Cynodon dactylon
Green couch
CT-2 (formerly protected by an Australian and United States Patent); GN-1® (registered trade mark of Great White Shark Enterprises Inc (Greg Norman))
A fine-textured green couch variety that has distinct reddish-coloured stolons and has a low seed head production. CT-2 was selected [back in the day] for improved colour, winter colour retention and less thatch build up (Whiting, 1988). In the past, CT-2 has been used "widely" on golf course fairways and sports fields within NSW and Melbourne. CT-2 is fast spreading laterally across the surface.
CT-2 is trade marked by the Greg Norman Turf Company (GNTC) as GN-1™ in the USA. CT-2 which was bred in a controlled crossing programme in California, USA by Hubert F. Whiting, had less thatch build-up than other US green couch cultivars at the time this variety was selected. The variety produced less thatch, but was also more open (lese dense) too. The fine-textured variety has distinct reddish-coloured stolons and has a low seed head production and good winter colour retention in the absence of frosts, but in southern Australia (e.g. Melbourne) loses quality during winter relative to other varieties selected from colder climates. The variety spreads fast laterally by stolons providing reasonably fast recovery from wear or divoting e.g. golf course fairway and tees. In the USA, CT-2 is also used on the course proper at the Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The grass however is susecptible to a range of commonly used broadleaf selective herbicides resulting in minor discoluration or stunting from phytotoxic damage.
Pests, disease and weeds
Check to see which Pests, Diseases and or Weeds this turf variety may be susceptible to and how to successfully control them in your home lawn or sports turf.