Arkansas Turfgrass - Fall 2019

T h e A r ka n s a s T u r f g ra s s A s s o c i at i o n M ag az i n e • Fa l l 2019

Spring Dead Spot and Large Patch –

Spring Diseases that Need Fall At tention Plus, Member Spotlight on

Dr. Doug Karcher

SEC TournamEnT Tough.

www.TheTurfgrassGroup.com

T h e A r ka n s a s T u r f g ra s s A s s o c i at i o n M ag az i n e Co n t e n t s • Fa l l 2019

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Features

9 Upcoming Event – S ave the Date for 2019 Turf Talk October 2, 2019

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Member Spotlight –

U niversity of Arkansas Professor, Dr. Doug Karcher

4 • A r kansas T u r f g r ass • Fall 2019

Departments 12

Cover Story –

S pring Dead Spot and Large Patch – Spring Diseases that Need Fall Attention

6 President’s Message 7 University of Arkansas Turf Team 8 Association News 11 Index of Advertisers

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A r kansas T u r f g r ass • 5

P r e s i d e n t ’s M e ss ag e

Knowledge

Kyle Sanders, ATA President

is Power T

here comes a time in everyone’s life when he or she simply needs a little help. In the turfgrass industry, that circumstance can come in the form of needing a piece of equipment, needing to diagnose a disease, needing to know what chemical will eradicate a pest or how to best deal with an employee or client issue. We are fortunate in our industry that, for the most part, we are a close-knit group of hard-working professionals eager and willing to help another, even if we are in direct competition for business.

While having people who are willing to help us is great, it is still our responsibility to try our best to help ourselves first. I am sure that most of you have heard the expression “Knowledge Is Power” and that is absolutely true. As professionals, we need to take every opportunity to gain and expand our knowledge base to better help ourselves, our neighbors and our employers/clients.

One of the best opportunities we have available to us, in my humble opinion, to get up-close, hands-on knowledge on new products and best management practices that will make us better turf managers is the bi-annual University of Arkansas Turfgrass Field Day at the Agricultural Research Center in Fayetteville. If you didn’t make it to the University of Arkansas Turfgrass Field Day, you missed a good one. The U of A staff and turf team put together a great educational program which provided so much information for us to take home and put to good use. It was an excellent opportunity to see our colleagues and friends and meet new ones. Not only is the education an important part of events like the U of A Field Day and the Arkansas Turfgrass Association Annual Conference and Trade Show, networking and making new friends is also something that we need to do. If you don’t attend events like these, you may not meet that friend or colleague who just might help you later in life.

6 • A r kansas T u r f g r ass • Fall 2019

ATA is a huge supporter of the University of Arkansas turf program, and we are fortunate to have formed such a strong, long-lasting partnership with the professors and researchers who provide us with a vast array of knowledge on new products and techniques. Your ATA Board of Directors and the University of Arkansas Turfgrass Professors work hard to put on great educational and networking events, conferences, and trade shows together.

I realize that with the summer winding down, most everyone has their minds on maintaining turf, preparing for tournaments, supplying customers with the proper products or finishing up projects or research, but our next two events will be here before you know it. Please mark these dates on your calendar:

• Turf Talk Event October 2nd at the Bass Pro Shop in Little Rock, AR • The 32nd Annual ATA Conference & Tradeshow January 9th & 10th 2020, at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

We have been hard at work planning for these events and WE WANT TO SEE YOU THERE!!! Make plans to attend because you won’t want to miss them. Come visit with a vendor, meet a new friend and learn something that you can put to use immediately when you go back to work.

Have a great fall.

Kyle Sanders President, Arkansas Turfgrass Association

Arkansas Turfgrass Association P.O. Box 185 Bryant, AR 72089 Tel: 501-860-0187 Published by: Leading Edge Communications, LLC 206 Bridge Street Franklin, TN 37064 Tel: 615-790-3718 Email: info@leadingedge communications.com ATA Officers Kyle Sanders, President Sanders Ground Essentials 501-315-9395 kylesanders@sandersground.com Richard Covert, Vice President Baptist Health Systems Richard.covert@baptist-health.org Jeff Haskins, Treasurer Paragould Country Club 870-780-5883 Ja1116@earthlink.net Mary Beth Rogers, Executive Secretary 501-860-0187 arkturfgrassassn@att.net Doug Karcher, Ph.D., Education Chair University of Arkansas • 479-575-5723 karcher@uark.edu Pat Berger, Director Emeritus University of Arkansas • 479-575-6887 pberger@uark.edu

U n i v e r s i ty o f A r k a n s a s T u r f T e a m Doug Karcher Professor 479-575-5723 karcher@uark.edu

John H. McCalla Jr. Program Technician III 479-575-5033 jmccall@uark.edu

Mike Richardson Professor 479-575-2860 mricha@uark.edu

Daniel P. O’Brien Program Technician/ M.S. Student 479-575-2603 dpo001@uark.edu

John Boyd Visiting Assistant Professor Cooperative Extension Service Little Rock 479-575-2354 Jwb019@uark.edu

Tyler Carr M.S. Student Eric DeBoer Ph.D. Student

Matthew Bertucci Research Scientist 479-575-3979 bertucci@uark.edu

Charlie Bowen, Director Emeritus Arkansas Hydroseed • 501-315-7333 charliebowen@yahoo.com Mark Mowrey, Director Emeritus Oaklawn • 501-538-1600 bntgrns@yahoo.com Mark Brown UALR • 501-749-7459 rmbrown2@ualr.edu Rodney Fisher Life Member, Founding Member Agra Turf, Inc. • 501-268-7036 agrarod@yahoo.com Ron Fisher Agra Turf, Inc. • 501-268-7036 agraron@yahoo.com Steve Ibbotson Conway Parks & Rec. • 501-328-4173 Steve.ibbotson@cityofconway.org

Specialty Distribution

Rodney Fisher PO Box 9168 Searcy, AR 72145 www.agrainc.com

Cell: 501 230-7303 Business: 501 268-7036 Ext: 107 Fax: 501 268-0606 Ordering: 800 467-8873

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Big Roll TuRf TuBes

Michael Rush Rush Lawn Care • 501-279-8980 mrush@rushlawn.com Andrew Simpson Arkansas State Plant Board 501-225-1598 Andrew.simpson@ agriculture.arkansas.gov

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Fall 2019

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A r kansas T u r f g r ass • 7

Ass o c i at i o n N e w s

Turf Award Applications Applications are due December 1, 2019 for our statewide turf awards!

Send your entries to arkturfgrassassn@att.net Now is a great time to take pictures and document your hard work.

At our annual conference, we will present the following awards.

ATA Field of the Year

Make Your 2020 Conference Plans Now! We are now accepting Vendors and Sponsor applications for the

(Football / Soccer or Baseball / Softball) Fields must be two years or older and under the continuous care of the entrant for at least two years. Complexes of fields may be entered as one entry, pro-videoed pictures or slides can be included of entire complex.

2020 Conference and Trade Show January 9th–10th

ATA Golf Course of the Year

at the Hot Springs Convention Center

(Private/Resort or Public/Municipal)

ATA Turf Sites of the Year

(Commercial or Residential Site) Site must be at least two years old and under the continuous care of the entrant for at least two years. There are two categories: Under 10,000 sq. ft. and 10,000 sq. ft. and above.

For full application requirements and instructions, visit www.arkansasturf.org/awards/submit-awards

Visit us at www.arkansasturf.org/ conference/ to learn more!

8 • A r kansas T u r f g r ass • Fall 2019

U p co m i n g E v e n t

2019 Turf Talk October 2, 2019 • 10:30 a.m. • Bass Pro Shop • Little Rock, Arkansas Make plans to join us for an exciting education event. Arkansas Turfgrass Association is proud to host the following speakers who will share essential information for turfgrass managers.

Jerry Pate Turf & Irrigation will present Seasonal Equipment Maintenance

Scott Demott with Demott, Inc. will present How to Protect Your Business & Save Money with the Right Insurance Scott will discuss how small businesses can protect their business including:

SiteOne will present Shedding Light on Landscape Lighting and Irrigation 101

1. Auto and work comp, ideas to minimize claims 2. Pollution exposures for auto and general liability 3. How to reduce insurance cost

Plus more exciting topics and speakers to come!

Cost is $25 for members, $50 for non-members.

Lunch will be provided.

Fall 2019

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A r kansas T u r f g r ass • 9

Member Spotlight on Dr. Doug Karcher Pictured above: Dr. Karcher (far right) leads an education session at University of Arkansas’ 2019 Field Day.

What is your background and how did you become a turfgrass professor?

I was probably on summer break sometime between my third and fourth grade year and my parents laid down the law that “hey, you’re just not going to lay around all summer – you need to start working, do something.” It was either helping the local farmers bale hay or straw OR start a lawn mowing business in our neighborhood, so I chose the latter.

I became an employee of the turf management industry as an 11-year-old and I’ve been interested in turfgrass maintenance ever since. Upon high school graduation, I enrolled at Ohio State, majoring in Agronomy and turfgrass management, thinking that I’d be working on the golf course soon and make a career of that, and it wasn’t until I was about a month away from graduation and still hadn’t nailed down a job yet. I was a little bit down and talked with my advisor at Ohio State at the time, who was Carl Dannaberger, who is still there. He asked if I’d ever considered graduate school. I didn’t even know what graduate school was. He mentioned that there was an opportunity up at Michigan State and that I should really go and visit with Dr. Paul Rieke, that he had an assistantship available.

I decided to go to graduate school and work on a Master’s degree, fell in love with the science and the research side of the industry and just stayed up there for my Ph.D. and was fortunate that upon graduation at Michigan State in 1999, there was a job opening at the University of Arkansas.

So I applied and got the offer and started working here at the University of Arkansas in the spring of 2000 and have loved it since.

What is the most important part of the partnership between U of A and ATA? For me personally, it allows me to stay plugged in with all components of our turf industry — interacting with the ATA Board several times a year, and the Board has representation from folks in golf and in sod production, in commercial sales, in lawn and landscape industry. It’s great for me to stay in touch with those folks and learn what their most pressing issues are, and it challenges me to try to provide content at the annual ATA conference that 10 • A r kansas T u r f g r ass • Fall 2019

will address some of those issues. It’s very helpful for me, and through those interactions, I’m able to pass that information along to our students at the U of A, just to help us stay current and relevant in addressing the needs of the industry and make sure that we’re graduating students that are ready to succeed in the industry.

What is the best part of your job?

There are so many parts of my job that I really love. I love the folks I work with, I love interacting with the industry.

But the first thing that popped into my mind is just being in a campus environment. I love working at the university, so just to be working in that environment I find to be extremely stimulating, makes it fun to come to work every day.

What are some challenges of your job?

The biggest challenge of doing turf research is just being subjected to Mother Nature. Most of our trials are out in the field and subjected to Mother Nature. We can have a trial that we put lots and lots of hours that we’re getting it set up and applying treatments and maybe have it just completely washed out to the point where we get no meaningful data for a season.

What would your advice be for people entering the turfgrass industry now?

Don’t be afraid of a little hard work, be patient, build your network, treat people with respect, follow through.

Do what you say you’re going to do, show up to work on time and you will be successful, even if you’re not a fourpoint student. If you pass your classes and are a hard worker and you have a personality that you work well with others, you will be successful in this industry, no doubt. • Thank you Dr. Karcher for your partnership with ATA and your commitment to growing the turf industry in Arkansas.

For our full interview with Dr. Karcher, visit

theturfzone.com/podcasts

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The statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Arkansas Turfgrass Association, its staff, or its board of direc- tors, Arkansas Turfgrass, or its editors. Likewise, the appearance of advertisers, or their identification as Arkansas Turfgrass Association members, does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services featured in this, past or subsequent issues of this quarterly publication. Copyright © 2019 by the Arkansas Turfgrass Association. Arkansas Turfgrass is published quarterly. Subscriptions are complimentary to members of the Arkansas Turfgrass Association. Third-class postage is paid at Jefferson City, MO. Printed in the U.S.A. We are not responsible for unsolicited freelance man- uscripts and photographs. Contact the managing editor for contribution information.

Fall 2019

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A r kansas T u r f g r ass • 11

Cov e r S to ry

Spring Dead Spot and Large Patch —

Spring Diseases

that Need Fall Attention

By Michael D. Richardson, Ph.D., Professor of Turfgrass Management and Physiology University of Arkansas, Department of Horticulture

W

arm-season grasses like bermudagrass and zoysiagrass are usually preferred in environments such as Arkansas, as they are more tolerant of heat, drought, insects and diseases compared to cool-season turfgrasses. However, that does not mean they are bulletproof! All of the major warm-season grasses used in the Natural State can have fungal disease problems and the most severe diseases are spring dead spot and large patch.

Spring dead spot (SDS) is primarily a concern on bermudagrass, while large patch can infect all of our warm-season grasses. The University of Arkansas turfgrass program has evaluated various cultural and chemical strategies to control these diseases for many years and we continue to evaluate new products and practices that can be used to manage the diseases.

Spring Dead Spot (Ophiosphaerella herpotricha or O. korrae) Spring dead spot is often observed on turf that has been established for several years and especially in lawns or sports turf with excessive thatch. Spring dead spot is considered a “perennial disease” which means that it will show up in the same spots or areas year after year if conditions are favorable. Spring dead spot is often more severe in areas that are over-fertilized and typically more severe in high pH soils (>6.0). In turf areas with heavy SDS pressure, changes in cultural practices are important for longterm disease management. Verticutting and core-aerification to encourage aggressive stolon and rhizome formation and rooting is beneficial for SDS management. This should be done when the turf is actively growing.

12 • A r kansas T u r f g r ass • Fall 2019

As the name implies, SDS symptoms appear as the bermudagrass begins to green-up (Figures 1 and 2), but infection and damage occurs in the fall and the winter.

As such, fungicide applications in the spring of the year, after symptoms are observed, are ineffective and not recommended. Once symptoms are present, practices that encourage growth and recovery of the bermudagrass are the only way to reduce symptoms. Fungicide applications must be made in the fall of the year, approximately one month prior to dormancy, to effectively reduce disease symptoms in the spring. It is recommended that fungicide applications be made when one-inch soil temperature is between 60 and 80 degrees. Since the disease is infecting the stolons, rhizomes, and roots of the plant, fungicides should be applied in high volumes of water (up to 5 gal / 1000 ft2) to get the chemical into the zone of disease activity. In addition, it is helpful to irrigate the fungicide in with 0.25 inches of water if possible.

It is also critical to understand that fungicidal control of SDS is difficult and it may take two to three years until a fungicide program effectively controls the disease. In most cases, two applications of a fungicide in the fall will be required for effective control. Over the past few years, most of our chemical control trials have been conducted on either putting green turf or fairway mowing heights, but we have also done a couple of lawn trials. The best up-todate list of fungicide control options can be found in the publication out of Kentucky and Rutgers called Chemical Control of Turfgrass Diseases (http://www2.ca.uky.edu/ agcomm/pubs/ppa/ppa1/PPA1.pdf). Some of the most tested products with good activity against SDS include tebuconazole formulations such as Mirage Stressguard and Torque. Some products that have not been updated in

Figure 1 – Spring dead spot on an ultradwarf bermudagrass green in Fayetteville, AR

1

Figure 2 – Spring dead spot on a common bermudagrass lawn in Rogers, AR

2

that publication, but which have shown good results in our trials include Enclave (chlorothalonil + iprodione + thiophanatemethyl + tebuconazole), Kabuto (isofetamid), Velista (penthiopyrad), Headway (azoxystrobin + propiconazole), Lexicon (pyraclostrobin + fluxapyroxad), Xzemplar (fluxapyroxad), and Navicon (revysol).

Large Patch (Rhizoctonia solani, AG 2-2) Large patch can infect all warm-season turfgrasses in Arkansas, including zoysiagrass, St. Augustine, centipedegrass, and bermudagrass. This disease is really favored by

cool, wet conditions, especially in the spring of the year, and this spring was a petri dish for the disease (Figures 3 and 4 – page 14). Symptoms of large patch can also be observed in the fall, but the major symptoms occur in the spring after green-up of the turf. Although large patch will occasionally show up on bermudagrass in cool, wet springs, fungicide control is not recommended since the bermudagrass will rapidly recover from the injury once temperatures increase.

Similar to SDS, in order to effectively control this disease, preventative fungicide applications are critical.

Because the disease becomes active as the turf is going into fall dormancy, fungicide applications must be made in the

Fall 2019

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A r kansas T u r f g r ass • 13

3

Figure 3 – Large patch on a zoysiagrass fairway in Fayetteville, AR

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Figure 4 – Large patch on a zoysiagrass lawn in Fayetteville, AR

fall of the year to effectively prevent a disease outbreak. In cases where high disease pressure has been observed, it will generally require two applications of a fungicide in the fall followed by a third, spring application at 50–100% green-up of the turf to effectively control this disease. In cases where a preventative fall application has not been made and disease is occurring in the spring, a curative application can limit further spread of the disease and can encourage recovery of the damaged turf. As with spring dead spot, the best up-to-date list of fungicide control options can be found in the publication out of Kentucky and Rutgers called Chemical Control of Turfgrass Diseases (http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/ppa/ppa1/PPA1 .pdf). Some of the best products for large patch control are flutalonil (formerly Prostar and now Pedigree), Heritage

14 • A r kansas T u r f g r ass • Fall 2019

and Disarm (QoI fungicides), and tebuconazole formulations such as Torque and Mirage. Other products that have shown good results in our trials include Velista (penthiopyrad), Armada (triflozystrobin + triadimefon), and Tekken (Isofetamid and tebuconazole).

Both SDS and large patch can be difficult and expensive to control with fungicides, so it is always best to look at all of your cultural practices to make sure you are not encouraging more disease through mismanagement of fertility or irrigation. If you choose to implement a fungicide program, remember to rotate various chemical classes in your program to avoid any resistance issues. Also, be sure to read and follow all labels carefully, as many products mentioned above may be restricted to use on certain turfgrass sites such as golf courses. •