Traditional land-use planning models have proven inadequate to address contemporary issues in sustainable development and protection governance. In recent years, new ‘performance based’ approaches that integrate ecosystem services (ES) provided via green infrastructure (GI) into traditional spatial planning models have been proven to reach a higher level of environmental performance, necessary to improve quality of life for all people. In Italy, there are no mandatory planning instruments to design and manage GI, which still remains a component of the traditional land-use plan. Here, the development of urban green spaces (UGS) based on ‘quantitative assessment’ is not suitable for guaranteeing the supply of ES. In addition, the scarcity of financial resources to develop ‘green standards’, as prescribed in the land-use plan to strategically design the GI, is an issue for most Italian public administrations. The paper provides the results of a test case conducted in a public green area of the city of Ancona, where the experimentation of a diversified maintenance strategy of an urban lawn significantly reduced the management cost and improved the environmental performance of green spaces. The identification of a unified management strategy to be applied to all the public UGS can help to achieve better results in support of sustainability, to redesign the continuity of GI and to develop strategies for future urban green master plans.

The establishment of permanent cover crops is becoming a common practice in vineyard floor management. Turfgrass science may provide species and techniques with a high potential for improving the sustainability of vineyard floor management. Based on this assumption, an experiment was carried out during 2018 and 2019 at the Donna Olimpia Vineyard, Bolgheri, Italy. The trial aimed at comparing an innovative floor management system based on a turf-type cultivar of bermudagrass mown with an autonomous mower with a conventional floor management system. Ground cover percentage, energy consumption, CO₂ emissions, grapevine water status, leaf nitrogen content, fruit yield and must composition have been assessed in order to perform the comparison. The innovative vineyard floor management produced an almost complete ground cover (98%) at the end of the second growing season, with the resident species reduced to a small percentage (4%). Resident species growing under-trellis were efficiently controlled without herbicide applications. A lower primary energy consumption and a reduction in CO₂ emissions were observed for the innovative management system compared to the conventional management system. Grapevine water status, leaf chlorophyll content, soil–plant analyses development (SPAD), fruit yields and must composition were similar between the different soil management systems. Based on results obtained in this trial, turf-type bermudagrass and innovative mowing machines may contribute to enhance the sustainability of vineyard floor management.

Turfgrass has evolved from a fundamental element of natural landscapes to a key component of ornamental, recreational, and ecological systems. This review examines its historical trajectory, from ancient civilizations and medieval monastic gardens to modern urban green spaces, highlighting cultural, technological, and environmental influences. The study integrates historical analysis with agronomic and ecological research to assess turfgrass’s role in soil conservation, carbon sequestration, water management, and biodiversity enhancement. The methodological approach combines a historical–literary review with an analysis of scientific advancements in turfgrass management, focusing on low-input species, precision irrigation, and climate-adaptive strategies. The findings indicate that while turfgrass contributes to urban resilience and ecosystem services, conventional high-maintenance practices pose sustainability challenges. The review underscores the need for multifunctional turfgrass systems that balance aesthetics with ecological benefits. A shift toward eco-friendly management practices will be essential for the long-term sustainability of turfgrass in modern landscapes.

In Europe, more than two-thirds of the population live in urban areas. The management of urban green areas and trees is becoming increasingly relevant involving different players and stakeholders, as well for keeping a focus on the Sustainable Development Goals. Society and policy makers are often unaware of the disservices that neglecting these areas can cause. Appropriate monitoring interventions can protect both citizens and trees themselves. The aim of the study was to assess the risk potential in urban trees in Bologna suburbs (Italy). For each tree in the city of Bologna, three target variables identifying the number and categories of streets, buildings, and walking and cycle paths near the tree were considered and used as covariates. A multiple regression model assessing the relationship between a dependent synthetic spatial variable (digital number, DN), proxy of the likelihood of tree failure, and the three independent covariates was estimated. Both the number of streets and walking and cycle paths in the area surrounding a tree are shown to be significantly associated with the DN value. The use of open data can assist in monitoring and maintaining urban green areas. The tool supports a virtuous circle between stakeholders in urban systems through sustainability and efficiency.

In transition areas, cool season turfgrasses are overseeded in autumn to maintain the high quality of dormant warm season turfgrasses, while in spring several agronomic methods (scalping, coring, topdressing, verticutting, irrigation, and targeted fertilization) or chemical desiccation are adopted to remove the cool season turfgrasses from the stand. To reduce chemical applications, several methods of “thermal weeding” have been experimented with, but little is known about these methods in zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp. Willd) spring transition. A study was conducted at the University of Pisa, Italy, on Manila grass (Zoysia matrella (L.) Merr., cv “Diamond”) (Zm) overseeded with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) (Lp) with the aim of comparing different methods of cool season grass suppression (scalping and hot foam) and different application rates of nitrogen. To assess treatment effect, green cover, turf quality, turf color, shoot density, and some vegetation indices (GLI, DGCI and NDVI) were determined. An average green cover of at least 90% was obtained on all plots seven weeks after the treatments. While scalping had minor effects on turf appearance and on polystand composition, hot foam had a stronger effect on turf color, green cover, and turf quality in the weeks following application. Once it had recovered from the hot foam treatments, the turf had a greater number of Zm shoots and a relevant reduction of Lp shoots. The hot foam was very effective in suppressing Lp while maintaining Zm recovery capacity.

Hybrid Bermuda grasses (Cynodon dactylon × C. transvaalensis Burtt.-Davy) represent one of the greatest contributions to the growing quality of turfgrass in the warm season and transition zone areas of the world. Hybrid Bermuda grass production relies on vegetative propagation from sod or sprigs. In the past, efforts have focused on improving the technique of stolonizing (or sprigging) for establishment in new areas. Such propagation requires bulk harvesting and planting of all rhizomes and stolons. We have developed a novel method of propagation and establishment from a single node harvested from greenhouse grown stolons. Despite a stolon fraction bearing a single node being suitable for effectively propagating a warm-season turfgrass, the technique has been held as economically impractical until now. Our method has been developed to obtain the multiplication of plant material in soilless conditions by harvesting single-node sprigs, propagation of plants from the single nodes, and transplant of single plants in the field. The investigation aimed to identify values for method set-up. Indeed, node and internode size variability with differential between maximum diameters is crucial for discrimination. For Patriot Bermuda grass stolons, nodes exhibited a maximum diameter of 2.43 ± 0.46 mm, while internodes had a maximum diameter of 1.54 ± 0.16 mm. Based on these findings, a 2 mm sieve was selected, achieving an optimal ratio between the node fraction and internode residues. The sieve yielded 87% of node fractions and only 1% of internodes from the initial mix, demonstrating its efficacy. Further results for the transplanting phase indicated that a double release resulted in an average success rate of 98.8%, with only 6.9% blank cells when using a single release. The average was 149 plants per tray over 160 cells, representing a 93.1% success rate. These results underscore the efficiency and acceptability of the overall propagation process in alignment with market references.