Tropical Storm Brings Rain But What About Gray Leaf Spot?

July 14, 2020 by

The passing of tropical storm, Fay brought some needed precipitation to the region, albeit too much at once in many places. Relatively dry soils (assumes not being over-irrigated) and the long, warm days of summer should allow turfs to dry out reasonably fast.

But what about gray leaf spot? Spores of the pathogen are thought to be blown up from southern regions to the north on the winds of tropical systems. With the recent passing of Fay, Dr. Bruce Clarke recommends being on the watch for early symptoms and signs of gray leaf spot outbreaks. Gray leaf spot can be severe on older, non-tolerant cultivars of perennial ryegrass while new, improved cultivars will be much less sensitive although not immune. Over the last couple years, we have also experienced some strong outbreaks of gray leaf spot on tall fescue across the region. So don’t ignore the tall fescue turfs if you have some.

For more information, see the fact sheet, Integrated Control of Gray Leaf Spot on Perennial Ryegrass.

Gray leaf spot control with fungicides on perennial ryegrass.

Fungicide plots on a perennial ryegrass cultivar that is highly susceptible to gray leaf spot.

Filed Under: Diseases, Drought and Heat, Golf Turf, Lawn, Sports Turf, Uncategorized

Summer Aeration/Cultivation/Venting

July 15, 2019 by

Aeration during the summer can be a helpful practice but does need some caution. Many turf managers performing mid-season aeration on putting greens will be using needle tines, which are less disruptive. But the key words are [Read more…]

Filed Under: Drought and Heat, Golf Turf, Sports Turf, Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Soil Health

November 15, 2018 by

Soil that has been severely compacted often breaks into large massive plates.

For those interested in soil health – we all should be – the Soil Health Institute has release a 60-minute documentary featuring innovative farmers and soil health experts from throughout the U.S.

You can view the film at https://livingsoilfilm.com/

 

Filed Under: Drought and Heat, Golf Turf, Lawn, Sports Turf, Water Quality Tagged With: ,

Dog Days and Cool-Season Grass

August 12, 2018 by

 

Cool-season lawn struggling to grow in shallow soil on a south-facing slope during dog days.

According to Merriam-Webster, dog days is the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere; a period of stagnation or inactivity.

The dog is actually the Dog Star – also called Sirius – which rises simultaneously with the sun during the hottest days of summer in the northern hemisphere. Plutarch (Greek writer, 46-120 AD) referred to the hot days of summer as hēmerai kynades (literally, “dog days”); the Latin translation dies caniculares is the source of our English phrase. But I digress…

You most likely have noticed that cool-season grasses have recently entered a period of stagnation or inactivity (dog days) and, in some cases, are spent. The hot summer days have steadily increased soil temperatures to the point that the soil is now warmer than air temperature for much of the daylight hours and all of the night. During the last 10 days at Hort Farm No. 2, soil temperature at 3-inches has oscillated between 76 and 90 °F and at 2-inches 78 and 92 °F. These soil temperatures are well above the optimum temperatures for root growth and clearly explain why cool-season grasses are lethargic at this time.

What to do? Be patient and do not “push” the grass. This is not the time of year to stress out turf – the grass has very little resiliency and will not tolerate much abuse or recovery quickly. I recently witnessed utility vehicle traffic on subtly drought stressed turf during the hottest part of the day result in classic tire-track damage. Root systems of cool-season grasses are weakest and shallowest at this time of year. Thus, localized drought stress can develop rapidly – within a couple hot, sunny days – during the dog days.

These cultural practices can be helpful in getting high value turf to survive dog days. Once the turf has drained after drenching thunderstorms (2-3 days), program daily, very-light (50-65% of reference ET), deficit irrigation using a rainhold setting (such as 0.2-inch rain) to stop irrigation from adding to over-wetting from storms. Deficit irrigation assures that thunderstorms will be the reason for excess wetness, not the irrigation schedule. This irrigation plan should encourage the turf the dry without over-drying between irrigations (or thunderstorms). If excess drying does occur with this irrigation plan, it probably will start in highly localized (small) areas, which can be effectively managed with well-timed syringing to re-hydrate dry leaves and prevent crispy thatch during the heat of the day. Crispy thatch means that surface adventitious roots either are or will soon be crispy as well. Moist to dry thatch is good, whereas crispy and crunchy thatch in the heat is bad. Weekly, low-rate fertilization (N and possibly P, K and micronutrients) is crucial on sand-topdressed and sand-based rootzones commonly found on golf course putting greens and some sports turfs. These rootzones have very little mineralization capacity to supply essential nutrients during dog days. Weekly low-rate fertilization provides a steady, consistent slow-growth and avoids the “surge-crash” cycle of growth that results from less-frequent and higher application rates. Typically, low-rate N is no more than a 0.1-lbs. per 1,000-sq. ft.

Filed Under: Annual Bluegrass, Drought and Heat, Golf Turf, Lawn, Sports Turf, Weather Conditions

Summer Patch on Hard Fescue

July 23, 2018 by

Hot weather in early July brought on some severe summer patch (root disease) symptoms in hard fescue. This disease on fine fescues hasn’t been as thoroughly studied as it has been on other grasses.  So recommendations are based on knowledge learned in Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) and annual bluegrass (Poa annua) turfs. We are establishing plots this summer and fall to learn more about this disease on hard fescue.

Symptoms of summer patch disease on a 4-year-old hard fescue turf in New Brunswick NJ.

Fine fescues are better adapted to dry and infertile soils. Summer performance of fine fescue will generally be better in moderate to light shade than full sun.

To limit damage from summer patch on fine fescues, do not apply more than 2 lbs. of N per 1,000 sq. ft. per year. An acidifying form of N such as ammonium sulfate is thought to be the best choice when fertilizing fine fescues affected by summer patch. Caution is needed when irrigation fine fescue turf, especially on heavy (loamy) soils. Summer patch disease tends to be more severe on soil that retains water. Irrigation should be applied in a manner that moistens the soil after some time of drying but does not keep the soil excessively wet for many days. Mow fine fescue turf no lower than 2.5 to 3 inches and stop mowing when the turf shows symptoms of heat and drought stress in the summer. Fine fescue turf grows more slowly than other cool-season turfgrasses especially when air temperatures approach and exceed 90 °F.

See Dr. Bruce Clarke’s PowerPoint slides for more details on summer patch disease.

 

Filed Under: Drought and Heat, Lawn, Summer Patch, Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Localized Drought Stress is Here

June 27, 2014 by

As stated in an early post, summer stress is developing throughout the state. Summer stress isn’t widespread or severe but it is developing, particularly wilt stress, within very localized areas of many landscapes. Landscapes that receive little to no irrigation are especially prone to wilt and drought stress right now.

It is important to scout and assess the severity of any wilt stress in moderate-to-high value areas of the landscape. Hours are important, don’t put off the scouting of wilt stress. Assuming the grass or other plants will tolerate wilt stress without confirming the severity of the situation can lead to severe drought stress and stand loss at this time of year.

Symptoms of subtle wilt stress on June 22. Healthy turf will likely to tolerate this level of wilt stress.

Symptoms of subtle wilt stress on June 22. Healthy turf will likely to tolerate this level of wilt stress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grasses such as the fine fescues and annual bluegrass will be [Read more…]

Filed Under: Drought and Heat, Golf Turf, Lawn, Sports Turf

Drought Ends in New Jersey

February 17, 2014 by

Last autumn I was blogging about the drought conditions that we were experiencing. Thankfully, this winter’s precipitation, albeit lots of snow, has changed our water status in the region. The U.S. Drought Monitor no longer lists New Jersey as having abnormally dry or moderate drought. You can view more details at http://www.nrcc.cornell.edu/page_drought.html

Expect I will have to post about snow mold disease and flooding, once we get a thaw.

The current drought monitor map of the Northeast.

The current drought monitor map of the Northeast.

Filed Under: Drought and Heat, Golf Turf, Lawn, Sports Turf, Uncategorized, Weather Conditions

Abnormally Dry to Moderate Drought Condition in Much of NJ

November 18, 2013 by

I mentioned in my previous post that dormancy has been apparent in many non-irrigated turfs. These conditions still persist throughout the central and northern NJ.

You can view the distribution and severity of the dry conditions throughout the northeastern U.S. at http://www.nrcc.cornell.edu/page_drought.htmlThis map shows that southern NJ is not experiencing drought conditions; whereas, central NJ is experiencing abnormally dry conditions, and northern NJ is experiencing moderate drought. This dryness typically doesn’t last through winter but it is something to watch. Moreover, you should assess your landscapes for any potential susceptibility to winter desiccation.

I want to share a some observations and ideas that have  come up while discussing this topic with turf managers.

  1. In those areas experiencing limited rain this fall, there has been very little recovery from summer stresses on non-irrigated turfs (and other plantings). These turfs may benefit from an application of a slow release N source to ensure recovery starts when water levels improve in late winter and early spring. Recall that NJ prohibits N applications to turf by professionals after December 1st (except on golf courses).
  2. While dry soil conditions this fall may have induced dormancy of the grass, the grass may be vulnerable to extended dryness through the winter especially in localized areas of turf that are sloped (water runs off) and exposed. These dry areas could experience desiccation damage if there are cold harsh winds combined with little to no snow or rain. If feasible, some irrigation of these areas before winter sets-in may be helpful in avoiding winter damage.
  3. Localized dry areas may have developed water repellency (become hydrophobic). These areas could benefit from an application of wetting agents to improve infiltration of rain and snow melt into the soil. Even if the soil is not hydrophobic, wetting agents will improve water infiltration of irrigation or winter precipitation.

Let’s hope that precipitation becomes more typical where it is currently dry.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Filed Under: Drought and Heat, Golf Turf, Lawn, Sports Turf

Dormancy in October? It is very dry and cool.

October 26, 2013 by

I spent a couple days this past week teaching in a turf care training program at Central Park in NYC. Many lawn areas in Central Park that are not irrigated were entering dormancy because of the dry soil conditions. And as you look around there is an increasing acreage of turf as well as shrubs and trees in our area that are being challenged by drying soil conditions. Fortunately, it is cool and many plants are tolerating the drying by entering dormant.

Lawn area entering the onset of dormancy. Shoot growth is shutting down and leaves are wilting.

However, managers should think about their end of the season programs related to irrigation shut down [Read more…]

Filed Under: Drought and Heat, Golf Turf, Lawn, Sports Turf, Weather Conditions

“Rain Shadows”

October 2, 2013 by

Many people are aware that tree root competition is part of the challenge of maintaining turf within the drip line of trees. But the canopy of trees also contributes to the challenge by capturing and retaining much, and in some cases all, of a rain.

Rain shadows have been evident for some time now but the damage from the soil dryness has reached moderate to severe levels over the last couple weeks. Many of the lighter rainfalls over the last month haven’t wet the grass let alone the soil under large trees at Hort Farm No. 2 in North Brunswick.

The cumulative effects of a "rain shadow" and tree root competition lead to drought stress under trees.

Filed Under: Drought and Heat, Golf Turf, Lawn
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