Groundforce: perennial ryegrass cultivar profile

Groundforce is a European-bred perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) developed as a versatile cultivar for sports turf, golf, lawns, landscaping and sod production. It combines rapid establishment with dense growth, fine leaf texture, clean cutting and a mid-green color.

Its broad performance profile makes Groundforce particularly useful where turf managers need a perennial ryegrass that combines establishment speed and visual quality with the ability to perform across different managed turf applications.

Groundforce at a glance

Fastball 3GL forms a tight, dense turf across a broad range of soil types and environmental conditions. It performs from full sun to medium shade and can be maintained at mowing heights of 12 mm and above.

Groundforce performance

Groundforce has been independently evaluated for characteristics including shoot density, leaf fineness, regrowth, visual merit, Red Thread tolerance, cleanness of cut and seasonal color.

The ratings are from the STRI UK 2022 data presented in ICL’s Groundforce technical information.

Fine leaf texture and density

Groundforce combines a fine leaf with dense growth, helping produce a refined, uniform turf surface.

In STRI UK testing, Groundforce recorded 7.2 for fineness of leaf and 7.1 for shoot density.

These characteristics are particularly useful where both turf performance and appearance matter, including lawns, landscaping, golf and professionally managed recreational turf.

Cleanness of cut

Cleanness of cut is one of Groundforce’s strongest characteristics.

Groundforce recorded 7.4 for cleanness of cut in STRI testing.

A clean cut helps maintain a neat, consistent appearance after mowing, making this characteristic particularly relevant for turf managed for high visual quality.

Red Thread tolerance

Groundforce offers good tolerance to Red Thread, an important disease consideration in perennial ryegrass turf.

It recorded 6.1 for Red Thread tolerance in the supplied STRI UK data.

Its combination of disease tolerance, density and visual quality makes Groundforce suitable for a broad range of professional turf situations.

Color and visual quality

Groundforce has a mid-green color, providing an alternative to the darker genetic color of some US-bred perennial ryegrass cultivars.

In STRI testing, it recorded 7.1 for visual merit and 6.4 for summer greenness.

Its mid-green appearance can also be useful for renovation where matching existing lighter or mid-green turf is important. Groundforce is used for this purpose within ProSelect Renovator Light.

Where is Groundforce suited?

Groundforce is a versatile perennial ryegrass suited to establishment, renovation and overseeding across a range of managed turf applications.

Typical uses include:

• Sports fields and pitches
• Golf tees and fairways
• Lawns and ornamental turf
• Landscape, amenity and public turf
• Sod production
• Warm-season turf overseeding

Its combination of rapid establishment, dense growth, fine leaf texture and cleanness of cut allows Groundforce to move between performance-led sports applications and turf where appearance is a major consideration.

Establishment and maintenance

Rapid establishment is one of Groundforce’s key characteristics, making it suitable for new establishment as well as renovation and overseeding where developing turf cover quickly is important.

Groundforce in the ProSelect range

Groundforce is available as a ProSelect Straight and is also used within selected ProSelect blends for sports turf, golf, lawns and landscaping.