Fall - the best time to be in Turf Management...

So, in Georgia, you have your pre-emergent down, you've sprayed out all of your remaining summer and early fall weeds, if you have cool season grass, you've either aerified and or over/inter-seeded your greens, tee boxes, driving range, or yard(s).... Now What?

Relax! Get ready for cool, sunshine filled days outdoors... wait, not just yet....

If you want an absolute PERFECT turf, you have another ap or two to go... if you have the resources. A winterizing fertilizer for both warm season (bermudagrass/zoysia/centipede etc..) and cool season (bentgrass, annual or perennial ryegrass, or fescue), may be used to help strengthen your roots and help the turf store carbs for the wintertime. Winterizing fertilizers also typically contain iron, which will give you a nice green color until the first frost, or dormancy.

What is important to know about winterizing fertilizers, mostly for warm season turf species like bermudagrass, is to keep the first number, or Nitrogen low and keep the last number or Potash about 3 times higher or more than the N.

Typically, I sell the following winterizing fertilizers at the following recommended rates:

5-10-31 with 10% Iron - 3.5 lbs per 1,000 sq feet or about 150 lbs per acre.
5-0-20 with 10% Iron - 5 lbs per 1,000 sq feet or about 215 lbs per acre.
5-10-20 with 10% Iron - 5 lbs per 1,000 sq feet or about 215 lbs per acre.

There is one more ap you might consider for late fall, and that is one more application of fungicides and insecticides. Depending on your turfgrass species, the soil type and the level of quality you wish to achieve, there are many products available on the market to control cool season insects and fungus.

Hope ya'll are having a great fall and go Dawgs!

As always, please follow, subscribe, post questions, comments, or corrections!

GT

The rain stopped... Now what?

Today embarked my 2nd day volunteering on the Agronomy (maintenance) crew at my 5th Annual Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, in Atlanta Georgia.

I've learned a ton over the years as far as golf maintenance and tournament set-up, however, this year, I learned a lot more about warm season turf (I.E. Bermudagrass), and how the weather effects it.

Earlier this year (in Georgia), we experienced record rain fall amounts leading up to mid July. Up until about 4 weeks ago, we have been inundated by daily and weekly regular rainfall amounts of up to 5 inches of rainfall per week. On my last post, I discussed how that effected weed control and how that will determine when we decide to apply our pre-emergent herbicides (preventing weeds).

Rainfall, and then none:

What I didn't realize, until now, is that regular heavy rainfall, promotes a shallow root system. IF you consider the fact that we are in a clay-soil environment in Georgia, roots from bermudagrass have a challenge growing deeper into clay soils, vs sandy soils since clay is denser and more difficult to penetrate. With record, more often rainfall, the bermudagrass roots, are not required to strive to go deeper in the soil to find water. As a result, the root system of most golf courses greens, tee boxes, fairways, and rough, as well as sports fields and lawns, have experienced shallower root systems up until 4 weeks ago.

Now, the kicker! The rain almost has completely stopped falling during the last four weeks. What that means is, most bermudagrass turf, has a shallow root system, that virtually is not prepared for drought like conditions, along with low-humidity during the days, and a very hot, indian summer. As a result, we are noticing bermudagrass turf "shutting down" and going into a protective, almost dormant state, along with a wilt-like (highly stressed) state of being.

The solution, and what to do now:

If you have an irrigation system, make sure it is running efficiently and working properly, then, turn it on! Regular watering is all that is required. Water 2 inches per week for bermuda or other warm season grasses (such as zoysia or centipede), preferably, a half inch, 4 times per week to encourage deeper rooting. 

Apply a watering agent and a hygroscopic product to allow the turf roots to move water to the roots and encourage atmospheric moisture uptake. One great product to the solution is Hydretain or Moisture Manager. The latter two products allow the root system of the plant to grab and uptake any available soil and atmospheric moisture.

Apply a fertilizer heavy on Phosphorus and Potassium. These are the last two numbers on a bag of fertilizer. For example: 10-20-20 is 10% nitrogen (for chute or leaf blade growth and color), 20% phosphorus and 20% potassium for root development. AND, a little bit of micronutrients like helium, manganese, magnesium, calcium, copper, chlorine, and iron, just to name a few, won't hurt either. (It's also a great time to put some lime down to help your soil as well)

Lastly, mow your turfgrass 1/2 an inch higher to promote root depth. The longer the grass chute (the green stuff on top of the ground), the deeper the roots.

I hope this information is found to be useful. As always; please like, subscribe and provide any feedback or constructive criticism to help us all grow healthier turf!

Thanks for reading!

Gary Terrell

Fall Pre-Emergents (this year has been a doozy, prepare for fall early).

Rainfall. What does it have to do with weeds? 

Well, I'm glad you asked. Weed germination is not directly linked to the amount of rainfall, except for the fact that water makes everything grow. Weed germination is however, linked to the lack of pre-emergent herbicide that is in the soil at the time of germination. Most herbicides are broken down by soil microbes and rainfall leaching and watering away the chemical used to prevent weeds.

According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc/?n=rainfall_scorecard), metro Atlanta has received 45.80 inches of rainfall so far this year. In an average year, metro Atlanta receives 49.71 inches of rainfall total. So, what does all this mean for you and me and our grass? It's been an abundantly wet year, and our pre-emergents we put out this Spring have most likely been completely used up.

The solution: Put out your pre-emergent early this year (Between August 15th and Septermber 15th). I would also recommend at going out at higher rates and or doing a split application (1/2 of your herbicide now and 1/2 of the product one month from now). This will ensure you catch the weeds before they have a chance to germinate.

I will suggest the following products and rates for fall herbicide applications (FOR WARM SEASON TURF ONLY:

*Barricade/Prodiamine - Spray application: 1.5 lbs per acre now or 1 lb per acre now and 1 lb per acre one month from now. Granular applications: stonewall 0-0-8 0.43% 5 bags per acre now or 3 bags now, 3 bags 1 month from now.

Dimension/Dithiopyr - Spray applications: 2 pints per acre between now and september 15th. Granular applications: Dimension 0-0-7 .21% 5 bags now or 5 bags 3 weeks from now (no split application recommended for this product in fall).

Specticle/Indaziflam - Spray applications: 6 ounces per acre between now and October 15th. Granular applications: 3 bags per acre of Specticle G between now and October 15th.

Please subscribe and follow! Please comment with questions, concerns, corrections and or just to say thanks!

GT

*For homeowners, I would recommend the first option (Barricade/Prodiamine) in the granular formulation. 

Test run for "This and that on highly maintained turf" blog.

So this is my first attempt at a Blog. I've been reading blogs for quite some time now, however, I've just now found the guts to launch my own.

This post is more of a test, to help me learn how to operate the software and successfully achieve blogging savviness.

More to come....

GT