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 It has been a pretty cold start to 2008. At Easter in 2007 we were all in tee-shirts and going to the sea-side. This year, we built a snowman!This is the time of the year I always think turfgrass looks at its worst. It is starting to try to grow but hasn’t got enough temperature, daylight or food to move strongly yet. It appears sad, yellow and in need of a bit of TLC.However, the soil temperatures are increasing. In the South of the country, soil temperatures are getting to double figures. Further north, they are a couple of degrees behind but almost there.Spring renovation and fertilisation is especially important if any disease crept in over the winter months and has left unsightly scars. Lawn sand is a good start to the grass growth season, as the little bit of nitrogen helps to slowly break the winter dormancy, without supplying too much fertility at a time when soil temperatures are still low.  Remember that spring renovation and fertilisation needs the grass to be growing for good…

 Spring success for over seedingFollowing the protracted cold winter, with snow lying for weeks on end in some areas, many turf grass swards are looking less than impressive. A weak, open sward, with residual disease scars and heavy infestation of moss, is not uncommon at this time of the year, writes leading sports turf agronomist, Dr Ruth Mann, of STRI. Therefore, it is time think about preparing for spring and renovating the turf to bring it back to tip-top condition. However, the first thing to note is that this process cannot be rushed - it all depends on the weather producing good growing conditions so the turf surface can heal as quickly as possible. Moss should be controlled at the first available opportunity, with the residual dead matter scarified out of the sward.Over seeding may be necessary to aid recovery of the turf from disease and renovation work. If the soil temperatures have increased to around 8 - 10 ºC consistently, an application of Primo Maxx should be considered to hold back…

 Reducing pathogen populations in the thatch or rootzone, with targeted turf management practices and early fungicide applications, could slow down the onset of damaging disease outbreaks occurring and, over the course of the season, reduce overall treatments and costs, writes Dr Ruth Mann of STRI. Turf disease can hit with alarming speed and cause severe damage to pristine playing surfaces - in some cases, overnight. Where have the diseases come from? And how do they come about so quickly?We tend to think of disease control once weather conditions become conducive to that particular disease. For example, warm, sunny days and cooler nights immediately make me think of Dollar Spot. The moisture from cool evenings with heavy dews, combined with warmer daytime temperatures, is perfect for Sclerotinia homoeocarpa, with Dollar Spot symptoms (below, left) tending to be observed shortly after. Unless controlled they can quickly coalesce into large patches of damaged turf surface (below, right)…

 Reducing pathogen populations in the thatch or rootzone, with targeted turf management practices and early fungicide applications, could slow down the onset of damaging disease outbreaks occurring and, over the course of the season, reduce overall treatments and costs, writes Dr Ruth Mann of STRI. Turf disease can hit with alarming speed and cause severe damage to pristine playing surfaces - in some cases, overnight. Where have the diseases come from? And how do they come about so quickly?We tend to think of disease control once weather conditions become conducive to that particular disease. For example, warm, sunny days and cooler nights immediately make me think of Dollar Spot. The moisture from cool evenings with heavy dews, combined with warmer daytime temperatures, is perfect for Sclerotinia homoeocarpa, with Dollar Spot symptoms (below, left) tending to be observed shortly after. Unless controlled they can quickly coalesce into large patches of damaged turf surface (below, right)…

 It's been a long, hard winter for turf. Autumn came early in 2008, with summer (if that is what we could call it) disappearing in the first week of September, to be replaced by cooler, wet weather perfectly conducive to Fusarium Patch (Microdochium Patch). Most of us were caught out and hadn't been prepared for preventative treatments (including us 'experts' here at STRI). Fortunately, in the main October allowed a catch up period when grass was still growing enough to allow recovery and ensure it had fungicide protection for the winter.The winter started very cold. I even thought we might see the good old days of pests and diseases being adversely affected and soil temperatures dropping below zero. However, it didn't last. Snow lying, in some cases for weeks at a time allowed pathogens to proliferate under their winter duvets. As a result, we have seen some spectacular snow mould emerge when the snow melted (below). Many golf green and bowling greens are not looking their best following the…

 Anthracnose foliar blight is rife during typical British summer conditions of warm weather with intermittent rain, writes STRI's lead turf pathologist, Dr Ruth Mann.The foliar blight is often difficult to identify as it appears just like drought symptoms (Plate 1). Unfortunately, irrigation to help relieve the 'drought' often results in further disease development and more severe symptoms. Foliar blight can be confirmed by the presence of acervuli and hair-like structures called setae (Plate 2). Plate 1: Anthracnose foliar blight Plate 2: Acervuli with hair-like setaeAnthracnose is most severe on Annual meadow-grass (Poa annua) but it has also been noted on Bentgrass and Fescue grass species. High risk situations occur with Annual meadow-grass dominant swards and turfgrass under stress.Many types of stress predispose turf to anthracnose, such as drought, insect or nematode feeding, compaction and excessively low cutting heights. However, the most common stress associated with anthracnose is…

 Thunderstorms trigger Brown Patch infection - June 2008 Rhizoctonia Brown Patch is very common in areas of the USA, Central and Southern European countries, where hot weather conditions are common. More recently outbreaks have been observed in the UK, especially where hot days trigger thunderstorms.The infective pathogen, Rhizoctonia solani, inhabits the rootzone and, when weather conditions are hot enough for infection, may cause brown patch. Rhizoctonia spp. are also often found as a secondary infection or as a saprophyte following other diseases.Fungicides should be applied at the very first sign of disease, since as Brown Patch can spread rapidly in conducive conditions. Banner MAXX (propiconazole) and Heritage (azoxystrobin) are both approved for Brown Patch control, along with other diseases occurring at the same time. Trials have shown Daconil Weather Stik (chlorothalonil) is also very effective against Brown Patch. Rhizoctonia brown patch on close-mown bentgrass showing 'smoke…

 Eradicant action to stop Microdochium patch spread Heading into the winter months we are back into full-on Microdochium Patch (Fusarium Patch) weather.GreenCast has been predicting medium to high disease risk on the STRI site at Bingley since early October. This mild, wet weather has really encouraged major outbreaks of Microdochium Patch.Added to this, the soil temperatures are currently running at around 5ºC, which means we have little opportunity for grass growth and recovery from any infection that develops.  For those who did not manage to apply preventative fungicide treatments and are now seeing patches develop (above), applying a product with eradicant action will need to be taken to prevent the greens from becoming badly affected.Daconil Weather Stik is one of the mainstays for winter disease control and has shown good eradicant activity in STRI trials over a number of years. Contact fungicides will also prevent any further spread of the pathogen.  The new fungicide…