Landscape and Turf Maintenance By John Kmitta
Effects of the Early Spring
This year's weather and its impact on turf and landscape management
Punxsutawney Phil was wrong. On February 2, the famous groundhog
saw his shadow, and thus predicted six more weeks of winter weather. Instead, most of the United States experienced un- usually mild, and in some cases hot, weather throughout the spring. Perhaps Phil saw his shadow because it was so sunny outside. Or, considering that this past winter was incredibly mild throughout most of the United States, perhaps Phil was right all along and was just predicting six more weeks of the same warm-weather trends. One thing is for certain, the unex- pected weather experienced this year cer- tainly cast a shadow over the efforts of green industry professionals when it came to managing landscapes. "The mild winter and abnormally warm spring resulted in lawns and land-
18 Landscape and Irrigation July/August 2012
scapes emerging from winter dormancy earlier than ever," said Dr. Kirk Hurto, vice president of technical services at TruGreen. "As we accumulated growing degree
days much earlier than usual, lawns greened up as much as three to four weeks earlier, shrubs flowered earlier, and weeds and insects emerged earlier too. As a result, mowing schedules were pushed up, de- mand for weed control in lawns increased, and critical dates to complete timing of early I&D applications to shrubs put pres- sure on many landscape services." According to Dr. Joseph Vargas, profes- sor of plant pathology at Michigan State University, the early spring led to an excess of seeding of Kentucky bluegrass and rye- grass.
"As far as Kentucky bluegrass is con- cerned, anytime you go through a seeding
period like that, you tend to weaken the turf," said Vargas. "So I don't think it's going to be in the best shape." According to Dr. Barry Troutman, di-
rector of technical services at Valley Crest, the early spring also made crabgrass germi- nation dates earlier than expected. "If you didn't get out the door early, or if you got out the door a little late and
"We've just really had to be on our toes and think- ing about three weeks early. It's not a year where you depend on your old calendar. It's a year where you have got to be out there looking and trying to stay ahead of the game."
— Dr. Barry Troutman www.landscapeirrigation.com
Image ©istockphoto.com/karlumbriaco.
