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Weed Control in Spring Seedings

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The recent warm weather means its time to started on lawn and landscape projects. You may have plans to seed bare spots in the lawn that you didn’t get to in the autumn. These bare spots may be the result of fungal diseases, which were aplenty due to heavy rainfall in 2018. Summer annual weeds such as crabgrass or Japanese stiltgrass can out compete desirable species in the summertime and leave bare areas as well. While autumn is the ideal time to seed lawns in New Jersey, spring seedings can be successful if you have a plan to control summer annual weeds.

Crabgrass in a lawn

 

Weed competition from summer annual weeds is much more intense and is the main reason spring seedings are unsuccessful. In a mature lawn, you can apply a pre-emergence herbicide (crabgrass preventer) to manage weeds such as crabgrass and stiltgrass. If you recently seeded or have plans to, these crabgrass preventers are not an option.

If you are planning to seed this spring, using a starter fertilizer product that also contains the active ingredient mesotrione is an effective option when applied at seeding. It will control weed seedlings as they emerge without harming the grass you’ve seeded. One product for home lawns that contains mesotrione is Scotts® Turf Builder® Starter® Food for New Grass Plus Weed Preventer. Mesotrione is available for professional applicators as Tenacity® and other trade names. Products that contain siduron (Tupersan) are also an option for crabgrass control at seeding. Mesotrione and tupersan are not as effective as other pre-emergent herbicides such as pendimethalin, dithiopyr, and prodiamine that can be used on mature, well-established lawns.

After mesotrione is applied, weed seedlings and sometimes the turfgrass will appear bleached for 7 to 21 days after the application. The turfgrass will recover but most of the weed seedlings will not. Read the label carefully especially when using mesotrione and seeding fine fescue. Do not over apply mesotrione as it can damage grass you’ve seeded, especially perennial ryegrass. In areas of heavy weed pressure, mesotrione and siduron will likely not provide season-long crabgrass control. A second mesotrione application can be made 4-6 weeks after the initial or post-emergence herbicides that conitain quinclorac or fenoxaprop are also options if crabgrass develops mid-summer. Sprayable products sold for crabgrass control usually contain quinclorac or fenoxaprop.

Soil Health

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Soil that has been severely compacted often breaks into large massive plates.

For those interested in soil health – we all should be – the Soil Health Institute has release a 60-minute documentary featuring innovative farmers and soil health experts from throughout the U.S.

You can view the film at https://livingsoilfilm.com/

 

Dog Days and Cool-Season Grass

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Cool-season lawn struggling to grow in shallow soil on a south-facing slope during dog days.

According to Merriam-Webster, dog days is the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere; a period of stagnation or inactivity.

The dog is actually the Dog Star – also called Sirius – which rises simultaneously with the sun during the hottest days of summer in the northern hemisphere. Plutarch (Greek writer, 46-120 AD) referred to the hot days of summer as hēmerai kynades (literally, “dog days”); the Latin translation dies caniculares is the source of our English phrase. But I digress…

You most likely have noticed that cool-season grasses have recently entered a period of stagnation or inactivity (dog days) and, in some cases, are spent. The hot summer days have steadily increased soil temperatures to the point that the soil is now warmer than air temperature for much of the daylight hours and all of the night. During the last 10 days at Hort Farm No. 2, soil temperature at 3-inches has oscillated between 76 and 90 °F and at 2-inches 78 and 92 °F. These soil temperatures are well above the optimum temperatures for root growth and clearly explain why cool-season grasses are lethargic at this time.

What to do? Be patient and do not “push” the grass. This is not the time of year to stress out turf – the grass has very little resiliency and will not tolerate much abuse or recovery quickly. I recently witnessed utility vehicle traffic on subtly drought stressed turf during the hottest part of the day result in classic tire-track damage. Root systems of cool-season grasses are weakest and shallowest at this time of year. Thus, localized drought stress can develop rapidly – within a couple hot, sunny days – during the dog days.

These cultural practices can be helpful in getting high value turf to survive dog days. Once the turf has drained after drenching thunderstorms (2-3 days), program daily, very-light (50-65% of reference ET), deficit irrigation using a rainhold setting (such as 0.2-inch rain) to stop irrigation from adding to over-wetting from storms. Deficit irrigation assures that thunderstorms will be the reason for excess wetness, not the irrigation schedule. This irrigation plan should encourage the turf the dry without over-drying between irrigations (or thunderstorms). If excess drying does occur with this irrigation plan, it probably will start in highly localized (small) areas, which can be effectively managed with well-timed syringing to re-hydrate dry leaves and prevent crispy thatch during the heat of the day. Crispy thatch means that surface adventitious roots either are or will soon be crispy as well. Moist to dry thatch is good, whereas crispy and crunchy thatch in the heat is bad. Weekly, low-rate fertilization (N and possibly P, K and micronutrients) is crucial on sand-topdressed and sand-based rootzones commonly found on golf course putting greens and some sports turfs. These rootzones have very little mineralization capacity to supply essential nutrients during dog days. Weekly low-rate fertilization provides a steady, consistent slow-growth and avoids the “surge-crash” cycle of growth that results from less-frequent and higher application rates. Typically, low-rate N is no more than a 0.1-lbs. per 1,000-sq. ft.

Summer Patch on Hard Fescue

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Hot weather in early July brought on some severe summer patch (root disease) symptoms in hard fescue. This disease on fine fescues hasn’t been as thoroughly studied as it has been on other grasses.  So recommendations are based on knowledge learned in Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) and annual bluegrass (Poa annua) turfs. We are establishing plots this summer and fall to learn more about this disease on hard fescue.

Symptoms of summer patch disease on a 4-year-old hard fescue turf in New Brunswick NJ.

Fine fescues are better adapted to dry and infertile soils. Summer performance of fine fescue will generally be better in moderate to light shade than full sun.

To limit damage from summer patch on fine fescues, do not apply more than 2 lbs. of N per 1,000 sq. ft. per year. An acidifying form of N such as ammonium sulfate is thought to be the best choice when fertilizing fine fescues affected by summer patch. Caution is needed when irrigation fine fescue turf, especially on heavy (loamy) soils. Summer patch disease tends to be more severe on soil that retains water. Irrigation should be applied in a manner that moistens the soil after some time of drying but does not keep the soil excessively wet for many days. Mow fine fescue turf no lower than 2.5 to 3 inches and stop mowing when the turf shows symptoms of heat and drought stress in the summer. Fine fescue turf grows more slowly than other cool-season turfgrasses especially when air temperatures approach and exceed 90 °F.

See Dr. Bruce Clarke’s PowerPoint slides for more details on summer patch disease.

 

Managing Thatch

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Recently received a couple of questions about managing thatch.

One question was concerning the recent trend in the industry to not core putting greens and only use solid tines. 

Non-coring programs rely on topdressing to dilute the organic matter (thatch) that accumulates, thus forming a mat layer as opposed to a thatch layer. Turgeon defines mat as a tightly intermingled layer composed of [Read more…] about Managing Thatch

Cadmium and Phosphate Fertilizer Debated in EU

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Fertilizer derived from phosphate rock, which naturally contains cadmium, is being debated in the European Union. More than half the cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, in some agricultural soils originated from phosphate rock derived fertilizer. Sedimentary phosphate rock mined in northern Africa contains naturally high cadmium levels. Phosphate from mines of igneous rock in Russia has much lower levels.  Read more…

Weeds off to a Slow Start

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Despite a quick start to the spring, soil temperatures remain low across the much of the state. Average soil temperatures (3-inch depth) have been hanging around the mid 60s in central NJ and many warm-season weeds such as crabgrass have hardly developed despite germinating over 6 weeks ago. This crabgrass at our research facility has not advanced past the leaf stage and I have observed this across the region over the past few weeks.

Smooth crabgrass in the leaf stage.
Smooth crabgrass in the leaf stage

The peak of annual bluegrass seedhead production has passed. It was a very difficult spring to properly time ethephon applications for optimum seedhead suppression. If the results of our seedhead suppression research trial are indicative of the region, then I suspect those that made a fall (December at the snow mold fungicide timing) application of ethephon were happy with suppression. Spring-only applications did not perform very well in our research.

A very seedy annual bluegrass putting green.
A very seedy annual bluegrass putting green at Hort. Farm No. 2

When warmer weather arrives, warm-season weeds will develop rapidly. If you are relying exclusively on post-emergence herbicides for crabgrass control, an application of a post-emergence herbicide in the next few weeks may be warranted. This will only control what has already germinated and not what will emerge as we continue into the summer, so additional applications will be necessary. Especially if using fenoxaprop (Acclaim Extra, Last Call), lower herbicide rates often can be used when treating smaller plants. Mesotrione (Tenacity) is another post-emergence crabgrass herbicide that is most effective on smaller plants. Quinclorac (Drive XLR8, Quinclorac 75DF) is another post-emergence option but is often more effective against larger (> 4 tiller) plants than the smaller plants present right now. Topramezone (Pylex) has efficacy some against crabgrass but is an extremely effective product for goosegrass control. See the herbicide labels for more information.

We observed goosegrass emergence two weeks ago at certain sites but not others. This event is not particularly relevant for those who applied a pre-emergent herbicide. However, you may want to scout areas with a history of goosegrass problems to make sure your pre-emergence herbicide is working. Goosegrass seedlings can be difficult to differentiate from crabgrass seedlings. Goosegrass seedlings have a ridged adaxial leaf surface (ridges look similar to perennial ryegrass) and a blunt leaf tip while crabgrass seedlings are relatively smooth with a sharper leaf tip. If you applied a pre-emergence herbicide and are already seeing goosegrass germination please contact me.

Goosegrass seedlings.
Goosegrass seedlings

If you plan to make an herbicide application to control broadleaf weeds, the weather continues to be ideal for control and growth of the cool-season grass into voids. This is especially true for the summer annual knotweed.

Prostrate knotweed.
Prostrate knotweed observed mid-May in New Brunswick

Prostrate knotweed is more easily controlled now while it is still relatively immature. Standard three-way or other broadleaf herbicides that contain 2,4-D may not provide complete control. So in the case of severe infestation, products that contain triclopyr (e.g., T-Zone, Battleship III, 4-Speed XT, Cool Power, others) will provide more control. Cultural practices such as aerification to reduce compaction and improve conditions for turf growth are also essential. For more information on whether you will disrupt the pre-emergence herbicide barrier by aerifying, see this information from Dr. Aaron Patton.

To Aerify or Not to Aerify when Using a Preemergence Herbicide

Sedges and Kyllingas

This week I visited several golf courses and other sites along the Garden State Parkway from Exit 9 (Cape May) to Exit 171 (A few miles from the NY State line. In terms of plant development, northern NJ seems to be about a week behind central NJ and southern NJ seems to be a week or two ahead of central NJ. The most noticeable difference across locations is the difference in kyllinga emergence from dormancy. In southern NJ, kyllinga is close to full emergence while kyllinga northern NJ is at approximately 50% emergence. In all locations, but especially those in southern NJ, now would be a good time to begin making applications if you haven’t already.

False-green kyllinga dominating a stand of tall fescue.
False-green kyllinga dominating a stand of tall fescue
False green kyllinga (foreground) has a lime green color compared to the tall fescue (background).

Our research indicates that halosulfuron-methyl and imazosulfuron are effective options for control. Multiple applications will likely be necessary for effective control. Make follow-up applications after you observe re-growth from the previous application (usually 3 to 4 weeks later). For more information see this previous blog post by Dr. Murphy. https://turfblog.rutgers.edu/?p=934#more-934.

Soil Temperatures

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Soil temperatures have been steadily warming since late March at Hort Farm No. 2 (North Brunswick). Temperatures consistently ran above 50 degree Fahrenheit in early April, and between 50 and 60 degrees from 10 to 27 April.

May 1st was the fifth consecutive day of the maximum soil temperature reaching at least 65 degrees. Thus, soil temperatures are essentially entering into an ‘ideal’ period for the growth of cool-season turfgrasses.

Those experienced with managing summer patch may recall that 5 consecutive days with a soil temperature maximum of 65 degrees is the threshold for initiating a preventive summer patch control program. Isn’t it ironic that ideal growth of the fungus that causes summer patch is synchronized with ideal growth temperatures for cool-season turfgrasses.

Damage from summer patch disease, however, typically is not seen until later in the summer when heat and drought stresses make it challenging for plants with a compromised root system to survive.

summer patch disease on hard fescue
Severe summer patch disease on hard fesuce at Hort Farm No. 2 in July 2013.

Hurry Up and Wait. Now Go!

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At the beginning of March we were potentially a week or two away from annual bluegrass seedhead emergence thanks to an extremely warm February. Cooler temperatures prevailed and significant snowfall across much of the Northeast brought soil temperatures down and put the brakes on annual bluegrass development for a few weeks. It’s now the beginning of April and we are very close to annual bluegrass seedhead emergence on putting greens in central New Jersey. Parts of northern New Jersey appear to be about a week behind the New Brunswick area.  If you haven’t already applied ethephon (i.e., Proxy, Ethephon 2 SL, Oskie) for seedhead suppression, this week might be ideal (see previous post for more information) for most courses in New Jersey.

Warmer temperatures this week will likely bring average 24-hour soil temperatures (one inch depth) into the 50s and turf will begin to grow more rapidly. Emergence of summer annual weeds is not far away. I first noticed prostrate knotweed emergence in mid February. These early germinating plants survived the winter weather and will continue to develop this week.

Prostrate knotweed seedlings

Note that knotweed seedlings will have two seed leaves and crabgrass will have only one.

Prostrate knotweed seedling with two seed leaves

 

Smooth crabgrass seedling with one seed leaf

I have not observed crabgrass emergence, even on south-facing slopes. I spent the latter part of last week in Washington D.C. and could not find any crabgrass along sidewalks and bare areas there either.

Crabgrass emerging with one seed leaf (in a previous year)

Depending on your location, forsythia may or may not be a reliable phenological indicator for crabgrass germination this year. In a normal year, pre-emergent herbicides (except for dithiopyr (Dimension), which can control crabgrass up to the pre-tiller stage) should be applied when forsythia is in full bloom because crabgrass germination will occur shortly thereafter. However, extremely cold temperatures killed or injured many forsythia flowers in central Jersey and areas south.

In northern New Jersey I’ve observed forsythia plants still in the bud stage and in this case they are likely to be effective indicators. Especially this year, it is important to use multiple forsythia plants because the bloom timing is affected by location among other factors. Plants that bloomed early were injured by the winter weather, but others were unaffected as this photo from @samcamuso demonstrates.

Soil temperature at a 1-inch depth has been reported as a reliable indicator of crabgrass germination assuming soil moisture is adequate. In a three-year study, Fidanza et al. (1996) found that crabgrass began to emerge when the soil temperature at a 1-inch depth averaged 57 to 63 degrees during a 7-day period. Soil temperatures at our research center in North Brunswick have been well below this threshold as of this writing. At this time we are holding off on making pre-emergent applications to our research trials. However, in southern New Jersey soil temperatures are warmer and crabgrass will germinate sooner. In these areas, making a pre-emergence herbicide application soon would be timely. If you are worried you may be too late, scout bare areas with crabgrass carcasses, especially those on south-facing slopes, as crabgrass will germinate earlier in these areas.

Making pre-emergent herbicides applications early is not thought to reduce efficacy. However, if you are using dithiopyr (i.e., Dimension) it’s a good idea to wait until shortly after emergence and take advantage of the early post-emergence efficacy this product provides against crabgrass.

Of course don’t forget to consider your potential renovation/seeding projects this spring. If you are planning on seeding, do not apply any pre-emergence herbicide.

Literature Cited

Fidanza MA, Dernoeden PH, Zhang M (1996) Degree-days for predicting smooth crabgrass emergence in cool-season turfgrass. Crop Sci. 36:990-996.