Dollar Spot

Dollar spot is the common turf disease in North America, usually seen on low cut lawns such as golf greens, fairways and tees. In Canada, dollar spot can be found in the Maritimes, the Prairies and along the West Coast, but it is most severe in the Great Lakes Region. Luckily it is readily identified and steps can be taken fairly early into infection. So dollar spot isn’t really a huge concern.

Generally only cultural practises are needed to control dollar spot. As with most fungi, keeping the turf dry can greatly reduce the occurrence of this disease. Drag a hose or pole the turf in the early morning to reduce the duration of leaf wetness. Other ways of drying the dew from turf are pruning the lower crowns of trees or thinning trees to promote air flow, reducing shade also works in promoting drier turf but efficacy is strongest by promoting sunlight in the morning. Mowing turf in the early morning can also help turf dry out quicker.

I have no strong feelings either way on this disease, its like the cold of turf, everyone gets it but it doesn’t stay for long so long as you take some measures against it. So that being said in my opinion dollar spot is just a fact of managing turf and everyone can commiserate those little brown splotches littering the fairways and tees, so here’s hoping they never reach your greens eh? Cheers.

Slime Mold

Alright, next up we have Slime Mold! Pretty nasty, slime mold is a broad term describing fungus-like organisms that use spores to spread. They used to be classified as a  fungus, but are no longer considered fungi. The reason it is called slime mold is because it resembles slime to a tee. It appear to be gelatinous and slime molds have been found all over the world and feed on microorganisms that live in any type of dead plant material. They can be found in soil, on lawns and on forest floors, usually on rotting logs.

Slime mold for the most part is a beneficial and decays dead plant material, returning nutrients to the soil. It’s not a disease, but turf that has been covered by slime mold are more likely to develop a disease.Chemical control is usually not necessary. Raking up, and disposing of the slime mold is usually all that is required. If you choose a chemical control, Dithane works pretty well. That being said the only real reason to get rid of slime mold is that it is ugly as hell, no two ways about it.

Okay, in my opinion slime mold is ugly, seriously, if I were to find it on my lawn I’d torch the sunnuva*****. So yeah, I’m not a big fan of it. It looks like someone chucked up their lunch and let it set right their on the grass. I’d suggest getting rid of it as soon as you find it as the benefits are far outweighed by its aesthetics.

 

Necrotic Ring Spot

Necrotic ring spot is probably the most damaging disease that occurs on home lawns in Ontario. Necrotic ring spot is usually found on sodded lawns in the first five years or so after establishment. Necrotic ring spot is caused by the fungus Leptosphaeria korrae. This disease is also one of the most noticeable diseases out there as well, it is defined by rings of dead grass which eventually fill out to become full patches of dead grass.

To control necrotic ring spot the best bet is to maintain good turf health and care, however this is only a preventitive that will also help mitigate the damage cause by the disease. Their are no chemical or biological agents used to get rid of it once it has appeared however some cultural techniques you could use are reducing the clay content of the soil, increasing the mowing hiehgt, irrigating deeply but infrequently, and overseeding never hurts.

To be frankly honest this is a pretty annoying disease, big brown splotches of dead grass all over your lawn, golf course, sports fields, its just a pain in the butt. That being said the only thing you can do is maintain good turf health, keep your lawn healthy and it’ll fight off most pests and diseases on its own. I’m finding that this is the single most effective method at controlling disease is turf health. So keep your lawns lush, green and healthy and I’ll see you next time! Ciao!

Giant Hog Weed

Giant Hog Weed has its origins in the orient, it is unknown how this plant managed to traverse the distance between Asia and North America but I think we can assume it was our fault, be it bad shipping procedures or some nutcase that thought it was pretty and wanted it for thier garden, doesn’t matter now. Giant Hog Weed is not so bad on its own as an invasive species, its not very prolific nor does it choke out other native species. No, the dastardly qualities of Giant Hog Weed lie in the fact that it contaisn asap that is highly photosensitive and should the plant become damaged the sap immediately seeps out and onto the attacker. This sap makes anything it touches highly photosensitive and should the sap be exposed to sunlight it can create a powerful chemical burn which WILL scar the affected area.

It is not difficult to control as it is just a simple weed, a quick spray of round-up and it’ll die, so control is not an issue, its find it that is the issues, it has spread over a fairly large area and it is difficult to find every patch, and so long as a single patch remains it will be around.

This plant really doesn’t have my ire, its a simple plant that defends itself from attack, it you leave it alone it will leave you alone, unlike the other pests I’ve mentioned which have all been infectious and devastating, so keep an eye out for this plant and you’ll be fine.

Sudden Oak Death

Okay, this next one? It terrifies me, allow me to introduce a monstrous disease, Ramorum Blight and Dieback, also known as sudden oak death. Currently it is confined to California and Oregon and it will hopefully remain so, this blog entry does not have a “control” entry as sudden oak death does not have any controls. The only thing that is effective is quarantine, cutting down entire forests in order to stop its spread. Though it is called sudden oak death the disease is not confined to oaks, it was in fact first discovered on rhododendrons in California. Currently all known instances have been eradicated ecept for a single research nursery which searches for cures or controls for this disease.

Sudden Oak Death is actually a fungal infection caused by Phytophthora ramorum (P. ramorum). It has different effects on different hosts, for example, the infected rhododendron was marked only by dark brown/black lesions rimmed with a fuzzy lighter brown margin, while on oaks it causes the rapid  dieback of the tree, the leaves turn brown and die and the oak starves to death.

Lookign at this pest I am worried, I am glad that it is currently confined in the states and I would be enternally grateful if they were to stop the spread oft he disease any further and eradicate it by default when all of the infested plants have been eradicated and the funus has nowhere else to spread, so heres hoping.

Plant-Paracitic Nematodes

Nematodes, their are so many species of nematodes it is mind boggling, however today we’re focusing on one classification of nematode, the parasitic type. In high enough quantities plant-parasitic nematodes can cause turf to turn yellow and die off, this can create an issue as it is not ever apparent that the cause of such damage is nearly invisible pests, many turf managers assume it is some form of disease or other pest and so never use the correct methods to remove the problem.

To control nematodes is fairly simple in relation to discovering that you have a nematode issue in the first place as they are a sneaky bunch and difficult to pin down, however once you have dicovered the infestation it is almost as simple as applying a nematicide and erradicating the problem from there.  However nematodes dwell beneath the soil and so special methods are needed to apply the nematicide, such as cutting grooves in the turf to allow the nematicide to sink in to mazimize efficacy.

This actually kind of disgusts me, I mean, think about it, hundreds of thousands of hidden worms wriggling beneath the surface, devouring the turf from the bottom up, a silent killer who may not be discovered in time if at all, the damage it causes looks like a great many other types of damage and this is what makes it so effective in its purpose.

Fairy Ring, A profile

Fairy rings can be caused by many different species of fungi but the fungus, Maramius oreades, is the most common organism responsible for fairy rings in turfgrass.  This fungus is in most soils but the rings it causes seem to be more noticeable and damaging in dry locations with lower fertility. The first signs of fairy ring is generally a ring of mushrooms followed by a ring of darker grass bordered by a ring of dead grass.

Controlling fairy ring is more than alittle difficult, the best way to start is by keeping your turf in good health which will not eradicate the problem it will make your lawn more resistant to future breakout. Unfortuneately fungicides don’t work very well on fairy ring as mycelium is resistant to fungicides and fungicides cannot reach underground. Since the issues is so difficult to do away with it is often easier to mask the effects through use of fungicides, heavy fertilization and watering.

Alright, so on this disease I have two contradicting trains of thought, on one side I see it as the disease it is and would like nothing better than to find a way to cure it and remove it from the long list of turf diseases, however on the other hand I find it to have a certain aesthetic to it and if I had the chance I would cultivate it in an enclosed exposure as I find the look of it pleasing. But as a turf pest I agree that it must go.

Emerald Ash Borer

Today we’ve got a profile on a certain pest that is currently a great concern to the economy and to home owners everywhere, the Emerald Ash Borer. The Emerald Ash Borer was transported from Asia, they assume it was carried overseas on a crate or some wood product. So far their have been 200,00 confirmed trees infested by the ash borer in Essex county in Southern Ontario and somewhere around 6 million trees have been killed in the Michigan area.

Currently there is no way to control their spread through the use of pesticides or biological agents as they have no natural predators in this part of the world and the damage is confined to the insides of the tree as caused by the ash borer larvae which devour the tree from the inside out. At the moment the only method of controlling this pest is to quarantine and cull infested trees from the forest. This is not as effective as other measures could be as the ash borer finds ways to ‘jump’ from tree population to tree population.

To me this is a travesty, trees are one of Canadas greatest assets and to see them cut down by an unfightable pest really kills me, it angers me to think that our great forests are threatened by a pest due to some companies royal screw up. It is my dearest hope that we can find some way to fight this pest and remove it from our landscape and blast it from our land as the invasive species it is. Yeah, they really tick me off. Ciao!

Spray Free Home Lawns

Though it may be a running theme, I have more to say on the topic of pesticide use. Ever since there were home lawns, there have been chemicals used to maintain them. All these years of products like weed and feed and stronger products like Killex have made home owners complacent and many now take their lawn for granted, unaware of the complexities of turf. To them it is as simple as green is good, yellow is bad, and to be fair, that was all they really needed to know, but that is no longer the case.

New legislation prevents homeowners from using all but the strongest of pesticides on their lawn, and even then it was stipulated that the use of Roundup was for noxious plants only such as poison ivy and giant hogweed. Now they need to begin learning about natural lawncare techniques such as using a locally adapted grass, improving spoils and monitoring their mowing height. Now that they can no longer use foolproof coveralls the need for natural methods is paramount for a lush healthy lawn.

To me this is a good thing, to allow homeowners unregulated access to pesticides was an error in my eyes as they are unaware of the biological effects of what they are spraying and furthermore they are unaware how the poison actually works and whatever health risks it may have associated with it. In my opinion the pesticide ban, although drastic, was in the best interest of the population that is and that is yet to be born.

More with Less – Turf Care

As you well know the recession has hit and budgets are lower than they’ve been in years. Furthermore the pesticide ban has only made budgets tighter as other more expensive methods of pest controls are required in order to keep turf happy and healthy. More and more people are looking for methods of taking care of turf without spending alot, which is made quite difficult without the use of pesticides or its more expensive and less effective ‘alternatives’.

There are people however who are doing quite well under the new constraints. People such as Dan Schied, who was featured in an article in Turf Magazine, are making due with smaller crews and lower budgets through innovation and use of Integrated Pest Management. Schied is the manager of horticulture and grounds at the University of Rochester and has to take care of 350 acres of land at the university over 100 of which are turf. By using a combination of different grass species, cutting techniques and analyzed soil studies and fixing he has managed to create a turf sustaining ecosystem that requires minimal, although specialized, care.

This is the future and I love it! Ingenuity, determination, diversity, these are the things that make this approach so great in my eyes. Creating an ecosystem that is specially designed to keep pest populations low is absolute brilliance. With a little extra care and alot more information on the state of his grounds Schied is able to take care of 100+ acres of turf with only 14 employees.  To me that is the future, knowledgable application over foolproof spraying. To be fair though this approach isn’t universally applicable, the time and knowledge requirements are restrictive and in some areas like golf courses in which this approach would be cunter intuitive to the courses goals.