Studies were conducted in New Jersey and Virginia to evaluate the response of ‘Aurora Gold’ hard fescue, which had undergone five cycles of phenotypic recurrent selection for increased glyphosate tolerance, to direct applications of glyphosate. ‘Discovery’ hard fescue, which had not undergone recurrent selection, was also included in the study. Glyphosate treatments were initiated in early/mid-May and applied once, twice, or three times at 4- to 5-wk intervals at rates ranging from 0.1 to 1.6 kg ae/ha. Aurora Gold was more tolerant to glyphosate than Discovery in all experiments, indicating that recurrent selection was successful in increasing glyphosate tolerance in hard fescue. Single applications of glyphosate at rates ranging from 0.6 to 0.8 kg/ha could be applied to Aurora Gold with minimal injury or stand thinning (<20%), whereas multiple applications of glyphosate could be applied at rates ranging from 0.4 to 0.6 kg/ha. The use of Aurora Gold in areas planted to hard fescue, such as golf course roughs, vineyards, orchards, and landscapes, would allow the integration of direct glyphosate applications into an overall weed management program providing potential economic and environmental benefits.

Nomenclature: Glyphosate; hard fescue, Festuca longifolia Thuill. ‘Aurora Gold’, ‘Discovery’.

Additional index words: Herbicide tolerance.

Abbreviations: EPSP, 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase; GC, ground cover; MAT, month after treatment.