Welcome to the “Turf Hotline” sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for the week of May 5 – 12, 2000. There is still time to subscribe to the “Turf Hotline”. You will receive a copy of each message weekly by e-mail or fax for $25 for the season. If you are interested, please give my office a call at (519) 824-4120 x 2597.
We are having funny weather at the time of recording this message. The high for today is supposed to be 27°C and it is humid with air quality warning already. This weather is supposed to last through the weekend with some rain or thundershowers. There is still some Fusarium of Microdochium patch activity from the rain over the Easter weekend. As long as the nighttime temperatures continue to dip below 15°C there will be a chance of continued Fusarium patch activity. Leaf spot has been very active on Kentucky bluegrass this spring. The warm weather over the next week could cause some melting out to occur. If this should happen, raise the mowing height, avoid evening watering and fertilize lightly to encourage turf to recover.
Areas that were damaged by grubs and seeded are recovering nicely. The soil temperatures have warmed up a lot over the last couple of weeks and they are now ideal for seed germination. Grubs will be pupating very shortly now and they have definitely finished feeding so there is no chance that they will damage new seedings.
Black turfgrass ataenius flights have been heavy over the last week. Again, for those that are trying to control these grubs preventatively, they can be sprayed now. You want to have the insecticide down before peak egglaying. Peak egglaying occurs when horse chestnut and bridal wreath spirea are in full bloom. Neither of the plants are in full bloom yet in the Guelph area.
For curative treatments, look for small grubs when the roses are in full bloom.
We have been collecting leatherjackets again in the Niagara region, Hamilton mountain, Ancaster areas. They can be found in home lawns and they are about 2.5 cm in length at the moment feeding just at the soil surface. They do not seem to be very abundant this year. Sevin, diazinon and chlorpyrifos are all labeled for control of leatherjackets.
Forsythia flowers are starting to fall off the shrubs now. Soil temperatures are warming up and crabgrass should be germinating in the next couple of weeks. With Dimension you can apply until the crabgrass is in the 1-4 leaf stage. Do not apply Dimension to newly seeded areas.
Annual bluegrass seedhead production is just starting here in Guelph. Light vertical mowing or brushing on closely mowed turf may be beneficial during peak seedhead formation to control variable growth and to control grain. It may be advisable to delay any core cultivation until late June to minimize new establishment of annual bluegrass.
Dandelions are in full bloom at the moment. Delay any broadleaf herbicide application for several weeks to make sure that all the annual broadleaf weeds have germinated.
Now is a good time to apply a spring fertilizer treatment to turf that received a late fall fertilization. A 4-1-2 ratio is a good overall ratio for turf at this time of the year.
The 2000 edition of Turfgrass Management Recommendations put out by the Ministry is now available for only $10. It has all the new pesticide recommendations in it as well as information on turfgrass fertilization, turf species, seed companies, etc.. To order your 2000 edition of Publication 384 you can telephone the OMAFRA head office at 1-888-466-2372 or call the GTI at (519) 767-5009.
Again, thanks for phoning the hotline for this week. The next hotline message will be recorded on Fri. May 12, 2000. – See more at: https://lawnsavers.com/turf-hotline-2000/turf-agrifax-week-6-2000-may-5-2000.html#sthash.4bVooAhv.dpuf
