Abstract: The effects of different dosages (0, 0.8%, 2%, 6% and 10%) of sewage sludge compost on the growth and photosynthetic characteristics of three turfgrass, i.e., Festuca arundinacea, Lolium perenne and Poa pratensis were studied. The results showed that the dosage of 6% had the optimal effects. The plant height, leaf area and dry biomass of three turfgrass increased significantly with the increasing sewage sludge compost dosage, while the root/shoot ratio decreased obviously. Compared with the control, the plant height of F. arundinacea, L. perenne and P. pratensis increased by 64.9%-180.8%, 97.3%-200.9% and 39.1%-156.5%, the leaf area per plant increased by 91.3%-417.4%, 186.4%-394.9% and 164.6%-508.3% and the dry biomass per plant increased by 333.4%-867.6%, 138.4%-445.1% and 316.3%-669.2%, respectively. With the increasing dosage of sewage sludge compost, the net photosynthetic rate (P_n), transpiration rate (T_r), intercellular CO₂ concentration (C_i) and water use efficiency (WUE) of F. arundinacea increased first and decreased then, the P_n, T_r and WUE of P. pratensis showed a significantly increasing trend, while the C_i decreased after an initial increase, and the P_n and WUE of L. perenne increased gradually, while the C_i and T_r decreased after a gradual increase. With the increasing sewage sludge dosage, the contents of chlorophyll a and b of the three turfgrass species increased markedly, and then decreased when the dosage was more than 6%, but  the ratio of chlorophyll a/b was little changed.