2nd Week October - Imprelis from Dupont could change the way you go after broadleaf weeds

If one of the premier university people said the following. Would you be impressed?

"At this point, it appears (Imprelis) has tremendous potential as a turfgrass herbicide. Common dandelion, white clover, & corn speedwell are three of the most troublesome weeds in turfgrass throughout the US. The fact that Tall Fescue & Kentucky Bluegrass are highly tolerant to this herbicide, & given that this herbicide appears to be highly effective these 3 troublesome weeds, it appears there is great potential in the lawn care market as well as commerical market"

"Control of (clover)was nothing short of impressive"

One did.

-Dr. Fred Yelverton
NC State University

June 9th, 2006

I believe this was worth the wait. Dupont is releasing Imprelis this fall!! No other herbicide has the following characteristics.

aReseed before or after application
aVirtually no oder
aRainfast in less than 2 hours
aPre & Post Activity

Will be available for early order & next year on fertilizer carrier!! Even showing promise on crabgrass!!

Imagine applying this anytime you have weeds (no matter how thin the turf) & keeping them out!! Complete fall renovations can now be done all at once!!

For Real Answers made easy contact Steve Slominski

steveslominski@gmail.com

cell (540)760-8873

Look for a post every Thursday evening

WELCOME TO STEVE'S HEALTHY TURF.

Many of you are just becoming aware of this blog. I hope it can help you to reach your goals (better conditions, better lifestyle, etc). As you can see, I have already posted some this summer (I believe they are reflective of how the summer has gone). I want to let you know what to expect from this blog in the future.

A weekly article will be posted every Thursday at 9:30pm. The following format will be used monthly.

1st WEEK PROBLEMS & THEIR SOLUTIONS
The easy answers, addressing real problems, least expensive, etc. Giving you the
options to attack the challenges of our industry.
2nd WEEK GROUNDBREAKING NEW PRODUCTS
An explanation of new products & where they can improve your turf!
3rd WEEK APPLICABLE SCIENCE
Sometimes understanding what you are up against creates new solutions & ways to
easily implement them.
4th WEEK THE BUSINESS OF TURF
What's new with legislation, professional organizations, researchers, etc.
5th WEEK PERSONAL PROFILES
Getting to know the people in your business better.

Please feel free to add to the discussion, donate ideas for topics, or anything else you'd like.

Thank you!

-Steve S

Now it's fall. I'm done right?

CONGRATULATIONS YOU'RE DONE (OR ARE YOU)
Every once in a while, a problem takes care of itself... or so it seems. Grass has stopped dying, problem solved right?

THE PROBLEM The need to grow back roots from this destructive summer.

THE REAL PROBLEM Our fertilizers don't address the reason we loose grass in the first place.


THE EASY ANSWER NITROGEN

As our soil temperatures get cooler, growth will be restricted by the lack of plant available nitrogen (in the heat, nitrogen comes from high biological activity releasing the nitrogen in the soil).

HOW TO BEST DO THAT. (quick release nitrogen sources)

HEROD'S RECOMMENDATION-Ammonium Sulfate (1/2lb N / 1000 / monthly this fall)

THE REAL ANSWER REPLACING WHAT'S BEEN LOST / IMPROVING SOIL STRUCTURE

Turfgrass is a cover crop that depletes soil of minerals & available nutrients (mainly carbon). If you draw from your nutrient savings account, that's fine. If you do it too much, you are in a worse situation than before this past season.

HOW TO BEST DO THAT SOLVE THIS PROBLEM

STEP 1 Soil Test (identifying what's missing)

STEP 2 Apply sustainable forms of what you are missing
Carbon (Earthworks 5-4-5 or 3-4-3)
Potassium (Ecolite, 5-4-5)
Phosphorus (Min-Phos)
Calcium (Hi Cal Lime)
Magnesium (Pro Mag)


STEP 3 Work with a Herod Rep to create a supplemental nutrient program for next summer.

FOR REAL ANSWERS MADE EASY...... Contact Steve Slominski

SteveSlominski@gmail.com

cell (540)760-8873

What to do on a rainy/snowy day

The drought is over. There, I said it. I hope you feel a sigh of relief (especially if your bunkers did not wash out too bad). With this rain comes its own problems, but there are some opportunities. Below are some quick thoughts of what can be done on a rain day to make life better.

Recharge the emotional battery.

Stephen Covey who wrote The Seven Habits of Successful People called it "Sharpening the saw". Go do something that after you are done makesyou feel like the first day you took the job.

General Cleaning / Organizing (It is amazing what you will find)

Think how much time is wasted because when things are not where they should be. No better day than a rain day to tackle this project. The biggest challenge with cleaning / organizing is making sure everything has a place when your done. If you don't have a place, create that space or throw the item away. Moving clutter around does not count as organizing.

Call/Go See the industry person you have not been able to catch up with.

I hope this falls under the recharge your batteries, but if it doesn't, picking the brains of people who have similar challenges or have expertise you are weak at can only help you.

Learn something new (my job would be better / easier if I knew how to.....)
I find the toughest part about learning is it doesn't fit in certain timeframe. So ask yourself, where do you have to be on a rainy day? Take advantage of this opportunity!

Do something with/for the ones you love.
Another Stephen Covey idea is the concept of "emotional bank account". Basically, you are either making a deposit (doing something they will appreciate) or a withdrawl (calling in a favor). Think of the important people in your life. Has your profession made them work around your schedule alot this year? Make a deposit. It's ok if you build up a big "savings account". Unfortunately, there are plenty of times to make withdrawls.

You want the best? Is your method of deciding the best?

Let's be honest with ourselves. We don't like change. I like the rut I've created for myself. I especially don't like changed that is forced upon me. Which is why we need to be constantly looking at ways to improve situations before we are forced into changes (Hopefully, it's not too late). But with all of the decisions we have to make, how do you make the right changes? Is my method of making changes based on my emotional need to fight change (hence making no changes at all & hoping that the condition will fix itself) or a logical, practical determination after all of the factors are weighed.

Here is a method I came across that might help. I've used it & it seems to help getting me to where I'm going faster.

First write the question that you need to answer at the top of the page. Then follow Ben Farnklin's advice...

"My way is to divide half a sheet of paper by a line into two columns; writing over the one Pro and over the other Con. Then during three or four days' consideration, I put down under the different heads short hints of the different motives, that at different time occur to me, for or against the measure. When I have thus got them altogether in one view, I endeavour to estimate their respective weights; & where I find two, one on each side , that seem equal, I strike them both out. If I judge some two reasons con equal some three reasons pro, I strike out five; & thus proceeding, I find where the balance lies: & if after a day or two of further consideration, nothing new that is of importance occurs on either side, I come to a determination accordingly" - Benjamin Franklin

Now the question is am I asking the right questions? Did I mention I hate changing?

Your Plant Health Check List

Many that know me, know that I steal concepts from others & claim them as my own. The following would fall in that category.

A gentleman called me today to make sure he was doing everything he could do to keep his grass alive. Now many of you have seen the list of articles that tell you or your customers why grass has died so far. I like to be a little more proactive. Below is what I know can be done to continue to keep grass alive (again, thank you to those I am stealing these ideas from).

1. Keep even water in soil profile
Recently, I received a Soil Moisture Sensor from Decagon Devices. This allows me to find out Volumetric Soil Moisture (VSM) Percentage, Soil Temperature & Bulk Density of the soil 2 inches deep (where the roots are). What this is showing me is handwatering and/or Cascade & Duplex are working & watering with overheads is only a recipe for failure. Too much water means boiling the plant, too little mean instant wilt. Shoot for 24%-15% VSM right now.

2. Provide the plant the energy to fight through this (& I'm not talking about Nitrogen)
-Provide air (spike, solid tine, ProCore, pitchfork. I don't care how, nor does the plant.)
-Skip mowing during hot weather
-Feed the microbes with dynamic carbon sources (fights disease, fixes nutrients, improves soil structure, etc)
-refer to paste & other soil tests to identify deficiencies & spoon feed them
-use dynamic granular organic fertilizers (that are not spiked with synthetic N) to rev the system up to start the recovery

3. Avoid using products with high to medium burn potentials.
For years we've seen granular fertilizers & amendments put out to address deficiencies (especially in sand). What people forget is many of them have significant salt indexes. If you can feed with low salt products & water them off the leaf blade, you will be better served until the weather breaks. Avoid DMI fungicides no matter what diseases they cover.

4. Stay on tight spray programs. Do not let a disease get a foothold!
That being said, if you are still loosing grass with no evidence of disease, refer to 1 & 2 again. Also, are you keeping your spray pH around 6-6.5 & buffering the tank? More than usual, this will impact your success or failure.

5. Have or can you flush your greens?
If you can, do it! If you haven't, why not? Getting bicarbonates & salts out while replacing them with what the plant wants will be like taking a deep breath to relieve stress (Along with cool water replacing the hot stagnent water "stuck" in the green. Ask me about our Kick flush program to get the full effectiveness of flushing your greens.

I know there are more. Please feel free to add. Good Luck!

The dangers of comparisons

Judge Smails: Ty, what did you shoot today?
Ty Webb: Oh, Judge, I don't keep score.
Judge Smails: Then how do you measure yourself with other golfers?
Ty Webb: By height.

This is one of my favorite quotes from Caddyshack & how appropriate right now. Everybody is not happy with what Mother Nature has done to their turf & wants to know how they compare. Unfortunately, this takes away from the focus what needs to be done & how quickly can we stop the bleeding & get the patient back on his feet.

Here are some comments I've heard this summer (& the flawed reasoning behind it).

Golfer to Golf Course Superintendent
"This is the worst course in the area" (I just played your course recently & it looks nothing like the other golf course I played the member/guest at in early June)

Owners/Members to Golf Course Superintendent
"This is the worst this course has ever looked" (Having the worst summer in 20 years, the fact that the maintenance budget has been cut, you have less people than before, we've never done the capital improvement we all agreed needed to be done, etc cannot be an excuse for the way the golf course looks)

Golf Course Superintendent to Traveling sales rep
"How does my course compare to the others you've seen?" (Should we look better based on other courses with different budgets, grass types, amount of labor, age, products used, employee compensation levels, etc?)

The one thing universal: no two situations are the same. The focus should be on knowing the weaknesses of your site* & allocating the tools to optimize the resources best. If soil structure is the problem, don't spend anymore money in N-P-K fertilizer next year. If water movement is the problem, don't waste time looking at different fungicides. Because if this year teaches us anything; we now know the weaknesses of the programs & properties we deal with everyday.

IN SUMMARY
Identify your challenges
Prioritize your efforts to solve those challenges
Implement & Communicate the plan.

Let me help you in anyway I can & good luck!

LIST OF POTENTIAL WEAKNESSES (Please feel free to add on. Remember every course is different)
* quality of initial construction
* irrigation systems that have gone done at the worst times

Poa: The friend you can't rely on

Saw a lot of turf professionals this week & a universal theme keeps coming up; Poa is unreliable. We all know how difficult it is to keep it away (it's everywhere!), but when the times get tough; it leaves. You cannot guarantee truly consistent conditions when poa is part of the plan.

The people that seem to have the most success are those that get the leadership of their golf course involved in implementing a long term grassing plan. Maybe there is not much you can do, but one thing is clear: what is happening to the poa right now is not entirely the superintendents fault (i.e. June members guest, greens that have outlived their lifespan, fertility budgets that have been cut, etc). But if you ask the members, pro shops, or the guys who pay for Saturday morning tee times & I will bet 90-100% of them say that golf maintenance should do something about it. I say this because as bad as this year is; this summer is more normal than last year (ask any person whose lived in the mid Atlantic for more than 20 years). Knowing that, what will you do so this does not happen again? And whose fault will it be if it does?