Penn State Center For Turfgrass Science
Facilities
Ag. Sciences & Industries Building
Located in a state-of-the-art building completed in 1991, the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences has more than 78 offices and 20,000 square feet of laboratories. It also maintains a 340-acre experimental farm with irrigation facilities, a 22-acre irrigated turfgrass research center, a landscape management research center, a landscape management research center, greenhouses, and several well-equipped field laboratories. In addition to sharing the extensive resources of the University’ including libraries, computation centers, and research institutes.
Landscape Management Research Center
The Landscape Management Research Center (LMRC) is located off of Orchard Road. This facility was developed in the early 1980's. This site was selected because it contained an abandoned soil erosion facility that was converted into a turfgrass runoff facility. The 10 acres of turf plots are maintained at a lower level than those at Valentine. Two acres have automatic irrigation, and the remainder have manual irrigation. The research conducted at LMRC includes pesticide and fertilizer evaluations and the environmental effects of turfgrass management. The LMRC also includes the Mascaro/Steiniger Turfgrass Equipment Museum. This museum houses a collection of a variety of vintage turfgrass maintenance equipment, including tractors, mowers, and spreaders.
Joseph Valentine Research Center
The Center is named in memery of Joseph Valentine, golf course superintendent of Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, PA. Mr. Valentine was instrumental in the formation of the turfgrass program at Penn State. The Valentine Center contains 14 acres of highly maintained turf, including 2.5 acres of research putting green. The research conducted at Valentine include pesticide, fertilizer, turfgrass cultivar, and soil amendment evaluations.
Turfgrass Breeding Nursery
The Turfgrass Breeding Facility is a space plant nursery located across Orchard Road from LMRC. This nursery occupies about 15 acres and is irrigated with above-ground, portable aluminum pipe. The water source is effluent water from the UAJA plant. This space plant nursery is used for the evaluation and seed production of experimental turfgrass varieties. In conjuction with the breeding nursery, a seed cleaning room is located in the Seed Foundation Building on Park Avenue.
