Salinity tolerance of nine fine fescue cultivars compared to other cool-season turfgrasses

• Fine fescue grasses showed consistent salt tolerance at different growth stages.
• Creeping red fescue were as salt tolerant as perennial ryegrass and tall fescue.
• Chewing, hard, and sheep fescues were as salt sensitive as Kentucky bluegrass.

Seed germination, seedling development, and vegetative growth of nine fine fescues cultivars [‘Slender’ creeping red fescue (Festuca rubra L. ssp. rubra and Festuca rubra L. ssp. trichophylla Gaud.), ‘Firefly’ and ‘Reliant IV’ hard fescue (Festuca longifolia Thuill.), ‘Azure’ and ‘Marco Polo’ sheep fescue (Festuca ovina L.), and ‘Intrigue’, ‘Columbia II’, ‘Ambrose’, and ‘Jamestown II’ chewing fescue (Festuca rubra L. ssp. commutata Gaud.)] were determined under saline conditions (NaCl at 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 g L−1) and compared to ‘Zoom’ perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), ‘Stonewall’ tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), and ‘Bewitched’ Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.). Salinity reduced final and daily germination rate. Similarly, seedling development (fresh weight, dry weight, and absolute water content) and vegetative growth (shoot and root dry weight and the longest root length) declined with increasing salinity levels. Daily germination rate, fresh weight and absolute water content, and root dry weight and the longest root length are more sensitive to salinity compared to other parameters during initial (germination and seedling development) and vegetative growth stages respectively; therefore, better indicators of salt tolerance. All fine fescue cultivars showed a constant ranking of relative salt tolerance at different growth stages. Overall, ‘Zoom’ perennial ryegrass, ‘Slender’ creeping red fescue, and ‘Stonewall’ tall fescue exhibited the most tolerance to high salt concentrations. However, limited variations existed in salinity tolerance among ‘Bewitched’ Kentucky bluegrass and the other fine fescue cultivars.