Turf School Dec. 14 - 17, 2009 held at the MSU Pavillion.

Information most relevant for Winter

Phosphorus and Home Lawns

Communities are trying to reduce phosphorus use in urban landscapes in order to meet water quality standards.

MSU Turfgrass Research Reports

Turfgrass Research Reports for 2006-2009. Reports on previous year's project for MSU Turf Team members.

Additional resources you may find helpful

I've Got Moles

Seems like every lawn is being overrun with these pesky diggers.

Integrated Pest Management for Home Lawns

Integrated pest management (IPM) is a system of managing pests by using a variety of control methods. For turfgrass management, the system is designed to optimize conditions for healthy plant growth because a healthy and vigorously growing lawn can tolerate a higher degree of pest pressure.

Crabgrass Control in Home Lawns

Crabgrass is one of the most prevalent grassy weeds found in Michigan lawns. Crabgrass thrives in full sunlight and high temperatures and can easily out compete common cool-season grasses under these conditions.

Weed ID: Turf Weeds

Learn key identification characteristics of common and not-so-common turfgrass weeds found in Michigan and the midwest.

European Chafer and Japanese Beetle on Sod Farms

Some sod farms in Michigan have had problems with Japanese beetle or European chafer in recent years. Spring is a good time to review your strategy for the next generation.

Smut Diseases

Smut diseases tend to occur on higher cut turf, including residential turf, athletic fields, and golf course roughs. Outbreaks occur most often and most severely on older varieties of Kentucky bluegrass.

Japanese Beetle

Japanese beetle larvae can cause serious damage to golf course fairways and occasionally to home lawns. It normally is not a problem of non-irrigated turf.

European Chafer

The European chafer may be the most serious grub pest of home lawns and low-maintenance turf.

Bluegrass Billbug

The bluedgrass billbug, Sphenophorus parvulus, is a weevil that occasionally causes extensive damage to home lawns in Michigan. These beetles are named because of their long snout or "bill" which ends in a set of small mandibles or jaws. Billbugs in the lawn are generally not detected until the first signs of damage appear in July.

Purchasing Quality Turfgrass Seed: Read the Label

Purchasing quality turfgrass seed for reestablishing lawns or establishing new lawns is critical to the future success of the lawn. Several key words often seen on bags of lawn seed are common indicators of what turfgrass species the bag contains.

Flooding of Turf

Several factors determine turf survival under water: turfgrass species, submersion duration, submersion depth, water temperature and light intensity.

Kentucky Bluegrass Cultivars for Michigan

Kentucky bluegrass is the most widely used turfgrass in Michigan. It is used in home lawns, institutional grounds, parks and athletic fields. The species is persistent and attractive and has a medium to fine leaf texture and medium to dark green color when properly fertilized.

GDDTracker 3.0

The MSU GDDTracker network monitors weather data from Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois. The database updates each evening with the previous days data and a new five day forecast. GDDTracker includes tools for weed emergence, insect activiy, and application timing for annual bluegrass seedhead suppression.

MSU Water Page

The non-ag irrigation committee recently completed a document outlining best management practices for non-agricultural irrigation. The BMP document is available for download. Several external irrigation resources are also available here.

Turfgrass Disease Profiles

Rick Latin, professor of plant pathology at Purdue University, has put together an excellent set of turfgrass disease bulletins. The Turfgrass Disease Profiles provide diagnostic and management information on 16 turfgrass diseases that commonly occur in midwestern states.