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October 12, 2012 Scouting Report
It
Feels Like Fall: Light Jackets Can't Cut It, Few Issues, Residual
Dollar Spot, Rust Is Mild So Far and Tim Teaches Turf Students About
Research
Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle
We
were feeling 20s early on Monday, October 8 and it meant the coldest
temperatures since April had come true as forecast. At this point we had
to accept our flowers and vegetable gardens were no more. On the
turf-side, the grass is still green (or maybe a purple-green) but its
use has also tapered - cool temperatures and shortened day length
naturally slows the game of golf, but not greens! We saw the fewest
numbers of golfers playing the game in a season that otherwise had a lot
(a warm, long lasting, dry season was 2012). Still, we don't quite want
to accept it, the end of a growing season. Some even continued a
tendency of going outdoors unprepared (from experience...my light jacket
thing).
Meanwhile, some good news this week. The landscape did
pick up some needed rain, but the bad news is that it still wasn't near
enough in a season who's current total is half of normal. And so
irrigation and necessary hand watering were still required in an
otherwise low water demand period for turf. And golf courses still saw
other activity. They saw numerous projects either finished or in their
final stretch prior to winter. They saw more tree leaves had senesced,
now finding a place among the blades of grass, streams of water, lakes
and paths. They saw a golden glow of shag bark hickory, honeylocust,
green ash, basswood, elm and maples begin their orange. They saw a most
beautiful sky. They saw an exclamation mark in the landscape, the peak
purple-red leaf color of white ashes. Man oh man, fall in Illinois is
sure nice.
Click here to view the October 12, 2012 Scouting Report.
Enjoy your weekend and those fantastic fall colors.
Derek Settle, PhD
Director of Turfgrass Program |
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