2nd Edition

Creeping Bentgrass Management

By Peter H. Dernoeden Copyright 2013
    378 Pages 201 Color Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    378 Pages 201 Color Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Creeping bentgrass is considered the premier turfgrass species grown on golf courses, and there is a growing demand for an understanding of its maintenance and management practices. Still the only comprehensive reference on the subject, Creeping Bentgrass Management, Second Edition helps you identify the factors that contribute to summer bentgrass decline and guides you in selecting the best approaches for stress and pest management.

    This full-color book delves into all aspects of modern approaches to creeping bentgrass management on golf courses. It describes the nature of mechanical, physiological, and environmental stresses and how they influence growth and management of creeping bentgrass. The book covers the selection of creeping bentgrass cultivars; cultural practices, including mowing, irrigation, and topdressing; the deleterious effects of organic and inorganic layers in golf greens; and ways to limit injury due to mechanical or physical stresses. It also discusses recent advances in the management of selected diseases and soil-related maladies of creeping bentgrass—from Pythium-incited root dysfunction to dollar spot, yellow tuft, and blue-green algae. The focus is on common disease symptoms, predisposing conditions, hosts, and cultural and chemical management strategies. Advances in biological disease control are also reviewed.

    The book offers practical guidance in selecting and using fungicides, herbicides, and plant growth regulators. It also discusses the use of non-selective herbicides and fumigants for the renovation of creeping bentgrass and outlines strategies for dealing with selected invertebrate pests. Throughout, color photographs help you identify diseases and stresses that may be affecting your own golf course.

    Fully revised and updated, this second edition of a bestseller features three new chapters, new photographs, and expanded information about diseases. Drawing on the author’s more than thirty years of experience and research, it brings together a wealth of information on how to optimize creeping bentgrass health and performance.

    What’s New in This Edition

    • Three new chapters, covering the nature of fungicides, abiotic maladies, and selected invertebrate pests
    • An expanded section on disease—double the length of the first edition
    • Updated chapters that reflect the latest developments in creeping bentgrass management
    • More extensive discussion of annual bluegrass problems and their management
    • More than 100 new photos

    Tips from Dr. Dernoeden

    Watch these videos to get Dr. Dernoeden’s tips on how to control dollar spot disease and crabgrass and how to identify fairy ring.

    The Nature of Summer Stresses
    Wilt and Drought Stress
    Heat Stress
    Soil Temperature and Rooting
    Wet Soils in Summer
    Wet Organic Layers
    Dry Organic Layers
    Sand–Soil Layers
    Shade and Poor Air Circulation
    Prolonged Overcast Weather

    Cultural Practices for Summer Stress Management
    Creeping Bentgrass Cultivars
    Mowing
    Scalping and Puffy Greens
    Grain and Grooming
    Thatch and Mat Layers
    Topdressing
    Coring and Other Aeration Practices
    Vertical Cutting
    Rolling
    Irrigation Practices
    Summer Fertilization and Soil pH
    Surface and Subsurface Drainage
    Common Pesticide Injuries

    Selected Biotic and Abiotic Maladies of Bentgrass
    Red or Purple Golf Greens in Winter and Spring
    Summer Bentgrass Decline
    Some Causes for Yellow Spots, Speckles, Patches, or Generally Chlorotic Creeping Bentgrass
    Bentgrass Collar Decline
    Black-Layer
    Etiolated Tiller Syndrome
    Acidovorax Disease
    Senectopathic Disorders
    Yellow Spot

    Selected Creeping Bentgrass Diseases and Pathogens
    Pythium-Induced Root Dysfunction
    Yellow Tuft
    Anthracnose Basal Rot and Foliar Blight
    Take-All Patch
    Dollar Spot
    Rhizoctonia Diseases
    Pythium Blight
    Summer Patch
    Dead Spot
    Fairy Ring
    Superficial Fairy Ring
    Localized Dry Spot or Dry Patch
    Plant-Parasitic Nematodes

    Biological Approaches to Turf Disease Management
    Organic Fertilizers and Amendments
    Microbial Activity in Sand-Based Rootzones
    Biological Inoculants
    Genetic Transformation

    Understanding Modern Turf Fungicides
    Factors Governing Fungicide Use Decisions
    Fungicide Mobility in Plants
    Chemical Groups and Modes of Action
    Evolution in the Use of Turf Fungicides
    Fungicides of Microbial Origin
    Fungicide-Induced Resistance
    Resistance Management
    Other Nontarget Effects of Fungicides
    Environmental Fate of Fungicides
    Tank-Mixing Fungicides and Synergism
    Fungicide Application

    Herbicides for Creeping Bentgrass
    Crabgrass and Goosegrass Control
    Broadleaf Weed Control
    Annual Bluegrass (Poa Annua) Control
    Bacterial Wilt and Other Diseases Specific to Annual Bluegrass
    Yellow and Purple Nutsedge and Kyllinga Control in Creeping Bentgrass
    Dealing With Soil Residues of Preemergence and Other Herbicides
    Controlling Primitive Plants: Blue-Green Algae and Moss

    Use of Plant Growth Regulators on Creeping Bentgrass
    Annual Bluegrass Suppression and Maintenance with Plant Growth Regulators
    Annual Bluegrass Seedhead Suppression

    Renovation
    Greens Renovation with Fumigants
    Fairway Renovation with Herbicides and Plant Growth Regulators

    Selected Invertebrate Pests
    Annual Bluegrass Weevils
    Turfgrass Ants
    Black Cutworms
    Sod and Subterranean Webworms
    Cicada Killer or Sand Wasps
    Earthworms

    Index

    Chapters include a summary and bibliography.

    Biography

    Peter H. Dernoeden is a Professor of Turfgrass Science in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture at the University of Maryland.