Abstract: Turfgrass suffers from both drought and cold stress in winter which degrades turf quality in the following spring. In order to investigate the physiological mechanism of cross adaptation to drought and low temperature stress in perennial ryegrass “Accent” turf ryegrass was subjected to three watering regimes (30%, 60% and 100% of requirements) for 5 days and then exposed to 2℃ temperatures day and night for 15 days. The results showed that low temperature stress decreased the relative water content (RWC) and chlorophyll (Chl) content but increased electrolyte leakage (EL), proline, soluble sugar and antioxidant enzymes. Mild drought stress before exposure to cold stress produced a significantly lower reduction in RWC and Chl content but increased osmotic adjustment and antioxidant enzymes. It was concluded that moderate drought prior to exposure to low temperatures helped perennial ryegrass adapt to low winter temperatures but severe drought caused considerable damage to plants.