Turfgrass Installation and Maintenance by Sam Cheatham County Extension Agent

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Turfgrass Installation and MaintenancebySam
CheathamCounty Extension Agent
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Lawn Installation

• Soil Test
• Clean and Rough Grade
• Deep Tillage
• Replace Topsoil
• Fertilization and Liming
• Final Grading

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Lawn InstallationSoil Amendments

• Composted Sludge
• Composted yard trimmings
• Composted farm manure
• Sawdust
• Sphagnum peat moss
• Sand- sand amendment must be at least 75 to
  provide improved aeration

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Lawn InstallationPlanting Methods

• Seeding
• Sprigging
• Plugging
• Stolonizing
• Sodding

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Lawn InstallationPost Planting Care

• Watering- frequent irrigations will be necessary
  until grass is established
• Mowing
• warm season grasses- mow at the recommended
  height of cut
• Cool season grasses- mow when grass is 2-3 inches
  tall, mow often

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Lawn InstallationPost Planting Care

• Fertilization
• cool season grasses- a light application of a
  complete fertilizer will enhance growth
• warm season grasses- frequent light
  applications(1/2 lb. N/1000 sq.ft.)

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Cool Season GrassesRed Fescue

• Adapted to shady places with adequate moisture
• fine textured

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Cool Season GrassesKentucky Bluegrass

• Adapted to upper piedmont and Mountains
• pH 6.0 - 7.0
• Full Sun

• May go dormant in dry weather
• irrigation needed in summer
• High maintenance

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Cool Season GrassesBentgrasses

• Produces high quality turfgrasses
• very high level of management
• used mainly on golf course putting greens

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Cool Season GrassesAnnual Ryegrass

• Used for overseeding
• does not handle environmental stresses well
• overseeding rate 5 - 10 lbs/1000 ft sq

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Cool Season GrassesPerennial Ryegrasses

• Used primarily for overseeding
• increased heat and disease resistance
• many cultivars are available
• Annual in SC

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Warm Season TurfgrassesBermudagrass

• Perennial throughout the state
• Tolerates variety of growing conditions, soil
  types, and pH range
• Salt Tolerant
• High Traffic Tolerance

• Excellent drought tolerance
• Rapid Growth Rate
• not shade tolerant
• Ideal for athletic fields, parks, and golf
  courses
• Common vs hybrid

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Warm Season TurfgrassesBermudagrass--Common

• known as wiregrass
• medium to coarse texture
• quality lawn with proper management

• improved common bermudagrasses
• sun devil
• cheyenne
• numex sahara
• Planted from seed

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Warm Season TurfgrassesHybrid Bermudagrass

• More disease resistance
• greater turf density
• better weed resistance
• finer texture
• better color

• high degree of maintenance
• Examples
• tifway (tifton 419)
• tifway II
• tifgreen (tifton 428)

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Warm Season TurfgrassesCarpetgrass

• Used on poorly drained sites
• grows in sun or shade if soil is moist
• poor drought tolerance
• poor cold tolerance

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Warm Season TurfgrassesCentipedegrass

• Adapted to coastal and midlands region
• low maintenance
• fair shade tolerance
• poor traffic tolerance

• medium drought resistance
• pH 5.5 - 5.8
• Susceptibility to disease
• nematode intolerant

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Warm Season TurfgrassesCentipedegrass

• intolerant to high pH
• intolerant to heavy shade

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Warm Season TurfgrassesSt. Augustinegrass

• Adapted to warm humid regions of SC
• Coarse textured
• Blue-green color
• Best in well drained fertile soil

• good salt tolerance
• good shade tolerance
• Chinch bug susceptibility
• susceptible to gray leaf spot and brown patch

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Warm Season TurfgrassesZoysiagrass

• medium drought tolerance
• Will become thatchy
• moderate fertility requirement
• Meyer most widely grown cultivar

• Most cold tolerant of warm season grasses
• slow growing
• very dense
• adapted to full sun or part shade

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Maintenance--Pest ControlWeed Control --
Prevention

• good turfgrass management
• good sanitary practices

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Maintenance--Pest ControlWeed Control --
Chemical/Herbicide

• Selective vs non-selective
• Contact vs Systemic
• preplant
• preemergent
• postemergent

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Maintenance--Pest ControlWeed Control

• Read Label directions
• use specified label rate
• Best control when weeds are young

• Best control when weeds are actively growing
• Timing of application
• Good coverage
• apply in 0.5 - 1.0 gal/1000 ft sq
• do not apply when windy
• be patient

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Maintenance--Pest ControlWeed Control

• do not apply when windy
• be patient

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Maintenance--Pest ControlSoil Inhabiting Insects

• Grubs
• Mole Crickets
• Billbugs
• Ground Pearl

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Maintenance--Pest ControlThatch Inhabiting
Insects

• Sod webworm
• Cutworm
• Armyworm
• Chinch bug
• Spittlebug

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Maintenance--Pest ControlFoliar Insects

• Scale
• Bermudagrass Mite
• Leafhoppers

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Maintenance--Pest ControlOther Insect Pests

• Red Imported Fire Ant
• Fleas
• Millepedes
• Centipedes
• Earwigs

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Maintenance--Pest ControlDiseases

• Non-Living
• Nut. Disorders
• Chemical
• Temperature
• Drought
• Salinity
• Traffic
• Mechanical

• Living
• Fungi
• Bacteria
• Viruses
• Nematodes

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Lawn MaintenanceIntegrated Pest Management

• Identify the pest
• Determine Threshold Levels
• Read the Pesticide Label
• Treat the pest when most susceptible and lawn
  most tolerant
• Spot treat if possible, treat only the area needed

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Lawn MaintenanceIntegrated Pest Management

• Calibrate your sprayer
• Follow label directions for proper rate and
  timing of pesticide applications

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Lawn Maintenance-IrrigationWHEN

• Color test-blue gray cast
• foot printing- foot prints appear and do not
  spring back
• Screwdriver test
• water early in the AM
• Water at night after dew fall

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Lawn maintenance-IrrigationHow much

• Apply one inch water per week
• 2-3 waterings per week
• apply to run off

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Lawn Maintenance-Irrigation

• When to water
• How much water to apply
• Why

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Lawn MaintenanceFertilization

• Soil test
• Nitrogen- enhances color,density,shoot and root
  growth.
• Promote slow steady growth
• too much- reduces root growth, increases thatch ,
  can promote disease

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Lawn MaintenanceFertilization

• Phosphorus
• energy transformation
• centipedegrass sensitive to high phosphorus

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Lawn MaintenanceFertilization

• Potassium
• improves heat tolerance ,cold tolerance
• improves disease tolerance
• helps grass plants withstand environmental and
  mechanical stresses

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Lawn MaintenanceMowing

• Height of cut
• Frequency of cut
• Type of mower

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Lawn MaintenanceMowing

• Frequency of cut
• Mow regularly
• remove no more than 1/3 of grass height at any
  one time
• tall grass- reduce height gradually

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Lawn Maintenance-mowingtype of mowers

• Rotary mowers
• low cost
• easy maneuverability
• simple maintenance
• cuts on impact
• mulching mowers-cut grass into finer pieces

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Lawn Maintenance-mowing

• Reel mowers
• used for highly maintained turf
• expensive
• best used on flat even surfaces

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Lawn MaintenanceCultivation

• Aerification
• loosens compacted soils
• stimulates root growth
• enhances oxygen in the soil
• reduces runoff
• allow 4 weeks for grass to recover

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Lawn MaintenanceCultivation

• Thatch removal
• dense,spongy collection of living/dead grass
• mechanically remove with power rake or vertical
  mower
• do not burn the lawn
• topdress
• do not scalp with the lawn mower

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• Sources Home Lawncare, Cir 687
• South Carolina Nurserymans Certification Manual
• Principles of Turfgrass Management , 1994
• University of Georgia
• Programs of Clemson University Extension Service
  are open to all citizens regardless of ages,
  race, color, sex, religion, national origin,
  disability, political beliefs, sexual
  orientation, marital or family status and is an
  equal opportunity employer.Clemson University
  Cooperating with U.S. Department of Agriculture
  and South Carolina Counties. Issued in
  Furtherance of Cooperative Extension Work in
  Agriculture and Home Economics, Acts of May 8 an
  June 30, 1914.