Science-based, holistic, site-specific water conservation practices can reduce water use on turfgrass sites without adversely affecting turfgrass performance. However, when water use is decreased below a certain threshold, performance declines. Water conservation measures that reduce turfgrass performance essentially decrease its economic, environmental, recreational, and aesthetic values, whic...

tains more nitrogen than any other element. Fourth, nitrogen is a very dynamic element in the soil system. Its concentration is constantly changing, usually decreasing. The other essential elements are significantly more stable in soils. Nitrogen, therefore, must be routinely added to turfgrass to maintain a soil level sufficient for turfgrass growth. An ideal nitrogen fertilization maintenance...

Nitrate concentrations of groundwater are increasing in residential areas. One probable cause is input of nitrogen fertilizers to maintain healthy turfgrass. This study was conducted to evaluate differences in nitrate concentrations in soil water between sites fertilized with chemical or organic fertilizer. To obtain nitrate concentrations leaching below turfgrass and evaluate the impact to gro...

Frequent monitoring of stress levels in turfgrass is key to maintaining healthy turfgrass stands. Current methods used to monitor turfgrass for drought and salinity stress can be time consuming and expensive. This study was conducted to determine if data obtained from digital image analysis and spectroradiometry could accurately detect drought and salinity stress in hybrid bluegrass. Furthermor...

Conservation and augmentation of indigenous natural enemies are promising strategies for biologically based pest management in outdoor urban environments. This research sought to determine whether the addition of wildßower plantings would enhance the occurrence, abundance and impact of beneÞcial arthropods in the landscape, and to determine the potential compatibility of pest-resistant turfgras...

Colletotrichum cereale is an ascomycete inhabitant of cool-season Pooideae grasses. The fungus has increased in frequency over the past decade as a destructive pathogen of Poa annua and Agrostis stolonifera turfgrass. Colletotrichum cereale exists as two lineages, designated clades A and B, but little is known about the distribution of these clades in natural environments, or what role these su...

2,4-dimethylamine salt (2,4-D) is an herbicide commonly applied on athletic fields for broadleaf weed control that can dislodge from treated turfgrass. Dislodge potential is affected by numerous factors, including turfgrass canopy conditions. Building on previous research confirming herbicide-turfgrass dynamics can vary widely between species, field research was initiated in 2014 and 2015 in Ra...

Application[Editor 321]  of biotic growth regulators (e.g. humic components) and appropriate mulches is recommended to improve turfgrass quality especially in arid andsemi-arid climate zones. However, limited number of studies have investigated their effect on lawn establishment. To investigate the effect of humic acid (HA) and selected mulches on characteristics of Festuca arundinacea in its p...

The extent of root, rhizome, and/or stolon growth determines turfgrass sod maturity. In 1998, at Michigan State University, the Calrochan Sod Puller (CSP) was developed to measure the force necessary to tear a piece of sod. The CSP uses a battery powered hydraulic pulley to provide a consistent pulling force, and is attached to a load cell. In August 1999, sod strength measurements of different...

Soil pH may influence speciation and extractability of Pb, depending on type of vegetation in urban soil environments. We investigated the relationship between soil pH and Pb extractability at forest and turf grass sites in Baltimore, Maryland. Our two hypotheses were: (1) due to lower pH values in forest soils, more Pb will be in exchangeable forms in forested than in turfgrass soils and (2) d...