Grub worms can undermine even the best and healthiest of landscapes. As if grub worm damage and insect damage weren’t pest enough on their own, their presence can attract moles which can wreak havoc on your lawn. Let’s examine two types of bugs that typically cause the most damage to lawns: white grubs and chinch…
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The New York State Golf Course Superintendent’s Association has worked with Cornell to develop Best Management Practices for water quality protection. Recent weather and rain patterns, along with growing awareness of ecosystems make these best practices particularly well timed. http://nysgolfbmp.cals.cornell.edu/
DetailsThis week I got to observe a great urban sawmilling operation outside of Washington, DC. You may not think of the Nation’s Capitol as a hotbed for the forest products industry (you would be correct). But some innovators are finding ways to turn wastes into resources. The Baltimore Wood Project is an initiative of US…
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The Plant Diagnostic Laboratory has been producing many golf turf samples. They’ve seen anthracnose, summer patch, slime molds, take-all, Pythium root diseases, annual bluegrass weevils, black turfgrass, ataenius, and many other signs of wear and tear. Recently they had a sample of a mixed bent/Poa putting green turf with damage to both the annual bluegrass…
DetailsYesterday I participated in Urban Forestry 2020’s meeting at the University of Maryland. Urban Forestry 2020 is a three-year study funded by the US Forest Service through the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council to assess perceptions of the urban forestry profession and make recommendations for future development. The project aims to…
DetailsI’m now the proud recipient of Maryland Tree Expert License #2041. I took the exam a week or so ago. But it was the proverbial long strange trip to get here. I became Supervisor of Urban and Community Forestry for MD DNR in 1997. One of the first things I wanted to do was find…
DetailsToday I had some field work on a site we are doing tree protection on. My assignment today was to inspect holes dug for footers for playground equipment and fence posts, as well as an area dug out for a concrete slab. I was to prune any significant roots back to the face of the…
DetailsYesterday I attended the launch of the 2014 Healthy Harbor Report Card. Healthy Harbor is an initiative of the Waterfront Partnership that is supported by a coalition of public, private, NGO, and academic partners. The overall grade this year is an F. As can be seen below, there is a great deal of work to…
DetailsI’m pleased to be a member of the Chesapeake Bay Urban Tree Canopy Expert Panel. The Panel’s charge is to recommend credits to be assigned to urban tree canopy as a best management practice for Clean Water Act compliance in the Chesapeake Bay region. The panel met today to review the literature regarding the effects…
DetailsThe rains from last week have provided some relief for many drought-stressed turf, but the eastern edge of the region along the coast remains very dry. Many areas received slow-soaking rain events, but a few experienced some intense downpours that mostly ran off and was not available to replenish soil moisture. Consequently the Northeast US…
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