BERMUDAGRASS ON DOWLING HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL FIELD

Nick Christians
June 17, 2013

On September 18, 2012 I put up a post from Eric Van Ginkel showing a large amount of bermudagrass (Cynadon dactylon) on the Dowling high school ball field in West Des Moines.  The picture below is from last fall.  The bermudagrass is the lighter colored grass.

I stopped out at the field on June 7 to see how the bermuda had overwintered.  Here is a picture of  the field from June 7.  The bermuda has overwinetered well and is blending in well with the Kentucky bluegrass.  I'll try to get a picture again this fall to see if the bermudagrass has increased or decreased over the summer.

LEAF SPOT SHOWING UP ON CREEPING BENTGRASS FAIRWAYS

Nick Christians
June 10, 2013

Conditions have been very wet in the Midwest this spring, which has resulted in a very fast growth rate of turf.  Most of us are having a hard time keeping up with mowing.  These wet conditions in spring are often followed by a leaf spot breakout in turf.  The picture below is from the Chicago area.  It shows the typical leaf spot symptoms on fairway bent.

Symptoms generally include blighting from the tip down on bent, rather than the standard leaf spot lesions seen on other species.  The turf on the area may also look like it is dry, even if the soil is wet.  The grass also takes on a brown "haze" when you look at it from a distance.

The fungi that causes this is usually attributed to Bipolaris or Dreschslera (formerly Helminthosporium), depending on the author.  I will let the pathologist sort that one out.

Chlorthalonil (Daconil and other commercial names) is the standard answer for this problem, although there are several fungicides labeled for this disease.

This disease can also hit greens, but most golf courses are treating greens and it is not as common as it once was.  Because of the cost, fewer superintendents are treating fairways and that is where we are seeing most of the problem this spring.

SLIME MOLD SHOWING UP ON TURF

Nick Christians
June 4, 2013

The wet weather has resulted in an increase in slime mold showing up on lawns.  This problem is caused by primitive fungi that exist primarily as saprophytes (organisms that live on dead organic material) and use living grass plants for support.  Fungi in the genera Muctlaga and Physarium are usually the causal agents.  They can take on a wide variety forms.  Sometimes people describe it as something that looks like the dog threw up on the lawn.  Other times it looks like gray slime on the leaves.  Then, it can take on some truly strange appearances that you would not associate with a fungi.

The fungi can be washed off with a hose.  It will usually go away after the wet dreary weather changes.   We generally do not recommend fungicides for this problem.

Larry Ginger of American Lawn Care sent in the first picture earlier this week.  This is typical of the way slime molds generally appear in wet weather.

 Here is a close up of some slime mold from the research station.

Here is one from my own lawn that looks like the dog threw up.

Here is the most unusual one that I have seen.  This came from a lawn in Iowa.

 

Van Wall Helping Iowa State "Go Green"

Early last month, Van Wall delivered a new John Deere 2500-E Hybrid greens mower for the ISU Horticulture Research Station to use for the upcoming season. So far, we have seen up to 30% in fuel savings while never having the risk of having a hydraulic leak.  The hybrid model can be operated at lower RPM's allowing for a more quiet and comfortable operation.

The new mower will be used to maintain turf plots as well as a teaching aid for students. This allows Iowa State to educate students on the newest technology in turfgrass equipment.

The turfgrass research at the ISU Horticulture Research Station is grateful for this generous donation from John Deere and Van Wall and a special thanks to Joe Blaker at Van Wall for making all of the arrangements.

FLOODING IN AMES.

Nick Christians
May 28, 2013

What's next?  If you check the blog from the beginning of this month, you will find a major snow fall in Ames in May.  Now at the end of the month, we have flooding.  The first picture is from this morning on the 15th fairway at Veenker golf course on Iowa State Campus.  We have one of our major research projects for the year on this fairway and it is now under several feet of water.  Hopefully, we can salvage the research if the water goes down soon.

 Pumping off water from behind 16 tee.

 Here is the river running through Veenker at 8:00 this morning.  It went over it's banks last night.  The maintenance shop can be seen through the trees.  They have moved all of the equipment to higher ground.

 Another view of the river crossing in front of the 16th tee.

 This is the crew washing and sweeping soil and other flood related materials from the 16th fairway.

KEVIN HANSEN'S SUPERBOWL INTERNSHIP 2013

Nick Christians
May 22, 2013

Here is a power point on Kevin Hansen's Super Bowl Internship in 2013.  See posts from November 30 and January 21 for more detail.

PoaCure trial at Green Bay Country Club

Nick Christians
May 14, 2013

Here are some pictures from Marc Davison, superintendent of Green Bay Country Club in Wisconsin.
It shows spring recovery on his 5th green following an application of PoaCure (Methiozolin) (the new material from Moghu in Korea).  I was applied in the fall at 0.6 oz/1000 sq ft in the fall to about 2000 sq ft area on the left side of the green.  The grass is Providence creeping bentgrass.

 The first picture is from April 27.  It shows the treated area on the left.

 April 30.  By April 30, what appeared to be dry spots in the bentgrass began to appear.  The soil was not dry under these spots.

 May 2

May 5.  the dry spots were still present on May 5.

May 13.  This is May 13, yesterday.  The dry spots are recovering and most of the Poa is gone.

 

The Moghu company has put out a press release acknowledging this problem on Providence bentgrass treated with PoaCure.  If anyone else has seen the dry spots on other cultivars, let me know.