Month: July 2020

News

Summer Lawn Care

Michigan lawns are commonly a mix of Kentucky bluegrass, creeping red fescue and perennial ryegrass. Sodded turf is usually a blend of varieties of Kentucky bluegrass. These grasses are cool-season grasses — they grow best in spring and also in late summer to early fall when days are warm and nights are cool. Spring and fall are times of growth for blades and roots of grass plants and the development of new plants. Simple cultural practices through the summer can aid the grass in surviving the stresses of summer.

Watering lawns in summer

Cool-season turfgrasses often require supplemental watering in the summer to remain green and actively growing. During hot and dry periods, the turf needs light, frequent waterings that add up to 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches of water per week. Grass roots are naturally shorter during hot, dry conditions of summer, and applying too much water at that time can waste water because it simply moves past the root zone of the plants. The best time of the day for watering is morning to early afternoon. Avoid watering in the evening — this extends the time that lawns remain wet through the night, and that can encourage fungus diseases. If summer watering restrictions are in place that ban daytime watering, then apply water to turf between midnight and daybreak.

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This article is originally posted and taken from Michigan State University.

News

Annual Bluegrass Weevil found in Wisconsin

Last week a possible case of annual bluegrass weevil was reported at a course in central Wisconsin and was confirmed as ABW last night by both UW Insect Diagnostic Lab Manager P.J. Liesch and Penn State Entomologist Dr. Ben McGraw. ABW is a serious pest of annual bluegrass that has primarily only been found in the eastern portion of the country…the closest confirmed case of ABW to Wisconsin prior to this was in Cleveland, OH. We believe ABW came in on sod that was purchased from the eastern part of the country several years ago.

While this is a significant development, there is also no need to panic. ABW spreads very slowly and is unlikely to be on many of your courses now or in the near future, but it’s still important to be aware of a new and damaging pest in the area.

I have created a webpage with answers to a few basic questions, links to additional resources, and contact information for UW Insect Diagnostic Lab Manager and PSU Professor (and ABW expert) Ben McGraw.

The website address is here: https://tdl.wisc.edu/2020/07/01/new-pest-alert-annual-bluegrass-weevil-in-wisconsin/

Even though I’m a pathologist, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions you might have.

Paul Koch, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Plant Pathology
Molecular and Environmental Toxicology Center
University of Wisconsin – Madison
608-262-6531

This article is originally posted and taken from MiGCSA.