How to use the variety guide

This website is about turfgrass varieties, not turfgrass species. Each table must therefore be regarded separately, with no direct comparison between different species or areas of use. Readers not familiar with species' characteristics and areas of use should read 'The Grass Guide', which is available at http://sterf.golf.se.

The SCANTURF tables not only include varieties that have been tested since the program started in 2005, but also varieties that are still on the market after being tested in the former national programs. Amalgamation of results has been possible because control varieties within each species / subspecies were mostly the same. Mean values have been presented in the case of conflicting results among the former programs. Empty cells in the tables reflect that all characters were not assessed in all programs. Varieties that have been withdrawn or are no longer on the market have been deleted from the tables.

Both SCANTURF and SCANGREEN tables contain one main section and one section for new varieties that are included in the ongoing trials and for which results are therefore preliminary and more uncertain. By default varieties have been ranked, firstly by decreasing general impression, secondly by decreasing density, thirdly by decrasing winter hardiness and fourthly increasing relative growth rate. By using the sorting function, readers can make their own ranking depending on the character that they find most important for their particular area of use. Readers should keep in mind that the varieties on the top of the lists may not be the best for every use.

All varieties have been indicated with a variety owner or representative whose contact information can be found here. Readers looking for seed of a particular variety should contact the variety owner / representative who will be able to advise on the nearest distributor/agent.

Explanation of characters

• General impression. General impression is a summary of all other characters and reflects the overall visual merit of the variety in lawns not particularly exposed to wear. In the SCANTURF lists general impression is presented both as an overall mean for all trials using mowing heights in the range 10-40 mm, and as a mean for trials practicing mowing heights between 10 and 20 mm (short-cut lawn). The ranking scale is always 1-9, where 9 is the best turf.
• Wear tolerance reflects turf grass ground coverage and overall appearance after intense use of football-type wear machines. The ranking scale is 1-9, where 9 is the most wear-tolerant turf.
• Density reflects the number of tillers per area unit. The ranking scale is 1-9, where 9 is the densest turf (highest tiller number).
• Leaf fineness reflects leaf width, in other words the coarseness of the turf. The ranking scale is 1-9, where 9 is the finest leaves.
• Colour (genetic colour) indicates the darkness of the green colour for unstressed and undiseased turf during the growing season. The ranking scale is 1-9, where 9 is the darkest turf.
• Winter colour (dormancy colour) describes freshness (greenness) vs. fadedness (brownness) of the turf when it is not growing, i.e. during the winter season. The ranking scale is 1-9, where 9 is most freshly green and 1 is completely brown / wilted.
• Winter hardiness includes tolerance to all kinds of winter damage whether caused by freezing temperature, prolonged snow cover, desiccation, water, ice, or winter diseases. The ranking scale is 1-9, where 9 is the most winter-hardy turf.
• Resistance to specific diseases The tables sometimes include resistance to specific diseases. The ranking scale is always 1-9, where higher numbers indicate better resistance. Because symptoms of disease are not always diagnosed or it can be difficult to identify the primary infection, SCANGREEN tables always include an overall ranking of resistance to all diseases occurring during the growing season, such as microdochium patch (Microdochium nivale developing without snow cover), red thread (Laetisaria fuciformis), rust (Puccinia and Uromyces sp.), leaf spots (Drechslera sp.) and take-all (Gaeumannomyces graminis). Resistance to winter diseases such as gray snow mold (Typhula incarnata) and pink snow mold (Microdochium nivale developing under snow cover) are not included in this overall character for in-season diseases, but part of the winter hardiness character; sometimes they are also specified separately.
• Relative growth rate is based on measurements of turf grass height or rate of leaf extension, thus reflecting mowing requirements. Growth rate is presented as a number relative to a control variety which was set to 100.