This book is an up-to-date account of the current state of the art and science of turfgrass pest management.
The third edition has been written as a basic text for college students in turfgrass management, landscape architecture,
turfgrass pathology, and economic entomology. It is also designed as a comprehensive reference for professional
turfgrass managers, including golf course superintendents; lawn-care-company personnel; park and cemetery officials;
those responsible for maintaining turf on sports fields, at airports, and along highways; seed and turf producers;
and landscapers. It should prove a valuable reference to turfgrass consultants; representatives of a variety of
agribusinesses that serve the turfgrass industry; county, area, and state extension (advisory) personnel; and master
gardeners involved in the diagnosis and suggestion of control measures for turfgrass pests, officers in state and
federal departments of agriculture and regulatory agencies, vocational agriculture and biology teachers, garden-center
personnel, garden writers, and home lawn enthusiasts. The book contains both the technical and practical information
necessary for decision making and the day-to-day operation in all areas of turfgrass culture and management.
The stimulus for writing this book has come from the rapid expansion of the turfgrass industry in the past 10
to 30 years and a tremendous increase in the numbers of professional turfgrass managers responsible for managing
turf as free as possible of weeds, insects, diseases, and other pests. There are a number of excellent books available
on turfgrass management and culture. However, a text-reference book that concentrates on the diagnosis, fundamental
biology, and control of turfgrass weeds, insects and other animal pests, and diseases is needed.
The authors humbly submit this work as such a book.
Emphasis is placed on how to identify turfgrass pests, where and why they occur, the damage that may take place,
the life cycles of pests, plus cultural, chemical, and other management strategies designed to keep pest damage
to a minimum.
This edition stresses integrated pest management (IPM) systems for controlling turfgrass pests. Insects and
diseases often occur in combination with weeds and/or as a result of one another. For example, thinning and killing
of a turf stand by diseases and/or insects allows weeds to germinate and invade the damaged area. Insects and diseases
commonly weaken turfgrass plants, making them more susceptible to another type of pest. Every IPM program on a
golf course, home or industry lawn, athletic field, park, cemetery, and seed or sod farm is aimed at managing the
turfgrass to its competitive best by manipulating all the cultural aspects of turfgrass management, supplemented
where needed with the proper application of growth regulators and pesticides. The basic steps of any IPM program
are presented in sec. 2.1.
An icon appears at the beginning of each section in the book representing one of the three major IPM steps.
These icons have been inserted to help the reader focus on material that will assist them in executing these important
IPM principles. It is our hope that these visual cues will assist you in understanding how presented materials
relate to basic IPM principles.
Emphasis is placed on minimizing the severity of all types of pest damage through properly-organized cultural
management. The effectiveness of pesticide applications (to control weeds, insects, diseases, nematodes, or rodents)
can only be achieved if proper cultural management programs have been followed. Underlying mismanagement, which
commonly allows a pest to become a problem, must first be resolved. Specific recommendations are given for each
pest, integrating all available IPM tactics. Suggestions are given for cool- and warm-season turfgrass species
growing in humid, wet, dry, and arid conditions under low, medium, or high maintenance.
The enlarged chapter on integrated management blends the various strategies and general turfgrass maintenance
practices into a unified whole. The recommendations made take into account the cultural aspects of turfgrass management
(such as proper establishment or renovation using locally adapted resistant species and cultivars, proper irrigation,
mowing height and frequency dethatching, adjustment of the nitrogen rate and source, soil modification by coring
or aerification and topdressing soil pH adjustment, traffic and soil compaction, plus judicious use of pesticides,
biological, and legal control measures). Successful turfgrass management, including pests, is an art based on sound
scientific knowledge. Due to frequent changes in pesticides, pesticide formulations and other chemicals used in
turfgrass culture, climatic variations, and the turfs grown, this book should be supplemented by current pest control
programs and bulletins available in each state or country from the local extension (advisory) office or state agricultural
experiment station.
Accurate diagnosis is the first step in the control of any pest. The detailed keys in chapters 5, 6, and Appendix
D plus the numerous illustrations, are designed to make positive diagnosis as simple as possible. The extensive
index should also be helpful.
Much of the research information concerning turfgrass culture, including the biology and control of weeds, insects
and plant diseases, is scattered throughout thousands of scientific journals, trade publications, turfgrass conference
proceedings, and field day programs, and is therefore not easily available to students, turfgrass managers, and
others interested in controlling the wide range of turfgrass pests. Many thousands of references were reviewed
during the preparation of this text. Each of the major chapters ends with a list of the more pertinent and widely
available references for those wishing to study in more detail a certain pest or maintenance activity. The text
is complemented by numerous line drawings, photographs, and color plates that have been carefully selected to illustrate
all of the common and uncommon pests, even the rare ones. In writing this book, the authors assume the reader possesses
an elementary knowledge of such basic sciences as botany, chemistry, and soil science.
Comments regarding the general usefulness of the text and/or errors or omissions in the text are always welcome.
With your suggestions, future editions can become even more valuable for the
Summary
For courses in Turfgrass Maintenance, Landscape Architecture, Turfgrass Pathology, and Economic Entomology.
This book is an up-to-date account of the current state of the art and science of turfgrass pest management. It
is designed to serve as either a basic text for college students or a comprehensive reference for the professional
turfgrass manager, including golf course superintendents, lawn care company personnel, park and cemetery officials,
those responsible for maintaining turf on sports fields, airports, and along highways, seed and sod growers, and
landscapers.
Features :
NEW�Coverage of new scientific pest information, availability of insecticides, and biological control options.
Provides students with most current information.
NEW�Revised chapter on integrated management.
Offers students blended coverage of the various strategies and general turfgrass-maintenance practices into
a unified whole.
Practical approach in presentation.
Prepares students with realistic scenarios, and includes both the technical and practical information necessary
for decision-making and the day-to-day operation in all areas of turfgrass culture and management.
Heavily illustrated with photos and drawings.
Enables students to easily identify various insects and pests.
Coverage of all pests, including mammal and bird pests as well as insects.
Provides users with a complete reference, including information on the seldom covered topic of mammal and bird
pests.
Complete glossary is included.
Provides students with terminology including turfgrass equipment, and pest names.
Chapter-ending references are provided.
Offers students pertinent and widely available references for more information.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction.
2. Maintenance of Turfgrasses.
3. Abiotic Turfgrass Problems.
4. Biology and Management of Weeds in Turfgrasses.
5. Biology and Management of Diseases in Turfgrasses.
6. Biology and Control of Insects and Related Pests in Turfgrass.
7. Application Equipment and the Safe Use of Pesticides.
8. Calibrating Equipment.
Appendix A: Measurements and Conversions.
Appendix B: Calculating Land Areas.
Appendix C: Land-Grant Institutions and Agricultural Experiment Stations in the United States.
Glossary.
Index.
