Shades of green
Among cool-season turfgrasses, creeping bentgrass possesses only a medium amount of shade tolerance. On shaded tees, fairways and greens, this factor,...
Instant turfgrass
When establishing a lawn, sod gives immediate results. Seeding may cost less money (approximately $30 per 1,000 square feet compared to about $200 per...
Hiring the Perfect Employee
Staffing in the green industry is a complex job. It's a balancing act requiring talent, business finesse and a little bit of luck. Keeping full-time employees...
OVERBLOWN?
When a landscaper heads out on a job in Palo Alto, Calif., there's one thing he'd better not forget. In addition to his equipment, driver's license and...
Artistic Field
When maintaining an athletic field or mowing a lawn, you can create a unique business opportunity for yourself by adding a logo to a ball field or enhancing...
WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
At the time, it sounded like a good idea to some Ban pesticides because they may cause injury to people and the environment. Not to say that they do,...
FINDING ANSWERS
CHOCOLATE MULCH Q I am trying to locate organic cocoa hulls for use as a mulch. Can you direct me? Bozeman, Mont. A Cocoa bean hulls make a dark, attractive...
SOD BEATS THE HEAT
During the heat of summer, sod quality takes a dive during transport, storage and transplant stages. A field of Kentucky bluegrass can look great at the...
CONSTRUCTION TRENDS IN '03 SIMILAR TO '02
Construction put in place lost steam in May but is still ahead of 2002's pace, according to Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors...
SHORT CUTS
VIRUS AIMED AT MOSQUITOES One mosquito genus, called Culex, has been found to transmit the West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis. Agricultural Research...
HANDHELD LAWN AND GARDEN PRODUCTS
The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) estimates that 9,850,603 gasoline powered handheld products were shipped in Model Year 2002. Handheld products...
READER POLL
Here are the reader poll results from the question posted throughout June on the Grounds Maintenance Web site www.grounds-mag.com. Do you maintain/repair...
Skid-Steer Loaders and Skid-Steers
Put down the shovel and get into the driver's seat of a skid-steer loader. You can make routine landscaping jobs effortless with machines that haul, load,...
READER POLL
Here are the reader poll results from the question posted throughout May on the Grounds Maintenance Web site www.grounds-mag.com. What time of the year...
Phasing out Pesticides
In response to a growing concern of high cancer rates in Long Island communities, Suffolk County legislators passed a law in 1996 requiring all county...
HOUSING STARTS
The U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released the number of housing starts most recently for April....
CHEMICAL HOTLINE: Getting it right
Billy Styles started his lawn and ornamental care company 12 years ago to correct some of the misunderstandings the public has about turfgrass management....
Innovations in Irrigation
Irrigation systems and products continue to get better. The earliest gear-driven rotors proved to be a big step toward progress, but they were a far cry from the reliable, sophisticated models available to us today. Irrigation system enhancements such as pressure regulation and surge protection are also much further along than the industry could have imagined several years ago when those ideas were introduced....
Top Soil
From a golfer's perspective, a properly constructed golf course green will provide a firm, uniform surface on which to putt. Getting to this point is...
CHEMICAL UPDATE: Plant Growth Regulators
Plant growth regulators, or PGRs, offer various benefits. Turf and landscape managers typically think of them as tools to reduce plant growth, but this...
Nitrogen Know-How
The use of chemical fertilizers on lawns is becoming increasingly controversial, even creating tension among neighbors in many residential areas. The...
REVENUE RENOVATION
You know what it takes to keep turfgrass healthy. And if you could control all the variables, the turf on your grounds would no doubt flourish. But that's...
FINDING ANSWERS
SUBMERGED TURF Q How long will turf tolerate submersion? via the Internet A The answer is not always so cut and dried. Turf injury from submersion depends...
BEATING BUGS FROM WITHIN
Bluegrass billbug larvae are difficult to control and feed on Kentucky bluegrass shoots from the inside. As an alternative to traditional control methods,...
Focus On: Renovation Equipment
If you have a large area to renovate, you need equipment designed to handle the size of that job. The following renovation equipment is more effective...
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