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Due to some major problems and unforeseen circumstances, you haven’t received an IPM update since September 8th.
Fortunately, most of our turf troubles and pest outbreaks for 2001 were over by then (while other types of trouble were just about to begin)...
But the dismal skies and unfortunate situations of September and October gave way to blue skies and record warm temperatures in November and early December.
Everyone with fall construction or renovation projects had a chance to get back on schedule in November, including the CDGA.
One can only hope that the New Year will bring better climates -in both politics and weather.
A nice, deep freeze with a little snow cover to hold it in would be great - maybe loosen up the soil and kill a few bugs!
Weather Summary for Fall 2001
September and October were cool and wet for the most part.
In Lemont we recorded over 7 inches of rain for these two months.
The cool, wet weather pattern changed drastically however, and November was one of the warmest on record for most eastern regions of the US, and was fairly dry until the last week of the month.
This warm weather trend continued well into December, which had many superintendents wondering if they had "blown out" their irrigation systems and sprayed for snow molds a little too early this year.
Also, turf managers in many regions of the country reported that some dormant trees and shrubs were beginning to bloom (or break buds) in late November.
In the transition zone and farther south, many superintendents reported that warm season grasses such as bermudagrass had reversed their progression toward winter dormancy and were turning green and growing again.
This raises questions as to the winter survivability of both woody ornamentals and warm season grasses once truly cold conditions arrive, but these concerns are probably not applicable to most of Illinois (at least not the northern half of the state).
Earthworms
We did receive a number of questions about how this late warm spell was affecting the turf leading into winter, including possible effects on fall pest controls.
One frequent observation was that the high soil moisture and extended warm temperatures seemed to promote a lot of earthworm activity, especially in fairways.
Some late season mowings were disrupted by worm castings, and some fairways were reported to be pretty much un-mowable.
However, in general, most of us in the turf science end of things still think earthworm activity should be viewed as a positive, not a negative.
Winter Kill
A number of superintendents were concerned that the late warm spell would increase the amount of winter kill we see on northern turf species, especially Poa annua.
This can happen under several circumstances, including when there is a sudden cold spell following unseasonably warm and wet weather.
We don’t think this will be a big problem at this point, even though some significantly cold air moved through the region around Christmas.
Turf that is most likely to see damage now would be in low areas where water collects and ice sheets can form.
Snow Mold Control
Also, there were a number of questions as to whether snow mold fungicides would lose effectiveness as late November rains fell and the turf continued to grow.
In general, there is good evidence that snow mold applications hold pretty well against rainfall and warmer temperatures, and in most cases, mowing after a snow mold application won’t remove a significant amount of fungicide from the turf canopy.
Most of the fungicides we use have some systemic activity (except Daconil and related chlorothalonil products) and have a fairly long half-live in thatch and soil.
PCNB is one of the most widely used fungicides on fairways in N. IL, and rainfall or mowing following application would probably not have a significant negative effect on snow mold control with PCNB through the winter, because of its systemic movement and long half life in the thatch.
However, if we have a mild winter and a cool, wet spring, re-treatment for control of pink snow mold in the March-May time frame may be necessary in ’02.
Construction
As mentioned previously, the warm and dry conditions of November allowed some delayed fall construction projects to continue later into the season than planned.
Most turf that was sodded and seeded very late had a chance to become well established before winter dormancy because of the warm weather.
We found ourselves in a weather induced predicament at Midwest Golf House, where Wadsworth Construction has been working since August to build our 3-hole Short Course.
Over 18 inches of rain fell in Lemont from late July through the end of October, which drastically slowed all phases of the project - from early earth moving to grading, installation of irrigation and finishing of greens construction.
We had hoped to be finished and have most of the course seeded by the end of September, but we actually came to a close on construction around the middle of November...!
Slopes around tees, greens and bunkers were sodded Nov 5-12 to prevent soil erosion over the winter; unfortunately, no seed will be planted until next spring.
All in all, it was a very unusual transition into winter, but we will take it!
- Randy Kane
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