Research

Monarch (butterflies) of the links

December 1, 2017 By Renee J. Keese, Ph.D.

Monarch butterfly populations have been declining in the United States since the late 1990s. One of many factors contributing to the decline is the shrinking number of milkweed plants, which are critical to their reproduction cycle. The monarch migration starts ...

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Controlling annual bluegrass where the buffalo roam

November 9, 2017 By Matt Sousek

Annual bluegrass (Poa annua L.) control has been thoroughly researched in cool-season turf east of the Mississippi River, but little research has been done in the northern Great Plains. Growing conditions, weather, desired species, as well as biotypes of annual ...

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Suppressing zoysiagrass in cool-season turf

November 2, 2017 By Aaron J. Patton, Ph.D. and Daniel Weisenberger

Zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica) is a desirable turfgrass for golf courses in the Transition Zone because of its low maintenance requirement, but it can become invasive when it spreads via rhizomes and stolons into adjacent areas where it is unwanted. Further, ...

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False-green kyllinga control in cool-season turf

October 23, 2017 By Matt Elmore, Ph.D. and James Murphy, Ph.D.

False-green kyllinga (Kyllinga gracillima) has become increasingly problematic in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. False-green kyllinga is related to yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus), and both species have a triangular stem. Yellow nutsedge typically is interspersed within the turfgrass canopy, while false-green ...

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Going wild with bentgrass

October 3, 2017 By Keenan Amundsen, Ph.D.

I recently drove by a billboard promoting nutrition education and it asked if I could name seven kinds of berries. I failed miserably, even being married to a dietitian. I started thinking of other categories, including different turfgrass species. Bermudagrass, ...

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Using heat vision to aid water-use predictions

September 11, 2017 By Joe Foral and Bill Kreuser, Ph.D.

Thermal, or infrared, camera systems being developed to measure water status in turf have the potential to become an essential tool for precision turfgrass management. As these systems become more accessible, models need to be created to provide clear management ...

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