Salt-Affected Roadside Grasses with Dr. Eric Watkins
“Review of cool-season turfgrasses for salt-affected roadsides in cold climates” with Dr. Eric Watkins.
Salt is commonly spread on roads in colder regions to help keep them clear of dangerous ice. However, salted roads can pose some environmental risks. Roadside turfgrasses can help alleviate some of those problems, but drought, heat, salt, ice, and more can mean a roadside is not always the happiest place for grass to grow. This episode, Dr. Eric Watkins walks us through some of the harsh conditions roadside turfgrasses face, the pros and cons of several popular grasses, and how we can wisely mix them for resilient roadside spaces.
Tune in to learn:
- Why roads in Northern Climates get salted
- What ecosystem benefits roadside turfgrasses provide
- Which grasses perform best in roadside conditions
- What are some tips for designing a healthy turfgrass mix
If you would like more information about this topic, this episode’s paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20326
This paper is always freely available.
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If you would like to reach out to Eric, you can find him here: ewatkins@umn.edu
Resources
University of Minnesota Turfgrass Science Program Twitter: https://twitter.com/UMNTurf
University of Minnesota Turfgrass Science site: https://turf.umn.edu/
University of Minnesota Roadside Turf site: https://roadsideturf.umn.edu/
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