February 15, 2017
Landscape Ontario pledges $100,000 to GTI
Landscape Ontario has pledged $100,000 ($25,000 per year, for four years) to the Guelph Turfgrass Institute (GTI) to facilitate the organization’s plans to build a new facility.
As a result of discussions with the province of Ontario, the current facilities of the GTI will move from Victoria Road in Guelph to a portion of land in the University of Guelph Arboretum on the north side of College Avenue East, adjacent to Cutten Fields Golf Club. Additional land will be developed at the Elora Research Station for larger-scale projects.
The proposed site plan includes a new G.M. Frost Centre, turfgrass research plots and greens, trial gardens, an irrigation pond, two storm water retention ponds and an upgrade of existing Arboretum facilities at the site.
Site development commenced in late September 2016 with site surveying and installation of silt and tree protection fencing. More recently, earth moving operations began to facilitate grading and drainage installation and research plot construction. The research plot construction process will be completed in spring 2017 with seeding and turf grow-in maintenance to follow. Ground breaking on the new G.M. Frost Centre building and maintenance facility is scheduled to follow. The relocation project is expected to be complete in late 2018.
The Guelph Turfgrass Institute was established in 1987 to conduct research and extension and provide information on turfgrass production and management to members of the Canadian turfgrass industry. Part of the University of Guelph, the institute is supported by the university, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and the turfgrass industry.
The first of its kind in Canada, the institute is already recognized as a world-class centre for research, extension work and professional development for the study of turf. Building on the University of Guelph’s long-standing expertise in turfgrass science, the research activities of the institute continue to focus in areas such as the environmental aspects of pesticide use (fate and persistence), evaluation of grass species, varieties and seeding methods, sports field construction, fertility and management programs, pesticide use and the biological and cultural control of diseases and weeds.
As a result of discussions with the province of Ontario, the current facilities of the GTI will move from Victoria Road in Guelph to a portion of land in the University of Guelph Arboretum on the north side of College Avenue East, adjacent to Cutten Fields Golf Club. Additional land will be developed at the Elora Research Station for larger-scale projects.
The proposed site plan includes a new G.M. Frost Centre, turfgrass research plots and greens, trial gardens, an irrigation pond, two storm water retention ponds and an upgrade of existing Arboretum facilities at the site.
Site development commenced in late September 2016 with site surveying and installation of silt and tree protection fencing. More recently, earth moving operations began to facilitate grading and drainage installation and research plot construction. The research plot construction process will be completed in spring 2017 with seeding and turf grow-in maintenance to follow. Ground breaking on the new G.M. Frost Centre building and maintenance facility is scheduled to follow. The relocation project is expected to be complete in late 2018.
The Guelph Turfgrass Institute was established in 1987 to conduct research and extension and provide information on turfgrass production and management to members of the Canadian turfgrass industry. Part of the University of Guelph, the institute is supported by the university, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and the turfgrass industry.
The first of its kind in Canada, the institute is already recognized as a world-class centre for research, extension work and professional development for the study of turf. Building on the University of Guelph’s long-standing expertise in turfgrass science, the research activities of the institute continue to focus in areas such as the environmental aspects of pesticide use (fate and persistence), evaluation of grass species, varieties and seeding methods, sports field construction, fertility and management programs, pesticide use and the biological and cultural control of diseases and weeds.