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K-State Turf and Landscape Blog

Month: August 2014

A not-so-obvious site issue

I mentioned this last week in a post about brown patch (click HERE if you missed it) but forgot to post a picture:

What’s going on here? This is part of my yard. I have heavy clay soils, and though it’s not obvious from the photo, this is a slight depression area where water sits for awhile after rain. Wet heavy soils = compromised roots. Compromised roots = areas that area quicker to check out during summer heat and drought.

We’ve seen this with trees, shrubs, and flowers this year too. We got some big rainfalls earlier in summer that damaged root systems. As long as weather was mild, the plants chugged along okay on those compromised roots. However, as soon as stress kicks in, those compromised roots can’t support the plant as well, and we see some decline.

In my lawn there, it is that same area year after year that shows the problem. Come autumn (and milder temps) it usually recovers pretty well.

**After posting, someone asked about the solution. If possible, improving the overall flow/drainage by changing the grade might be an option. Here, there’s just isn’t enough slop to play with in order to do that. Another way to improve root health and drainage is through core aerification. The best time to do that in cool-season lawns is in the fall.**

Dollar spot activity

The moderate temperatures are reducing stress on our cool-season turfgrasses, and some of our typical late July/early August diseases are not active. Dollar spot likes this type of weather and it IS active. Here is a picture of a nontreated plot out at Rocky Ford:

Keep on your disease management plan, and don’t forget some back-to-basic things like calibration, swapping out worn-out nozzles, etc.  I spoke with someone recently where it sounds like some application/calibration issues might have compromised disease control.

Peonies catching the measles

(Text by Ward Upham, from KSU Horticulture News)

 

The weather this summer has resulted in many peonies catching the “measles.” This is a disease, also known as red spot, that causes distinct, reddish-purple spots on the upper leaf surfaces. These spots often coalesce and become large, reddish purple blotches on the upper leaf surfaces but are a light brown color when viewed from the underside of the leaves. The spots on stems will merge and form streaks that are reddish brown.
Sanitation is the best control for this disease. Remove all diseased tissue, including stems, at the end of the growing season. Mulch that contains plant debris should also be discarded and then replaced with fresh mulch. Reducing the source of the inoculum will reduce the chances of another severe outbreak next year.

 

Photos – click to zoom

Photos by Ward Upham (left) and

Jody Fetzer, Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Bugwood.org  (right).