Welcome to the “Turf Agriphone” sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This message is being recorded for the week of Aug. 17- 24, 2001.
Not only have we had a break in the weather with a return to cooler temperatures, but we actually had some rain here in the Guelph area last night, but it was only 5mm. The cooler temperatures are to stay with us for the weekend and into early next week. They are calling for rain at the end of the weekend. Let’s hope they are correct with that forecast.
This drop of rain is not going to significantly impact the turf and lawns. We still need a good 2.5-3.5 cm of rain to bring the turf out of dormancy. If you are in an area where there is no lawn watering ban, here are a few tips to keep turf alive but conserve water at the same time.
Water turf once a week with about 2.5 cm of water. This may not keep the turf from going dormant, but it will insure that it survives this dry period. Use an empty can to help you know when you have put on 2.5 cm. If possible, cycle irrigation to allow water penetration and avoid water runoff. Dry soils may not be able to absorb 2.5cm of water in one watering. Water turf in the early morning. This helps reduce water loss to evaporation and also helps minimize the development of diseases. Never set sprinklers to water pavement, driveways or sidewalks as this wastes water. Disease pressure is off this week again because of the cooler temperatures and lower relative humidity. Dollar spot will continue to be a problem with the warm days, cool nights and heavy dew. Home lawn turf will still be dormant in most areas that still have water bans so diseases will not be a problem. On irrigated home lawn turf, the necrotic ring spot has been very active. We will not see any home lawn diseases such as rust, etc. until we get some more rain and the grass comes out of dormancy.
As far as insects are concerned, the hairy chinch bugs will be pretty much finished their feeding. European chafer grub feeding will be starting in earnest now. Of course it will take a long time for the damage to be visible. On areas that were not treated with Merit, now is a good time to start looking for the 1st and 2nd instar grubs. Grub damage will not be evident for a good month and a half, but if you want to treat curatively for European chafer or Japanese beetle grubs, now is a good time to start monitoring for them. If you do find significant numbers of small grubs, it is best to hold off until later in Aug. or beginning of September to treat curatively. For areas that have had European craneflies this summer, the larvae will be pupating soon and adults will emerge in about 1 month.
We are still in a holding pattern where turf is concerned. Until the turf comes out of dormancy, there is no need to apply fertilizer. As soon as it does, however, it would be good to put down the first application of the fall fertilizer. The turf will be very thing coming out of dormancy and it will need the extra nitrogen to help it fill in this fall. The second application should go down in late October/early November. As far as weed control is concerned, herbicides should be used once the turf and weeds are actively growing. The same is true for core aeration. You should postpone core aeration until the grass comes out of dormancy.
Again, thanks for phoning the Turf Agriphone for this week. The next agriphone message will be recorded on Fri. Aug. 24,2001. – See more at: https://lawnsavers.com/turf-hotline-2001/turf-agrifax-week-19-2001-august-17th-2001.html#sthash.FeCtBwSO.dpuf
