Landscape and Irrigation is read by decision makers throughout the landscape and irrigation markets — including contractors, landscape architects, professional grounds managers, and irrigation and water mgmt companies and reaches the entire spetrum.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/77000
didn't switch to a product that controls seedling crabgrass post-emergently, you may have some crabgrass problems this year," he said. "We were able to get out the door early," Troutman added. "Along with get- ting out the door early came the fact that we started mowing earlier — up to four weeks earlier in some markets. Here in Florida we mow year round, but we switched form every-other-week mowing to once-a-week mowing three to four weeks earlier than we normally do." According to Troutman, the warm win- ter was good news for warm-season grasses such as Bermudagrass and St. Au- gustine. "There was virtually no Bermudagrass winter kill this year," he said. "St. Augus- tine stayed green here in most of Florida year round, and we had some pretty good growth early on. In some cases, in warm- season grasses, weed control was a little easier, because it was warm enough that the weed control products worked a little better than they normally do that time of year." According to Hurto, in many parts of the Midwest and East, lack of rainfall and high temperatures caused lawns and land- scapes to dry out earlier than usual, which further added to the difficulty of staying on schedule. One step ahead "We've just really had to be on our toes and thinking about three weeks early," said Troutman. "It's not a year where you de- pend on your old calendar. It's a year where you have got to be out there look- ing and trying to stay ahead of the game." According to Hurto, if the weather stays warm for long periods this summer, we can expect more stress-related lawn and landscape problems. Vargas said that, although we can't pre- dict what the weather will be like the re- mainder of this year, a hot summer with a lot of humidity will result in brown patch and pythium blight in ryegrass and tall fes- cue lawns. He added that newer cultivars of Kentucky bluegrass have been more susceptible to dollar spot. "Any time the temperatures are between 70 and 85 de- grees accompanied by humidity over 90 percent, they tend to get clobbered by dollar spot." www.landscapeirrigation.com Irrigation and water management According to Troutman, managing water properly is key. "We know that there is a lot of pressure to use less and less water," he said. "We think that the prudent contractor is thinking ahead and talking about Smart irrigation technology. It's a benefit that customers are going to want to have; and in communities with water- ing restrictions, it's almost a demand that they have that type of system in order to manage water properly." According to Hurto, ensure that heads are operating correctly and irrigation is not directed to hardscapes or other non- target areas. Timers need to be reset to ac- count for changes in available rain and evapotranspiration rates. Water too often is wasted from improper irrigation systems. Said Troutman, "We tend to think in terms of 'How long do I let valves run, and how often do I run them?' We've got to say 'That's not good enough.' We've got to be out there with our soil probes, un- derstanding how moist the soil is, and try- ing to maintain good growing conditions." According to Troutman, that may mean deep, really infrequent watering of trees and shrubs, while, with turfgrass, it may be watering not to keep the grass green but to keep it alive. He added that having the right plant in the right place is important. For example, in the Atlanta area, which has traditionally been a popular tall fescue area, there has been more emphasis on warm-season grasses because they take less water to maintain and don't consume the amount of water needed in the fall to re-seed to get the density back. "So, switching plant material can be critically important in your plan to conserve water," he said. When it comes to conserving water, Troutman urges industry professionals to utilize Smart irrigation technologies, and also consider whether we need to irrigate the whole landscape. "There are plant materials that do well with less irrigation," he said. "They may not be the best-looking plants, but you can take parts of the landscape and design them with less and less water." LI has gone mobile! Now you can access all the latest news and events anywhere, anytime. Simply visit www.landscapeirrigation.com/mobile to stay connected. Landscape and Irrigation 19