EN
Lolium perenne L. is the most attractive and widespread grass species used to prepare lawn mixtures applied in the temperate zone. This extensive utilisation of the species is the function of its valuable biological and use properties. The ability of this grass to develop numerous vegetative shoots as weil as its strongly developed root system assure Lolium perenne a share in the sward of both extensive lawns and very intensively utilised grass carpets. Long-term perspectives for Lolium perenne as a turf grass rest, primarily, in the breeding of specialised cultivars. When developing breeding programs, breeders utilise the considerable variability of biological and morphological traits of this grass species. It has already been possible to create cultivars which develop very rapidly after sowing, e.g. 'Darius' or cultivars which form exceptionally dense turf which can withstand even very intense trampling, e.g. 'Margarita'. According to our own investigations, differences in the dynamics of turf compaction may reach several dozen percent. One of the unique properties of the newly developed cultivars is their capacity to rapidly develop new stalks and leaf-blades after turf damage, the so-called turf exhaustion. One of the effects of performed breeding work is the development of Lolium perenne cultivars characterised by very narrow leaf blades, comparable with the width of leaf-blades of Festuca rubra. A good example of such a cultivar is 'Bargold'. In the process of reclaiming difficult areas, where access is limited, slower rates of biomass regrowth of over-ground parts after cutting are essential. The most useful for this purpose are cultivars of Lolium perenne whose daily height regrowths, in periods of most intensive growth, (in May, at the beginning of September) do not exceed 0.6 cm. As a rule, late cultivars are characterised by slower increment of over-ground biomass.