Browse Turfgrass Stories - Page 5

University of Georgia, state and industry leaders cut the ribbon on Sept. 21 signifying the official openings of three new turfgrass research and education facilities on the Griffin, Tifton and Athens campuses. The largest of the facilities is on the UGA Griffin campus, where the ceremony took place.

Georgia turfgrass producers and industry leaders will gather Tuesday, Oct. 31, and Wednesday, Nov. 1, in Ft. Valley, Georgia, for the annual Georgia Sod and Turf Producers Field Day. Industry leaders and university experts will provide updates on turfgrass-related topics, and the latest equipment will be displayed and demonstrated at the event’s trade show.

To successfully establish a new tall fescue lawn or interseed an existing lawn, consider the following techniques and practices from University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.

Last year’s prolonged drought has extended into this year. Lawns that were in poor health before the drought are having trouble greening up now. If you’re reviving a spotty lawn, perk it up with help from University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.  

Last year many lawns across the state didn’t receive enough rainfall for the grass to grow, photosynthesize and make carbohydrate reserves. Turfgrass that experienced this lack of rainfall will likely be slow to green up this spring. If rainfall totals return to normal this spring, lawns will recover, but they may do so at a slower rate because the production of reserves was compromised last fall. For example, a lawn that would typically be fully green and growing in mid-May might take until late May or June to green up. A two- to four-week delay in green-up of warm-season grasses may be common this spring.

The 71st annual Southeastern Turfgrass Conference will be held on Tuesday, May 16, at the Tifton Campus Conference Center in Tifton, Georgia.

If ever there was a year to seriously consider core aerification, this is it!

Fall is typically when homeowners make changes to their landscapes, like adding new plants and trees. Some 110 Georgia counties are suffering from drought conditions, but both Level 1 and 2 drought response allow for irrigation of personal food gardens at any time of day, and new and replanted plants, seeds and turfgrass can be watered for 30 days after installation.

New Jersey native David Jespersen was selected to fill retired UGA turfgrass physiologist Bob Carrow’s position based in part on his research on the effects of heat stress on creeping bentgrass. Jespersen is adjusting to life in the South and to working on a small extended university campus.

Georgia farmers are never surprised to see fall armyworms munching on their precious corn, sorghum and forage hay crops. They just hope for a low number of armyworms. This year’s population of the tiny destroyers, described as an “Armageddon-type outbreak” by University of Georgia entomologist David Buntin, is far from low.