Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Seasonal updates on ornamental, nursery, and turf pests.
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Do you ever wonder what is causing your cherrylaurel to look like Swiss cheese? Clearly, it’s not because Anatole has been hanging around. More than likely the shothole symptoms you see are caused by one of several pathogens and abiotic stresses common to other species of Prunus.
Shothole symptoms in cherrylaurel. Photo: Richard Buckley, Rutgers PDL
Most landscape lawns, sports turfs, and golf course surfaces should have reached full green-up but there will be some exceptions. The major exception to this is zoysiagrass turf.
Zoysiagrass will not begin green-up until mid- to late-May. Although not as slow to green-up as zoysiagrass, fine fescue will be slower than perennial ryegrass and tall fescue. Many of the Kentucky bluegrass varieties that are commonly used for sod production will be slow to green-up in the spring.
Dormant Zoysiagrass with Patches of Perennial Ryegrass
Brown Ring Patch (aka Waitea patch) is starting to show up on golf course putting greens at this time.
Brown Ring Patch on a Golf Green
Photo: S.McDonald
If you are managing high value turf areas, like a golf course putting green, I hope you are watching the weather. By most accounts, we are in for some cold rain next week. High temperatures in the low 50s and a 90% chance of rain from Tuesday through Thursday are imminent. Crummy cycling weather, but perfect for pink snow mold!
Pink snow mold. Photo: Todd Clift, Country Club of Ithaca
The leaf spot phase of this disease, caused by the fungus Drechslera poae, is apparent on susceptible Kentucky bluegrass turf at this time.
Leaf Spot
of Kentucky Bluegrass
Melting-Out of Kentucky bluegrass. A resistant cultivar (left) compared to a susceptible cultivar (right).
Having touble controlling your Annual Bluegrass Weevil (ABW) populations? You’re not alone. Insecticide resistance in ABW is a growing and expanding problem. And because the major resistance mechanism involved, enhanced metabolic detoxification of the insecticide active ingredients, is not very specific, the resistance can be very broad. [Read more…]
