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Insect and Disease Prevention in Turf GrassesWhat does one do when they are worried about their turf? A well maintained and healthy turf is a necessity for golfcourse owners who want to keep their customers satisfied, school athletic departments who want to ensure thesuccess of their teams, and business owners who want to make a good impression on potential clients. The mostimportant thing one can remember is that turf requires consistent maintenance in order to stay healthy, and anunhealthy lawn can lead to disease or pests.

Most turf disease are caused by fungi, some of the most common being slime mold, pythium, and dollar spot.Slime mold is easy to spot, as it looks like a chalk colored powder covering the turf. Pythium is a disease of theroots, usually caused by poor irrigation and drainage. Dollar spot looks like hourglass shaped spots in the turf, andis also caused by poor irrigation practices.

Common Pests That Infect Turfgrass

Common pests that infect turf grass are: ants, grubs,and chinch bugs. Ants are fairly obvious to spot, andcan take hold in turf that is mowed too close. Grubsfeed on the roots of the turf and a common symptomof a grub infestation is spots on the turf turning abluish color. Chinch bugs are particularly annoying, asthey will not only suck the nutrients out of the turf, butinject it with a poison. Proper turf care is a must inpreventing all of these diseases and pests from takingroot, luckily there are several tried and true methodsfor keeping your turf in fantastic health, such as:aeration, top dressing, and verticutting.

Aeration, the process by which air, water, andnutrients are allowed through to the roots, is very important in maintaining a healthy turf. In order to aerate smallholes need to be perforated in the turf, so it is best to do this during growing season when the turf can healfastest. It is best to use an aerating tool that actually removes plugs from the turf instead of just poking holes in it,as the second method can cause some of the turf to become compacted which just leads to further blockages.After aeration, the cores, which still contain valuable nutrients, may be redistributed to areas of the turf which arein need of repair.

Top Dressing is essentially adding another layer ofsoil onto the top of the turf, this will even out areaswhich may be lower lying than other dues to erosionand reduce compaction in some areas of the turf. Thebest time to top dress is during mild weather, usuallyearly in the fall or spring, so that the soil has time toadjust before experiencing severe heat or cold. Notonly does top dressing improve the overall health ofthe turf, it also provides a flatter, and therefore saferand fairer playing environment for golf courses andathletic fields.

Verticutting is a specific method of turf mowing thatremoves built up thatch, which is a layer of deadshoots, stems, and roots that block the soil from receiving enough air, water, and nutrients. A properly cut lawn will

also help prevent ants and other pests from taking hold. Verticutting should be performed once a year,preferably before the growing season, in addition to the regular mowing one does to maintain the height of theirturf.

One who regularly employs these methods will find that they have a healthy, safe, and beautiful lawn for years tocome.

Keith Kitchen

Owner at Commonwealth Sports Turf ServicesGrowing up on a working farm that feeds your family gave Keith an appreciation for theimportance of planning for growth. It was corn and peanuts then, now it sports turf. Aftergraduating from Virginia Tech with a Bachelors of Science in Agricultural Economics andspending 5 years with Southern States, Keith partnered into a new business venture overseeing natural turfmaintenance for Luxury Lawns, a startup maintenance company. Continued growth over 20 years has placedLuxury Lawns, a company Keith now owns, in the top small businesses in the Midlothian area specializing inresidential turf management, landscape design and installation, and hardscape applications. After success in theresidential turf market, Keith launched Commonwealth Sports Turf and now manages the day to day operations ofthe business.