General

As reported in yesterday’s online edition of the Charlotte News Observer, the coach of the Carolina Panthers, Ron Rivera, prefers natural turfgrass to artificial turf. He indicated that the artificial turf at MetLife Stadium may have been at least partially to blame for some of his players’ foot injuries in last week’s game against the…

Choosing certified sod is the only way you can be certain that the variety you receive is exactly what you purchased. All sod is required to have a state “Department of Agriculture” tag, which means only that the sod is free of fire ants. However, this tag does not qualify the sod as a certified…

The breeding and development of improved turfgrass varieties is a time-consuming and complex process. As Terry Hollifield, executive director of the Georgia Crop Improvement Association, points out on the front page of the association’s Spring 2017 newsletter, “Since the passage of the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) in 1970 and revised in 1994 and the…

Ready to get started in prepping your lawn for the summer months ahead? Below are a few tips to keep it healthy and lush as the weather warms up. Mow a bermudagrass or zoysiagrass lawn when it first turns green, with a rotary mower set as low as possible without scalping. Mow before the grass…

Several varieties of lawn grasses (such as zoysiagrass, bermudagrass, St. Augustinegrass and centipedegrass) are vigorous growers and produce large quantities of stems, rhizomes, stolons and roots that are resistant to decay. That layer of dead, non-decayed organic matter that develops between the green grass and the soil surface is called thatch. A shallow layer (1/2”…

Stopping weeds before they gain a “roothold” in your lawn is one of the smartest cultural practices you can use. Applying a preemergence herbicide does just that — it doesn’t stop the weed seeds from actually germinating, but it kills the new seedlings before they “emerge” by providing a chemical barrier at the soil surface.…

Soil tests provide important information about the nutrient status of the soil under your grass. You can use the test results to select and apply the kind of nutrients, and how much, to provide the optimum soil fertility for your particular kind of grass. In fact, without conducting a soil test first, fertilizing a lawn,…

A recent article published on Bloomberg.com illustrates the dangers of municipalities financially rewarding citizens who replace their lawn grass with an alternative surface, such as gravel. According to the article, the years-long drought in southern California spurred local water districts to offer a combined rebate of $3.75 per square foot for homeowners and businesses to…