Page | 1 March 30, 2012 Scouting Report
Transcription
Page | 1 March 30, 2012 Scouting Report
March 30, 2012 Scouting Report – Back to Normal? 30s at Night, Dollar spot, Dandelions, Henbit, Chickweed, Ground Ivy, Creeping Speedwell and Tim’s Poa annua encroachment data Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle - e [email protected] web www.cdgaturf.org Another week for us to reflect on this season. Here goes. We’ve returned to more normal temperatures and we caught some needed rainfall. The redbuds continue to flower nicely along with the Korean Spice viburnum. Crabapples have just begun and today I saw my first lilac begin its bloom as well. Another first report of dollar spot, this time a far north suburb. Our March was unlike that of any other spring. – such a rapid warmup so early. So, I have been fielding calls from golf course superintendents as to when to begin applications for you name it – seedhead suppression, prevention of fungal diseases and preemergent applications to prevent annual weeds March surprised us!!! A bentgrass collar has distinct patches by a Rhizoctonia sp. Settle 3-25-12 like crabgrass. The next question is what to do. Same usual interval, or should we try to stretch it and hope normal/cooler weather to smooth out the rest? I usually respond, “Ummm”. It turns out, we are all dumbfounded by 2012. How do I know? Most often I have these conversations with the best and brightest who, by their very nature, are most experienced. That says something of superintendents – that a gifted and experienced plantsmen would have no memory of a spring like this ever happening. And that’s 147 years worth – weather chroniclers and our landscape continues to see new data (green up and flowering dates). Our pencils need sharpening – already. Page | 1 Weather – When Cool Feels Good, and an update from the Illinois State Climatologist This week’s weather was more like spring, less like summer. Highs were no longer reaching 80+. Cold Temps Return to the Windy City in Spring 90 80 High T fluctuates Temperature (F) 70 60 53.1 50 51.8 40 Nights remain cold 30 35.0 20 High Low Soil (avg. 2 inches) 10 29-Mar 27-Mar 25-Mar 23-Mar 21-Mar 19-Mar 17-Mar 15-Mar 13-Mar 11-Mar 9-Mar 7-Mar 5-Mar 3-Mar 1-Mar Sunshine Golf Course (Lemont - a southwest Chicago suburb) What Follows a Warm March? by Jim Angel http://climateillinois.wordpress.com/ Posted on March 29, 2012 What follows a warm March in Illinois? Out of curiosity I looked at the other nine years in the list of 10 warmest months of March on record in Illinois (earlier post). First, I looked at the temperature and precipitation patterns for April. Then I looked at the May-August period as the heart of the growing season. Here are the results. April Historically, a warm March has been followed by a colder-than-normal April on average. That’s true not just in Illinois but across the U.S. On the other hand, precipitation for those same April periods was a mixed bag in Illinois. Most of the state was near-normal while west-central Illinois was slightly wetter-than-normal. It is interesting that dryness shows up in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota – an area having trouble with drought this year. May – August The period from May through August is the core of the growing season in Illinois. Rather than produce temperature and precipitation maps of each month, I considered the entire May-August period in one set of maps. One popular question I get is “Does this warm weather now mean that we will get a hot summer?” At least historically, the growing season following a warm March does not show a pattern of above-normal temperatures. On average, they have been remarkably mild in temperature. There is a tendency towards below-normal precipitation across much of Illinois and the Midwest. It’s nothing catastrophic, on average just an inch below normal in parts of eastern and northern Illinois. Meanwhile, southern Illinois is in an area of slightly abovenormal precipitation. Page | 2 Current Issues – Broadleaf weeds became more prominent (their flowers helped). Still, the number 1 slot continues to belong to our most chronic foliar disease of turf called dollar spot. 1. Dollar spot, Sclerotinia homoeocarpa A chronic fungal disease of most turfgrass (May-Nov). North suburbs reported 1st occurance of dollar spot. This outbreak was on a Princeville creeping bentgrass fairway. It’s very unusual for S. homoeocarpa activity in March. T. Christians 3-30-12 In Lemont (south) we saw dollar spot continue its rapid blight of the highly susceptible ‘Century’ creeping bentgrass on a green. First outbreaks can have reddish infection centers. Settle 3-29-12 Page | 3 2. Dandilion, Taraxacum officinale, is our most familiar broadleaf weed of the landscape. Dandelion is a tap-rooted perennial identfied by its bright yellow flower (peak bloom in April) and its puff-ball seedhead which has fascinated many a wishful kid. Me for sure! Settle 3-29-12 3. Henbit, Lamium amplexicaule, is a winter annual weed of thin turf areas or new turf seedlings. Henbit became more obvious this week. Its purple bloom made a statement on our ‘Zenith’ zoysiagrass tee establishment study. When cool, this broadleaf has the advantage. Settle 3-29-12 Page | 4 4. White clover, Trifolium repens, is a common weed of turf and can establish in golf fairways. White clover, a legume, has a unique ability to grow in low fertile soils given it has a symbiotic relationship with Rhizobium bacteria – clover’s roots can fix nitrogen from air. Settle 3-29-12 5. Violet, Viola papilionacea, has aggressive growth, waxy leaves, and resists many herbicides. Violets are visually striking, ranging in color from white to deep blue-violet. Settle 3-25-12 Page | 5 Tim Sibicky, MS - [email protected] CDGA Turfgrass Research Manager Putting Green Variety Trial – Poa annua Encroachment Anyone who has ever taken a weed science class knows that the first definition discussed within the course is always that which defines a weed itself. A weed is simply a plant that is out of place. Weeds have great potential to cause aesthetic nuisance, but the economic and environmental impacts are most concerning. Poa annua or annual bluegrass in the golf turf system is unique because whether or not an individual defines it as a weed is determined by one’s own definition and preferences. More often, it is thought of as a managed weed because it was originally not intentionally seeded, although the species can be dominant on putting greens, fairways, and roughs on golf courses in cool-season climates. For newly constructed or newly renovated courses, the presence of Poa annua is not desired. Renovation to creeping bentgrass is often completed with the goal of uniform playing surfaces and to gain environmental benefits and economic savings in pesticide use and irrigation water consumption. In 2009, a putting green variety trial was established by the CDGA on the north shore of Chicago at Shoreacres in Lake Bluff. Collaborating with superintendent Tim Davis, our goal was to investigate newer creeping bentgrass variety performance and to discover how spring green up may be impacted by cooler than normal temperatures (given the golf course’s close proximity to Lake Michigan). In 2009 at Shoreacres, a bentgrass nursery was established as a putting green variety trial to investigate varietal differences for spring green up. Natural encroachment of Poa annua is easily visible, with more in certain creeping bentgrass varieties. Sibicky 3-26-12 Page | 6 2010 0‐12 Visual Q Quality, Sprring Rating Dates (Marr‐Apr) Shoreaccres Puttingg Green Variiety Trial g fg fg efg efg f efg efg efg 16 ef def c‐f b‐e b‐e b‐e b‐e b‐e b a‐d abc ab ab 21 ab Data: 5 5 dates (24‐Maar‐10, 14‐Apr‐1 10, 5‐Apr‐11, 2 8‐Apr‐11, 26‐M Mar‐12) 26 a Area Under Progress Curve (AUPC) Spring visual v quality y remains an a importantt measuremeent for undeerstanding hhow the diffferent creeping bentgrass cultivars c reaact to a cooll spring clim mate near L Lake Michiggan. Our cuurrent findings are that variieties IS-AP-18, Benchm mark, OO7, Shark, CY-22 and PinUpp can perform m the best in th he months off March and April collecctively acrosss 2010-20122. Notably, varieties PeennG2, Alphaa, Crystal Blluelinks, Pen nnA-1 and PennA-4 P quaality appearrs lower beccause of a sllower early spriing green up p. Over the past p three yeears, we havve also been able to moniitor levels off Poa annua ass it naturally occurs. We are finding different levvels of encrooachment whhich suggestts that some varrieties are ab ble to naturaally resist Poa P annua bbetter. Thesee varieties innclude IS-AP P 18, Independ dence, PinUp p, Shark, OO O7, Alpha, Benchmark, B P PennA-4, M Memorial, Kinngpin and T--1. 11 6 1 *Means followedd by the same letter ddo not significantly d differ (P < 0.05, FLSD)) Data: 3 d dates, 3 years (5‐28‐10, 4‐28‐‐11, 3‐26‐12) hi ghi fgh h e‐h d‐h d‐h d‐h c‐h b‐gg b‐g b‐g a‐e abc b‐f bf c‐g i 10 ghi 15 c‐h 20 abcd 25 abc 30 ab 35 a Average Poa annua per plot (%) 2010‐12 Poa ann nua Encroaachment oss, 3 datees, 3 years Mean rratings acro 5 0 *Means followedd by the same letter ddo not significantly d differ (P < 0.05, FLSD)) Page | 7 Final Images – Flowers continue to blow us away and IPM (Integrated Pest Management) Redbud, Cercis canadensis, blooming on a spring day, St. Charles Country Club. Settle 3-25-12 Viburnum carlesii ‘Korean Spice’ is floriferous! “Perfect, pink to reddish in bud, opening white, each individual flower ½” across in dense hemispherical cymes 2-3” across.” Settle 3-29-12 Page | 8 Dr. Jennifer Grant of Cornell Univ. As Co-Director of NY State’s Integrated Pest Management Program she presented at the 7th International IPM Symposium, Memphis, TN. Settle 3-28-12 Posters reflected university research across all crops. Projects are able to highlight the advances of integrated pest management. 7th International IPM Symposium, Memphis, TN. Settle 3-28-12 Our journey together slows – it now feels like spring instead of summer. Yay! Derek, Tim, and Chris – The CDGA Turfgrass Program Page | 9