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TurfGrass Trends Headlines
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TurfGrass Trends is a monthly journal of practical research on technical turfgrass management topics,
including golfcourse design and maintenance, turfgrass cultivars, turfgrass diseases and turfgrass pests, as well
as best-management practices for professional turfgrass managers. Authors include top university researchers in the
science of turfgrass management.
06/01/2008
Large-scale Production Promising For Louisiana Smooth Cordgrass
Native to salt marshes along the eastern U.S. seaboard and the Gulf coast, smooth cordgrass (Spartina
alterniflora Loisel.) can also be found in the estuarine around Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Because it
is the predominant plant species in coastal salt marshes, a current practice in coastal erosion control and habitat
restoration involves the use of S. alterniflora.
06/01/2008
Fertigation Finds Favor Among More Superintendents
Fertigation is getting more popular because it's getting less intricate, golf course superintendents
say.
06/01/2008
Recycled Wastewater Instigates Different Responses in Turfgrass, Trees and Soils
As the population of Colorado's Front Range continues to grow, increased use of recycled wastewater
(RWW, or effluent water, is viewed as one of the approaches to maximize the existing water resource and stretch
Colorado's urban water supplies. While Colorado is famed for its mountains covered with snow, that does not
necessarily translate into unlimited use of fresh water for golf course or landscape use.
05/01/2008
P. volutum Can be the Cause for Pythium Root Dysfunction
Since 2002, many golf course superintendents in the southeastern United States have reported unusual
patches appearing on their creeping bentgrass greens. Symptoms appeared during the heat of summer in irregular
patches ranging from 6 inches to 12 inches in diameter.
05/01/2008
Wetting Agents Provide Ways to Manage Summer Stress of Bentgrass in the Transition Zone
Plots receiving wetting agents showed better turf quality under drought conditions.
05/01/2008
Environmental Stewardship Produces Economic Advantages
The term "environomics" is a reference to a synergistic blend of environmental
stewardship and economics. The superintendent who elevates his programs to this level is truly setting a high
standard of excellence.
04/01/2008
Modern Insecticides, Including Combo Products, Fit Nicely With IPM
This installment on the discussion of integrated pest management (IPM) begins with the premise that
challenges have emerged as we have new products that have a more favorable environmental profile but might need to
be applied in a more preventive manner. We pick up with that concept in part two and look further at newer
chemistries and how they fit into what we do each day.
04/01/2008
Preventive ABW Programs Can Encourage Resistance
The regular rotation of fungicides from different classes, adherence to label rates and the avoidance
or wall-to-wall applications are imperative to avoid developing insecticide resistance.
03/01/2008
Controlling Your Poa
The presence of perennial Poa biotypes can lead to erratic control and require a program that spans
several years.
03/01/2008
Bermuda Control Advances
Some love it, others hate it. Common bermudagrass is an aggressive warm-season grass that is
well-adapted in areas where cool-season turf species are desirable. It spreads and reproduces by seed production,
stolons and rhizomes. Once bermudagrass invades cool-season turf, it is persistent and very difficult to control.
Bermudagrass negatively impacts aesthetics of a cool-season rough or fairway by disrupting uniformity due to its
course texture and its dormant tan to brown color after frosts.
03/01/2008
Do Modern Insecticides Defeat IPM Concepts?
Many of the older organophosphates offered flexibility, but various human health, regulatory,
environmental and business issues began to take their toll in the 1990s.
02/01/2008
Poa Annua Suppression With Velocity Plus PGRs Requires Review of Weed Population
Superintendents use a variety of chemicals to maintain fairways at the desired quality level. Some of
these chemicals include plant growth regulators (PGRs) and herbicides (pre-emergent and postemergent). Two separate
field trials were conducted during a two-year period to evaluate the impact of bispyribac-sodium (Velocity)
herbicide treatments as impacted by pre-emergent herbicide and commonly used PGRs.
02/01/2008
Buffalograss Moves From Rough Grass to Fairway Potential
I am often asked, "Does buffalograss have a role as a golf course turf?" My response,
of course, is, "Yes!" It is an excellent selection for roughs and a recent release, Prestige (Photo
1), has strong potential for use as a fairway turf.
01/01/2008
Preserving Stream Corridors Mitigates Erosion, Pollution
Golf courses, like most outdoor recreation facilities, can be highly compatible with restoring and
maintaining natural stream corridors. Riparian corridors, normally including most of the floodplain, are complex
ecosystems that require a balance among several factors: hydrology, geomorphology and biology. In layman's terms,
that's water, ground and plant and animal life.
01/01/2008
High-Tech Tools Mow Down Test Turfgrass in Greenhouses
Imagine mowing your rough with scissors. That was threatening to be the situation for students at
Virginia Tech as we continued to add greenhouse research trials to the project's docket.
12/01/2007
Coping with Nematodes Sans Fenamiphos
Across the northeastern United States, superintendents continue to deal with damaging levels of
plant-parasitic nematodes. Although every golf course has some level of plant-parasitic nematodes, not every course
experiences extremely high populations or observes nematode-related damage. Those courses most at risk for nematode
damage are built on silty native soils where Poa annua is the dominant turf species.
12/01/2007
Look, Up in the Sky ...
While there are trees on the sides of the corridors, the corridors are wide enough to allow ample
sunlight to reach the turf.
11/01/2007
Dark-Green Varieties Continue to Dominate Turfgrass Breeding for Color
Lower-input turfgrasses are getting more emphasis today, but traits that make turf tolerant to heat,
drought, herbicides and disease are controlled by multiple traits.
11/01/2007
Bentgrass Cultivars Outgrow Some Pests
In the early days of golf course construction in the United States, putting greens were originally
planted as a species mixture that contained a combination of creeping, colonial and velvet bentgrass referred to as
South German bentgrass. This mixture was suitable for putting greens because it tolerated the mowing heights of the
time and most importantly was widely available.
10/01/2007
Curative Programs for Bluegrass Weevil Larvae Require Patience
The Annual Bluegrass Weevil (ABW) is a pest of highly maintained, short-cut turfgrasses. Historically,
this beetle in the weevil family has been a problem in the northeastern United States. However, during the past few
years, the ABW has become a serious pest throughout the entire Mid-Atlantic region.
10/01/2007
Sprayable Sex Pheromones Disrupt Oriental Beetle Mating
The oriental beetle (OB), Anomala orientalis, has become the most important white grub species in
turfgrass in New Jersey, southeastern New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island. It is also the major white grub
species in ornamental nurseries and blueberries, and it causes losses in other crops. An increase in OB
significance may occur in other areas where it is already established, such as all of coastal New England and
Middle Atlantic states as well as Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and
Tennessee.
09/01/2007
Kelp Helps Root Mass in Turf
Kelp, better known as seaweed, has been used as a fertilizer on turf for many years. It is also the
most universally recognized natural biostimulant and is the most widely used biostimulant in both agriculture and
turfgrass management (Hattori, 1999). It contains many important plant growth regulators, such as auxins,
cytokinins and gibberellins. It also contains micronutrients to enhance a plant's ability to resist pest and
disease attack (Hattori, 1999).
09/01/2007
Removal of Overseeded Ryegrass Best in Heat of Summer
On golf courses, overseeding of bermudagrass fairways, tees and approaches continues to be common
practice because it allows for an actively growing and aesthetically pleasing turf all year long. This is of
particular importance at golf clubs that rely on resort play. Although overseeding is aesthetically pleasing and
provides an actively growing playing surface when bermudagrass is otherwise dormant, overseeding can be a
maintenance and agronomic nightmare. Overseeding bermudagrass increases maintenance costs and poses agronomic
issues that can threaten the health of the underlying bermudagrass.
08/01/2007
Turfgrass Root Growth, Increasing Nitrate Metabolism
Recent evidence might cast the nitrate problem in a somewhat different light and can offer a few
solutions.
08/01/2007
Timing Crucial With Neonicotinoids
When using the insecticides in the neonicotinoid family, a key to success is timing the application of
materials correctly.
07/01/2007
How Do The New Bentgrasses Stack Up?
Several studies throughout the United States document the performance of the most recent generation of
bentgrass that arrived on the scene in the 1990s. One study in central North Carolina evaluated 20 cultivars at two
locations (Durham and Pinehurst) and reported that all cultivars tested provided appearance or quality equal or
better than Penncross (Bruneau et al., 2001).
07/01/2007
Recognizing the Nitrate Effect on Root Growth and Development
Recent evidence might cast the nitrate problem in a somewhat different light and may offer a few
solutions.
07/01/2007
Neonicotinoids Show Good Control With Sucking Insects
Over the last decade, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been undergoing the process of
reviewing previously registered pesticides under the dictates of the Food Quality Protection Act. This process uses
higher standards for pesticide residues, potential exposure to "higher risk" groups such as
children and pregnant women, total lifetime exposures and other factors.
06/01/2007
Bermudagrasses Show Diverse Responses to Shade
Enhance turf performance in shade by raising mowing heights, applying growth regulators and reducing
nitrogen rates.
06/01/2007
Establishing Bentgrass Can Be Difficult With Subsurface Irrigation
Water limitations all across the Southwest have placed increased demands for water conservation on
golf courses and other recreational fields. Most superintendents irrigate courses using over-the-top sprinklers. An
alternate method to the over-the-top sprinkler irrigation could be using subsurface drip irrigation
(SDI).
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