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~~The following is the C.D.G.A. scouting report as posted by Derek Settle, PhD. Don't forget to follow the link!~~ |
September 21, 2012 Scouting Report
It's
Fall: Residual Dollar Spot of Bentgrass and Summer Patch of Bluegrass,
Animals/Grubs Rough Up the Rough, and Tim says Cultivar A B C D E F G
Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle
Midweek,
a light frost on Chicago's blades of turf. I would take a look at my
weather archives only to discover we hadn't been that cold since the 3rd
week of May. So now the growing season works in reverse as we lose
day length by about 3 minutes a day - it all happens too quickly. To be
clear we had wished for our first fall day of September 22nd months ago.
For most (those in the growing season trenches of 2012) that wish was
about mid-July when extreme weather events had brought us to our knees
both mentally and physically. Olympics weren't just on TV because we
were living it! It was record pace stuff - an early green up in March
segue into extreme summer drought/heat and later meteorologists would
report clocking the hottest summer month ever in the United States. If
you ask some they will say we were just fine.
Actually we had
begun to panic, but of course we can never publicly say so. Nevertheless
by about late summer (regardless of year) both human beings and plants
seem to say, "What summer?" Our human mind is forgetful and plants in
the landscape are just amazingly resilient. Still we should know
otherwise - the watchful superintendent continues to monitor and report
surface water levels are still quite low. But alas we are now well
progressed into our end of season project phase. In a week a certain
camera was focused less on being a scout in the name of integrated pest
management (IPM). Click would follow the hum of engines that propel
heavy equipment to renovate areas. Click would follow the silent
germination and emergence of turf. Yep, it's fall.
Click here to view the September 21, 2012 Scouting Report.
Enjoy your cool, with a dash of a little wet, weekend.
Derek Settle, PhD
Director of Turfgrass Program |
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