New resource for managing turfgrass pests

If your business has anything to do with keeping turf and lawn areas beautiful and healthy, you're going to want this new book just published by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.   (120 pp., 52 tables) The Weed, Insect, and Disease Control in Turfgrass guide was written by Extension specialists Casey Reynolds, Matt Elmore, Young-Ki Jo, and Diane Silcox Reynolds. It's probably the best single reference to pesticides used in turf, at least in Texas.

Despite some who claim that we need to eliminate turf to save water and reduce pollution from fertilizers and pesticides; healthy turf is essential for our urban areas.  Turfgrass is vital to our parks and urban landscapes, athletic fields, and golf courses; it helps moderate temperatures in urban areas, it holds the soil, and provides a soft cushion for our lives. Unfortunately, southern turf is often challenged by numerous weeds, insect pests and disease.  But with proper selection and judicious use, pesticides can help turf do these jobs better with minimal impact on the environment.

Information in the Weed, Insect, and Disease Control in Turfgrass 2016 guide will help you select the herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides you need. But the guide is far more than a listing of  pesticides.  It includes information on pesticide modes of action, turfgrass tolerance, application rates. It also provides an annotated, pest by pest index of labeled pesticides.

Hard copies of this book are available through the AgriLife Bookstore for $20.  But the electronic version is available for free download here. Also, if you haven't seen the new and updated Aggie Turfgrass website, check it out.  It has excellent descriptions of the most important Texas turfgrasses, and management information for weeds and insects.  It also has links to past and upcoming events like turfgrass field days in Dallas or College Station.