Everyone who grows plants, whether rhododendron shrubs in the landscape or a bentgrass green, has one goal and that is to grow the healthiest plants possible. But as we all know, sometimes that is easier said than done. Many factors, such as weather conditions, cultural practices, or pest incidence may affect the quality of the plant in question. Proper diagnosis is critical in identifying the problem quickly and determining what corrective steps need to be taken. Not every problem can be answered in the field, but with the right information and a few helpful tools you can go a long way in narrowing the possibilities. ....more

Deer have become a significant contributor to plant damage in the American landscape. They are known to feed on hundreds of plants in the landscape and are estimated to cause more than 2 billion dollars in damage annually. The amount of damage to a particular area or landscape is influenced by several factors.....more

As we roar into fall with highs still in the mid 80s, longer nights and less daylight add up to increased opportunity for disease. Combine that with just a little added stress from verticutting and Curvularia will gladly jump all over a green. Curvularia may not cause severe damage, but is still very unsightly to say the least. Cleary Chemical Corporation offers two effective combination products, Spectro 90 and 26/36, which will quickly take out Curvularia....more

How many times have you found this to be true in life: it’s not only what you do on the day you need to perform that determines success, but also what you did to get there? Just think of any Olympic gold medalist. Would their accomplishments have been possible without the proper preparation? The answer is probably not. ...more

Although the summer has come to a close, the disease season has not. Fall brings with it a new set of challenges. One of them is cool season brown patch (also known as yellow patch). Caused by the fungus Rhizoctonia cerealis, cool season brown patch typically becomes a problem in the fall and spring during periods of rainy, overcast weather. Improving surface drainage, applying labeled fungicides in fall and fertilizing in the spring after the turf has broken dormancy can lessen or prevent the severity of disease outbreaks and promote recovery.....more

When was the last time that you saw the tulips flowering around the clubhouse? It seems that more and more these days animal feeding has made it difficult to keep the ornamentals on the property looking their best. Animal feeding damage to ornamentals can significantly lower the aesthetic and dollar value of the affected plants. There are many methods that can be used to help reduce this damage, including hunting or trapping, fencing, and animal repellents. The use of animal repellents is an effective tool and a good choice where other methods are not feasible. .....more

Southern turfgrass managers are all too familiar with Gray Leaf Spot, a potentially devastating disease of St. Augustine grass and bermudagrass. In recent years, northern turf managers have become familiar with it as well, in particular on their tall fescue and perennial ryegrass turf. Long confused with brown patch in southern climates, northern outbreaks of gray leaf spot (affecting a broad area from Virginia to Ohio to New Jersey) seem to be more easily confused with drought.. ....more