PlSc 375 Turfgrass Management Dr. Ron Smith

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Fundamentals of Turfgrass Management - Christians    (3rd Edition)

Reference and Importants Links

Turfgrass Weeds
Turfgrass Tidbits

• Chapter 1: Introduction - 60,000,000 lawns, 16,000 golf courses; 30 million acres of turfgrass in U.S.
  
  Popularity of Turfgrasses - superior ground cover; extensive root system; wind/rain erosion proof; prevents groundwater contamination; adds beauty to landscape; uniform appearance; able to survive severe mismanagement; durable for athletic fields; recovers rapidly from injury; produces oxygen; muffles sound; transpires to provide cooling effect.
  
  Career Opportunities - Golf course superintendents, athletic facility manager, sod rowers, researchers, equipment and supply companies, municipal, state and federal .
  
  Business skills important, accounting, bookkeeping, personnel management; well-rounded education in associated areas important; internship.
  
  
  
  
• Chapter 2.: monocotyledons; dicotyledons; Poaceae; Poa pratensis; Poa annua; Poa trivialis; cultivars; insect and disease resistance; recuperative potential; drought resistance; meristematic tissue; crown; intercalary meristem; turgid cells; photosynthesis and respiration; carbohydrates; dormancy; C-3 vs C-4 plants; limiting factor in growth rate; mycorrhizae; spring die-back; translocation; transpiration; xylem and phloem; epidermis; cuticle; stomata; chlorosis; crown; flowering culm; rhizomes and stolons; extravaginal growth; tillers; intravaginal; inflorescence; color, density, and uniformity; Levels of Maintenance; aesthetic and utilitarian.
  
  
  
  
• Chapter 4: Cool-Season Turfgrasses Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis); spreads by strong rhizomes; slow germination and establishment rates; drought tolerance good; shade tolerance relatively poor; exceptions - Glade, Princeton 105, America, Chateau. Common diseases are leaf spot, summer patch, necrotic ring spot, stripe smut. Cultivars - common - Kenblue, South Dakota Certified, Argyle, Park; Improved cultivars - Midnight, NuGlade, Blacksburg, America, Limousine, Glade, Rambo. Mowing height 1.5 to 3.0 inches.
  • Rough Bluegrass (Poa trivialis) - spreads by aboveground stolons; excellent cold tolerance, high density. Good shade tolerance, grows on wet, poorly drained soils; poor wear and cold tolerance; 2,4-D sensitive. Cultivars - Sabre, Laser, Winterstar
  • Canada bluegrass (Poa compressa) - excellent cold tolerance; Cultivar - Canon
  • Annual Bluegrass (Poa annua) - varieties and biotypes
  • Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne) Disease susceptibility to red thread, $ spot, brown patch, gray leaf spot, and pythium blight. Athletic fields due to good wear resistance; good overwintering grass in south. Some cultivars are bred with endophyte fungus within that repels some insects.
  • Creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris) spreads via stolons, ideal for putting greens; not recommended for lawns; has high thatching tendency, needs constant vertical mowing and topdressing. Mow only with reel mower; Cultivars - Penncross, Penneagle, Providence, Pennlinks, Seaside II, Putter.
  • Redtop (Agrostis alba) used for minimum maintenance situations where soil is wet and poorly drained.
  • Tall Fescue (Festuca arundinacea) spreads by tillering; has good low maintenance characteristics, does not tolerate close mowing, wears well because of tough leaves and deep, sturdy root system. Cultivars: Ky 31, Bonanza, Rebel, Rebel II, Rebel Jr., Wrangler. Some are bred to contain endophytes.
  • Fine Fescues (Festuca spp) - The creeping red fescue (F. rubra), cultivars Dawson and Seabreeze
  • Strong creeping red fescue (F. rubra spp. rubra); Chewings fescue (F. rubra spp. commutata) lacks rhizomes and forms a denser turf. Cultivars - Jamestown II
  • Hard fescue (Festuca longifolia) better adapted to drought, shade, and poor soil. Cultivar - Reliant.
  • Sheep fescue (Festuca ovina) - used for soil stabilization, bunch-type, blue-green in color. Fertilization not necessary.
  • Other grasses: Smooth Bromegrass - not for turfgrass, but for soil stabilization; spreads via rhizomes.
  • Timothy - used to prevent soil erosion along roadsides
  • Crested wheatgrass (Agroopyron cristatum) - low maintenance grass, good drought tolerance
  • Creeping alkaligrass Puccinellia distans) - very tolerant of high soil salts; Cultivar - Fults
  • Mixture vs Blend.
  
  
  
  
  
• Chapter 3: Warm Season Grasses: Grow from the northern edge of the transition zone to the gulf coast. Elevation has an effect on grass adaptability; Tucson is below 4,000 ft and grows Bermuda grass; Flagstaff is at about 8,000 ft and grows Kentucky bluegrass. Warm season grasses thrive best at temperatures above 80 degrees F. Some warm season grasses produce little seed, so must be propagated vegetatively by plugs, sprigs, sod, or stolons/rhizomes. Bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.) Is divided into 2 groups; common and hybrid. Common produces seedheads in lawns, hybrids do not. Common is propagated via seed, hybrid via vegetative means. Hybrid cultivars produce vigorous stolons which cause a thatch problem. Mowing is with a reel mower. Cultivars: Midiron, TifDwarf, Tifgreen are some of the better hybrid cvs; Sundevil and Sultan are some of the improved common cvs. St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) A good grass for deep south, most popular grass in Florida and Gulf coast regions. Aggressive stolon growth; good shade/salt tolerance. SAD and southern chinch bug major problems. Bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum) Spreads via stolons and rhizomes. Very drought resistant; good for low-maintenance situations. Seashore Paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) Drought tolerant, salt tolerant, tolerant of wet sites. Commonly used in California and Hawaii. Centipedegrass (Eremochloa ophiuroides) can grow farther north that St. Augustine and Carpetgrass. Chlorosis a common problem on chalky soils. Zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica) Established via plugs or sod, slow to establish. Can be grown as far north as the coastal regions of NJ and NY. Meyer is the main cv. Buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides) The only dioecious grass; planted via plugs, sometimes seed. Wear tolerance good, shade tolerance poor. This and Blue grama are the ideally "environmentally friendly" grasses due to their very low care requirements. Little to no mowing or fertilization. A warm season grass is usually a monoculture. The only possible exception would be a buffalograss/blue grama combination. The others don't mix well due to specific site and cultural requirements.
  
  

• Chapter 14: Weeds: a weed is any plant growing where it is not wanted; annual grasses such as crabgrass and annual bluegrass die each year leaving dead areas in the turf. Weeds also cause problems by competing for light, moisture, nutrients; weeds spread by seed, rhizomes, stolons, and other plant parts. The presence of a sizeable weed population indicates that the turf is too open or thin and that the management program needs improvement; the presence of some weed species can indicate that the turf is kept too wet (e.g. annual bluegrass, sedges), too dry (e.g. prostrate spurge, black medic), too low in fertility (e.g. clover). Mowing too close leads to an invasion of low-growing weeds such as annual bluegrass and chickweed. Weed species can be either dicots, monocots, annuals, perennials, or biennials. Herbicides are a class of pesticide that control weeds; being selective or non-selective; pre-emergence or post-emergence; most post-emergence herbicides are systemic (translocated). Dicamba will injure St. Augustine grass but not the other warm-season grasses; Emerald zoysia is sensitive to MSMA but not to Emerald. Cool season turfgrasses are more sensitive to herbicides during the hottest, driest parts of the summer; warm season species are more sensitive during spring greenup or droughty periods. When selecting herbicides, use the material that is least toxic and most unlikely to cause environmental problems. Common preemergence herbicides used for grass control are Benefin, Bensulide, DCPA, Pendimethalin, and Siduron (Tupersan). Post-emergent herbicides can also be used on annual grasses, MSMA, & DSMA are two such examples. Annual bluegrass control is approached via spot treating with glyphosate (Roundup); ethofumesate provides selective post-emergent control; core cultivation helps because annual bluegrass tolerates compaction; applying N later in the spring; using lightweight mowers will cause less compaction; collecting clippings; research is ongoing with bacterium organisms. A bare spot in a green or fairway could hold up to 20,000 seeds per square foot. If coexistence is decided upon, then the superintendent must protect it from extreme cold or heat, from the bluegrass weevil, black turfgrass ataenius (a scarab beetle), and diseases such as anthracnose and summer patch. Broadleaf weed control has many options; selective herbicides - 2,4-D, mecoprop, dichlorprop, dicamba, triclopyr, and clopyrlid. Combinations are more effective, where 2 or 3 are combined to provide a synergistic effect. Amine formulations are used because they are less volatile than the ester forms. In almost every instance, spraying provides better control than granular products. Isoxaben is a preemergent that is used for broadleaf weed control. Review basic rules (common sense) for weed control with herbicides. Review questions at end of chapter, page 290.