Turfgrass Research Facility
The University of California, Riverside (UCR) Turfgrass Research Facility and program are involved with problem-solving applied and fundamental research and educational activities that are directed toward the recreational, aesthetic, and functional uses of turfgrasses in man's planned landscape. The activities are primarily structured to assist members of the Environmental Horticulture industry who work with the design, establishment, maintenance and sale of turfgrass and turfgrass-related products that ultimately benefit the general California population and the state's urban/suburban/rural environments.
Because the turfgrass industry location and size are population-based, and since 60 percent of Californians reside in southern California (21.0 million people), a large portion of the turfgrass acreage, economic activity and personnel are in southern counties. Thus, UCR is in the center of one of the largest turfgrass industries in the world. Programs at UCR focus on current problems and issues such as:
• Resource efficiency in the areas of water, nutrition, pest management, and energy and labor input in sites such as lawns, parks and golf courses;
• Environmental enhancement and protection; and
• Turfgrass persistence and performance with increased traffic on heavily used sports fields
The program responds to urgent issues that arise as well as long-term research activities that will be of benefit to turfgrass selection and maintenance in California.
Facility Establishment and Academic Involvement
The
Facility was constructed in 1983-84 and is located on the UCR Agricultural
Operations field station, which is immediately adjacent to the UCR campus
in Riverside. The several acres of turfgrass research plots surround the
headquarter's buildings and greenhouses which house offices, a field laboratory
and turfgrass library. The Facility construction and establishment was
supported by the campus and numerous California turfgrass industry groups
and organizations in a public/private partnership that continues to the
present time.
Academic positions involved in turfgrass science are members of the University of California Agricultural Experiment Station and/or Cooperative Extension. The campus-based individuals are located in the following departments: Agricultural Operations, Botany and Plant Sciences, Entomology, Environmental Sciences and Plant Pathology. Also, academic Cooperative Extension personnel from nearby counties are associated with the Facility by being actively involved in research and/or extension education programs.
Research Focus
The central
theme of the research activities at UC Riverside encompasses plant material
evaluation and development, turfgrass management, and fundamental turfgrass
physiology.
Specific
project areas include cultivar performance characterization, including
the development and screening of new grasses for California; the determination
of water requirements, quality and irrigation strategies of the important
turf species and cultivars; the evaluation of nutrient requirement, fertilizer
performance and other primary management practices such as mowing, thatch
control and aerification when appropriate; the management of pests, including
weeds, insects, diseases and nematodes of turfgrasses; and environmental
impact studies of turfgrasses and their culture. Specific project activities
are strongly influenced by support funding from agencies, public nonprofit
organizations and for-profit organizations and individuals.
Research undertaken on turfgrass at the Facility is unique in California because of the scope of controlled culture that can be practiced on both cool-and warm-season turfgrasses, and the breadth of non-biased research expertise and available support personnel on campus and in the region.
Outreach Activities
Academics
associated with turfgrass are involved with public and professional educational
activities that include organizing and participating in the annual turfgrass
field day; giving presentations locally, statewide, nationally and internationally
to clientele and organizations or academic peers; providing requested
tours of the Facility; and acting as resource support for class lectures
and visits from students from surrounding two- and four-year college programs
in the region (UCR does not offer undergraduate classwork in turfgrass
management but cooperates with UCR
Extension certificate
programs, Shuomo
Mitra at California
Polytechnic University at Pomona and the turfgrass management program
at California Polytechnic
University at San Luis Obispo). UC Cooperative Extension has active
turfgrass selection and management educational programs with regular frequency.
Academics also publish widely, including releases to technical, semi-technical and popular publications and industry focused releases such as California Turfgrass Culture and Better Turf Thru Agronomics .
Homeowner lawn care
information and Master Gardener resource materials are offered through
the UC Agricultural and Natural
Resources (ANR) Turf and Lawn Publications. Other UC-ANR turfgrass-appropriate
links can be found on the Turfgrass Links page.
Turfgrass Research Facility Maps
Location maps and directions to the Turfgrass Research Facility and the field station
map are available below.
These files require the Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Location Maps
Field Map
Back to top
A listing of some of the accommodations near UCR is available at the MyUCR for Future Student website (scroll down until you see "Local Hotels".
Additional information can be found at the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce website, which has a Visitors Guide including listings for hotels, restaurants, and things to do in the Riverside area.