ProGro Solutions is now Advanced Turf Solutions

In the coming months, ProGro Solutions will change its name to Advanced Turf Solutions.

In 2016, ProGro Solutions and Advanced Turf Solutions (ATS) officially joined forces as an employee-owned green industry distributor with a deep commitment to quality and service. By operating under the Advanced Turf Solutions name, we can provide our customers with more access to digital resources and the entire ATS network of green industry experts.

You’ll see new signs on our buildings and logos on our shirts; however, the friendly faces of your agronomic consultant, delivery driver, and customer service team will remain the same. Customer service operations will continue at our regional office in Mendota, IL, and the support staff and business operations in Elk Grove Village, IL and Madison, WI will be unchanged.

To connect with us and explore our variety of digital resources, follow us on Twitter @AdvancedTurf and @ATSSportsTurf, Facebook @AdvancedTurf, and Instagram @advancedturf. Look for our new website coming soon at www.advancedturf.com.

Stay tuned for regional events to celebrate our new name!

Best Management Practices from FMC: Deer Tick

Keep safe from deer ticks with this great information from FMC. 

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Foliar-Pak's Custom Lawn Program

Stack your customer's turf defense against drought, heat and disease pressure with this comprehensive fertility bionutrient program.Turf will be healthier and stronger and you'll hear fewer complaints. 

• Promotes controlled growth and long-lasting color

• Increases nutrient uptake and ensures predictable nutrient availability

• Unlocks the tied-up nutrients that already exist in the soil, turning them into plant usable nutrition

• Provides stronger defense against drought, heat, and disease pressure

• Apply this program at each round.

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Keep Heat Tracking Damage Off Your Lawn

Heat tracking damage on lawns

Recently, I have received quite a few calls and pictures from customers inquiring about tracks in the turf that appear dead and if the damage was caused by mowing or a fertilizer application. Typically, fertilizer does not cause the issue. It’s the equipment used to apply the fertilizer or the mowers used to cut the grass that creates the problem. The damage occurs when the turf is starting to wilt, and traffic is put on it. Anything you drive over the turf when it is wilting will cause heat track damage.

The condition of the turf is the primary key to the cause of the tracks forming. When a lawn is entering drought stress, it may still be green, but the stress is already starting. The weight of the machine riding over the lawn bends and breaks the leaf blade. The leaf blade is no longer able to stay green, and it turns brown as it dies off.

Avoid damage by mowing or fertilizing in the cooler part of the day or move the application or mowing to a later date. The good news is the grass blade is just damaged, and the grass plant is not dead. The turf should recover in about two weeks.

Heat tracking damage can also cause diseases to spread in the turf.

The picture below is a lawn showing drought stress and leaf blight. Ascochyta leaf spot symptoms develop during hot, dry periods. The disease can look like large, irregular patches of straw-covered grass and appear dead. It can easily spread after mowing or fertilizer applications.

The cut grass and damage from the tires on the drought stressed turf makes it easier for the disease to spread. Luckily, the crowns and roots of the turfgrass are not affected and should recover in 2 or 3 weeks with cooler temperatures and rainfall.

You can help manage leaf blight damage by following a few cultural practices. A yearly aeration program will help reduce thatch and improve water penetration. Mowing at or above 3” and mowing less frequently will also help. Try to stay off turfgrass when it shows signs of drought stress and wilt. The easiest way to determine whether or not turf is wilting is to walk across it. If you notice that your footprints don't bounce back right away, this shows the plant is under drought stress.

Protect Your Turf from Summer Stress with the Holiday Spray Program

During summer, stressors like heat, humidity, traffic, aeration, and disease pressure are tough on turf. This easy spray program will keep your turf healthy and resilient. Before major summer holidays, apply Intrinsic® brand fungicide to fortify your cool-season fairways, greens, and tees from heavy disease pressure.

Intrinsic brand fungicides also boost your turf’s ability to deal with stress. So if you’re concerned about summer stressors, follow this program. Your turf will be championship-ready all summer.

Holiday Spray program for cool-season greens:

BASF suggests that you treat your greens with Lexicon® Intrinsic brand fungicide before major summer holidays. This will provide your turf with an optimal plant health foundation. Lexicon Intrinsic brand fungicide provides resilient, healthy greens by controlling 27 turfgrass diseases.

Holiday Spray program for cool-season fairways, tees, and surrounds:

Before major summer holidays, apply Honor® Intrinsic brand fungicide or Insignia® Intrinsic brand fungicide to fairways, tees, and surrounds. Honor Intrinsic brand fungicide supplies excellent preventive control of dollar spot and summer patch. It also provides 28 days of turf-boosting plant health. Insignia SC Intrinsic brand fungicide is the industry standard for plant health and disease control.

Tired Southern Michigan Field is Saved with Foliar-Pak GROW-IN

Rough field conditions and the heat and stress of summer took a toll on this Southern Michigan field, causing growth to slow down dramatically. However, with the help of Foliar-Pak GROW-IN, the field quickly recovered and looked better than ever.

In May of 2016, Hydroseed Inc. Representative David Stacey and J&D Turf set out to renovate a troubled Southern Michigan football field, which had poor drainage. The drainage was so poor Stacey said, “Infiltration capacity from testing showed an infiltration rate of only .2 of an inch per hour.” Knowing they had a lot of work in front of them, Stacey and J&D Turf quickly went to work to correct the field. To begin, they fraise mowed the field and reseeded it. After the overseeding work, Stacy put down a seed starter fertilizer, Endure 10-20-8. Then, 30 days later, he put down Endure 24-0-3 with iron and micronutrients. Stacey controlled all irrigation on the field, so, he split the watering times into 3x daily, keeping in mind that the football field could only handle .2 of an inch per hour. Watering frequency was every day with the split times being adjusting according to growth.

Fraise Mowing, May 3rd

However, with the July heat and a drought in full swing, the renovation was not helping the field as much as they had hoped. The field had a serious growth issue. With play starting soon, Stacey needed to come up with a resolution quickly. 

June 29th, Stalled Growth

June 29th, Stalled Growth

The resolution was the Foliar-Pak GROW-IN formula. When added to a program with Nature Safe® 12-2-6, applied every seven days for four weeks straight, the liquid formula displayed impressive results. Stacey said he was, “blown away by the growth” and that he’s now “a big fan of Foliar-Pak GROW-IN.” In the end, the field looked great and performed exceptionally well.

Grub Identification and Control Options

Several grub species impact the roots or stems of cool season grasses within the Midwest. Turf managers must be aware of the symptoms and damage that each species can cause due to the impact to turf quality on golf courses, home lawns, and sports fields the grubs can have. The most common grub larvae that continue to impact turfgrass roots are both the Japanese Beetle and S. Masked Chaffer. 

Both adult beetles are distinguished by their color as well as their flight patterns. SMC typically fly at night, are attracted to light and can be observed on driveways or sidewalks. The Japanese Beetle, on the other hand, flies during the day and can be observed feeding on flowers and leaves. Once mating has occurred, eggs are deposited into the turf. Within one month, grub larvae emerge and begin to chew on grass roots below the soil surface.

Another grub species that is one of the misdiagnosed is the bluegrass billbug. This beetle has an easily identifiable feature, its elongated snout. Females use it to lay an egg in the stem of the plant. The tiny larvae feed inside the stem, which causes the turf to appear wilted. To see if bluegrass billbugs are present, employee the “tug test.” Pull upward on the affected turf stems and see if you see a “legless” grub at the base of the plant. Sometimes weakened or dead plants can be associated with the early stages of damage.  

The black turfgrass ataenius or BTA is the tiny grub that exclusively impacts golf course turf consisting of bentgrass and/or annual bluegrass. These small beetles can overwinter in plant debris or near woods and emerge the following spring where they can produce 1-2 generations of grub larvae. BTA beetles and their damage can occur during the same time as other grub beetle complexes.

Choosing the correct insecticide for controlling various grub complexes begins with proper timing and selection of granular or sprayable applications. Almost every turf manager selects a preventative approach using new class chemistries (CNI – Merit Mallet or Arena or Chlorantraniliprole – Acelerpryn) for only one application per season. Product applied to the turf will control for various larvae instars before damage occurs. Watering in is recommended to move active ingredient into the soil and reduce any photodegradation. Applications can begin during the month of May or early June to optimize control.  

Should a curative treatment need to be used in the late summer/fall, Dylox® granular, from Bayer®, is the best choice for controlling both small and large instars. Dylox needs to be irrigated to be effective and only lasts for less than a couple of weeks.  

The #1 question about the grub forecast for 2017? Will we have higher populations of grubs this year? Yes, I believe we will have higher populations due to the higher precipitation from last summer.  

John Turner

Sales Account Manager, Advanced Turf Solutions