Evaluation of Salinity Tolerance of Kentucky Bluegrass Cultivars Used in Landscape

In this study, the salt tolerance of ten cultivars of kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) was studied using NaCl (0.3, 1.5, 3, 4.5, 6 and 7.5 dS m-1) in a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replications. Shoot and root dry weights, leaf water content (LWC) and turfgrass quality was reduced as the salinity level increased. Meanwhile the leaf necrosis was increased under salt conditions. ‘Ampellia’ and ‘Harmony’ produced the highest shoot and root dry weights where as, the ‘Banf’ and ‘Nutop’ produced the lowest. ‘Ampellia’ and ‘Park’ had the maximum LWC while ‘Banf’ had the minimum one. The highest turfgrass quality was recorded in ‘Ampellia’ and ‘Harmony’, while the lowest quality was found in ‘Banf’ and ‘Merion’. ‘Ampellia’ showed the least leaf necrosis followed by ‘Harmony’ whereas ‘Banf’ and ‘Crusade’ showed the highest one. Based on overall measured parameters in this study, ‘Ampellia’ was the most salt tolerant cultivar followed by ‘Harmony’, ‘Park’ and ‘Nutop’, respectively. Also, the results showed a wide variation in salt tolerance among cultivars that can be selected for salt conditions.