Summer of Stress – Relief is in Sight
Stress is generally understood as a physical, mental or emotional reaction that causes tension or harm. Hear that? It's your turfgrass agreeing with that definition.
This summer most parts of the country have already experienced countless days of above average temperatures and this extreme weather has become a survival challenge for many turf pros and the turfgrass they manage. The turf is stressed out on nearly every front by both disease and a super sized dose of the hazy, hot and humid stuff.
On golf courses the order of the day is temporary greens, and if you've got cool season turf to manage for your lawn care customers you are battling burned up turf from the transition zone and all points north, east and west.
A recent blog post on the subject from Kansas City reported a golf course superintendent recording a two inch soil temperature of 101 degrees.
This is the kind of year that really tests your mettle and might even make you rethink your career. The upside is everyone can understand the stress you and the turf have been under, the downside is some pros have faced being relieved of their duties.
Stress Management
So while some decide to leave the turf behind and take on new career challenges, those who stay will undoubtedly learn from the experience and be better prepared the next time around. In the meantime, to keep some peace of mind you could ramp up on time tested cultural practices such as hyrdojecting and needle tining greens.
And if you haven't already done so, you might also want to give your crew a respite from the heat and put any big projects on hold until fall. Then you can put the exclusive focus on doing everything within your reach to ensure the best turf possible for your customer. Trust me, they will notice the effort, and that still counts for something these days.
Then as temperatures moderate, especially at night, you can begin the process of speeding up the greens, overseeding and fertilizing the damaged turf and putting this summer in the rearview mirror. As you start to plan for next season, you'll want to plan to be on top of your game and have all the tools needed to face that next stress event, whenever and wherever it pops up.
And that's where we can help. BASF is launching a new family of fungicides for the golf market that will be associated with the brand name Intrinsic™. These Intrinsic products will not only provide superior disease control for your turf, they will also have plant health benefits to help your turf endure and overcome stress events. In fact, these will be the first fungicides in the turfgrass market that have plant health benefits on the product label.
More information on how Intrinsic brand fungicides can help you relieve your stress will be coming to you soon.
Posted at 7:11 am
About the Author
Brian Lish
Brian Lish is the business manager for BASF Professional Turf & Ornamentals and is based in Research Triangle Park, N.C.
