Student Learning Objectives

1. Student Learning Objectives 1. Describe fertilization practices for turfgrass. 2. Explain proper mowing procedures. 3. Discuss water practices for turfgrass. 4. Describe other maintenance practices for turfgrass.

2. Core cultivator Evaporation Evapotranspiration Fertilizer analysis Fertilizers Inorganic fertilizers Irrigation Micronutrients Mowing Organic fertilizers Power rake Primary macronutrients Reel mower Rotary mower Secondary macronutrients Soil compaction Thatch Topdressing Transpiration Terms

3. What are the recommended fertilization practices for turfgrass? • It is generally believed that there are 16 essential nutrient elements needed by plants. • A shortage of any of these 16 elements will cause a plant to have a nutrient deficiency. • Three of the 16 essential nutrient elements are carbon (C), oxygen (O), and hydrogen (H). • They are viewed as non-fertilizer elements because plants obtained them from the air and water.

4. What are the recommended fertilization practices for turfgrass? • Plants obtain the other 13 elements from the soil. Three of the remaining thirteen fertilizer elements are called primary macronutrients. • They are used in greater quantities than the other nutrients. • Primary macronutrientsare nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).

5. What are the recommended fertilization practices for turfgrass? • Another three elements required in fairly large quantity are called secondary macronutrients, which are Calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S). • The last 7 of the 16 essential elements are called micronutrients, that include • Iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), boron (B), manganese, and chlorine (Cl).

7. What are the recommended fertilization practices for turfgrass? • Fertilizersare materials that contain one or more essential nutrients. They can be applied to the turfgrass in granular or liquid form. • 1. Inorganic fertilizersare fertilizers made of inorganic salts. The nutrients are made available to plants quickly. • 2. Organic fertilizersare made from natural organic materials such as animal manure, dead plant and animal materials, sewage sludge, bone meal, and blood meal, or from synthetic organic materials such as urea, sulfur coated urea, and other urea containing materials. • With the exception of urea, organic fertilizers release nutrients slowly

8. What are the recommended fertilization practices for turfgrass? • Fertilizer can be purchased with specific amounts of nutrients. The fertilizer analysis gives the percentage of nutrient by weight. • For example, a 27–8–12 fertilizer contains 27 percent nitrogen, 8 percent phosphorus in the form of P2O5, and 12 percent potassium in the form of K2O.

9. What are the recommended fertilization practices for turfgrass? • Nitrogen is the nutrient needed in greatest quantity by turfgrass plants. • 1. Rates of application for home lawns are normally two to three pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft. each year. Applying more than one pound of nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft. at each single application is counter-productive. • Turfgrass cannot use that amount of nitrogen in a short period of time. Also, excessive fertilizers can cause damage to the environment by nutrient leaching and runoff losses.

10. What are the recommended fertilization practices for turfgrass? • It is best to apply fertilizers when the turfgrass is actively growing. • For cool-season turfgrass lawns it is the spring and fall seasons. For warm-season turfgrass lawns it is spring and summer. • Fertilizer spreaders are used to distribute the fertilizer evenly across the lawn. Be sure to properly calibrate the spreader.

11. What are the proper mowing procedures for turfgrass? • Lawns are mowed for aesthetic purposes. A neatly mowed lawn looks nice. • Mowing, or the cutting of grass, also reduces problems of some weeds and prevents turfgrasses from forming seed heads.

12. What are the proper mowing procedures for turfgrass? • Some physiological things take place with the mowing of turfgrass. • Mowing removes the grass leaves that make food for the turfgrass growth and development. • Close-cut lawns have less leaf surface area for producing food. As a result, root systems tend to be smaller, and the turfgrass is more susceptible to stress-related diseases.

13. What are the proper mowing procedures for turfgrass? • Mowing inhibits the reproductive cycle of a turfgrass. • Turfgrass that is not mowed will normally produce seed heads. Frequent mowing interferes with the process of seed head-stem elongation and seed development. • Consequently, the turfgrass continues to grow vegetatively.

14. What are the proper mowing procedures for turfgrass? • Mow the turfgrass so that no more than one-third of the grass is removed at any one cutting. • For instance, if the desired height of the grass is 2 inches, mow the lawn before the grass reaches 3 inches.

15. What are the proper mowing procedures for turfgrass? • Leave the clippings on the lawn. Clippings can return up to 50 percent of the nitrogen needed by turfgrass. • Mow when the grass is dry to limit disease and for safety reasons.

16. What are the proper mowing procedures for turfgrass? • Rotary mowers are generally used when cutting turfgrass 1 inch or higher. • Reel mowers are used to cut turfgrass 1 inch or lower. • a. A rotary mowercuts grass leaves by the impact of a rapid rotating blade. • b. A reel mowerhas a rotating reel with blades, which cuts or slices the grass leaves against a stationary bed-knife.

18. What are the recommended watering practices for turfgrass? • Water is constantly cycling. It evaporates or turns from a liquid to a gas from surfaces, such as soil, in a process called evaporation. • Water is lost from the tissues of plants in a process known as transpiration. Transpiration actually helps to keep turfgrasses cool on hot days. • Evapotranspirationis a term used for the losses of water through both evaporation and transpiration. The rate of evapotranspiration is influenced by factors including height of the turfgrass, temperature, humidity, and wind.

19. What are the recommended watering practices for turfgrass? • Irrigationis a means to apply water to turfgrass artificially. A general rule is to water infrequently and deeply. This practice promotes the development of a deep root system that helps the plants during drought. Apply about 1 inch of water every 7 to 10 days depending on the evapotranspiration rate. • One inch of water soaks soil to a depth of roughly 6 to 8 inches. The amount of water applied can be measured by placing coffee cans under the sprinklers or nozzles. Irrigate the turfgrass early in the day to cut the loss to evaporation and to reduce the occurrence of leaf diseases.

20. What are other maintenance practices for turfgrass? • Two common problems associated with turfgrasses, under intensive care and use, are soil compaction and thatch buildup.

21. What are other maintenance practices for turfgrass? • Soil compaction is a problem that often needs to be addressed. Heavy clay soils and those soils with little organic matter tend to compact. • Soil compactionresults from pressure on the soil caused by people and equipment. It reduces the amount of pore spaces in a soil. As a result water doesn’t move through the soil very well, and there is poor exchange of gases. • Compacted soils put stress on turfgrasses.

22. What are other maintenance practices for turfgrass? • Thatchis defined as the accumulation of excess live and dead grass stems and roots on the soil surface of the turf. Grass clippings do not contribute to thatch buildup. Thatch usually becomes a problem when the layer exceeds ½ inch in thickness. • As the thatch accumulates, the turfgrass roots begin growing in the thatch layer rather than in the soil. • The turfgrass then becomes more susceptible to drought and disease.

23. What are other maintenance practices for turfgrass? • Topdressingis a practice of applying a layer of soil materials on the turf surface. • Topdressing introduces microbial activity to the top of a lawn soil surface. • As a result, the thatch layer decomposes more rapidly