Category: Flooding

Snow mold prevention on putting greens; reduced cool season turfgrass disease activity in fall; warm season disease prevention. Weather After a cool start, September turned on the burners and ended 3-5 degrees above normal in the region. Since 1943, September...

There are a lot of wet areas out there right now as pockets of Indiana have received more than double their monthly expected rainfall. Rain is a good thing but as we know it is possible to have too much...

Tips for Mowing Wet Turf Sharpen your blades if you have not yet this spring. Mow in the afternoon when the leaf blades are dry if possible to reduce clumping of the grass blades. However, it is fine to mow...

A new website has been created to help homeowners and professionals find useful information concerning how to cope with drought. This page includes resources about crops, turf, landscapes and more. Visit www.purdue.edu/drought for more information.    

If you like your toast burnt and your bacon crisp, then you might be enjoying this weather. Most of Indiana has entered into drought officially as determined by the drought monitor (see map below). Maps are updated weekly and available...

For those in the Indianapolis area, customers of the Department of Waterworks – City of Indianapolis are “asking residential and business customers to not water lawns through Friday, July 29 in the wake of continued lack of rain, high heat,...

Last summer and fall we experienced some widespread drought throughout the state which we documented with turf tips in July, September, and November as well as tips on reestablishment this March (click here for an archive of these tips). Most...

April was a wet month in Indiana with rainfall totaling 2-10 inches more than normal in April for areas of Indiana (see precipitation map below). Heavy rainfall can cause flooding stress on turf. Flooding reduces oxygen to the plants from...

Earlier this fall we made recommendations on how to recuperate lawns after a drought; however, rain has not returned and now we must further adjust our maintenance practices in unirrigated turf areas. The map on the left shows the lack...

Many turf professionals in central and southern Indiana are trying to figure out how best to cope with the current drought because it is affecting their normal 1) fall seeding, 2) fertilization, 3) herbicide applications and 4) cultivation. Below are...

After the extremely stressful summer conditions of 2010 many thin areas in cool-season lawns have been reseeded to restore turf density and improve appearance.  Regardless of environmental conditions, establishing a turf from seed is a challenge and the process is...

With a warm and wet summer, we are experiencing decline in some of our turf around the state due to temperatures, disease, insects, and weeds. In response, we are publishing a four part series on this topic to help turfgrass...

With a warm and wet summer, we are experiencing decline in some of our turf around the state due to temperatures, disease, insects, and weeds. In response, we are publishing a four part series on this topic to help turfgrass...

Wet Lawns Although July has been relatively dry thus far, June brought a great deal of rain and left many lawn soils saturated and wet. Here are a few tips concerning caring for your lawn during wet periods. Flooded Turf...

There has recently been increased interest in the use of rain gardens to reduce water runoff in Indiana and nationally. A rain garden is a specially constructed area with a berm, planted with various plants, and designed to capture rain...

We are fielding a number of calls like “Why is my lawn is turning brown while my neighbors isn’t, even though neither of us irrigate?”. On any given turf area or in a neighborhood, we can see a wide variety...

With no rain in Indiana last week (5/17-23) followed by extremely erratic and spotty rain this week (5/24-30), drought symptoms are starting to show up near sidewalks and driveways and in other hotspots like south-facing slopes, compacted soils, and fairly...

After widespread flooding, many question how well turf will survive. Turf injury from flooding depends on water temperature, species, duration of submergence, and depth of submergence. Turfgrasses can withstand submersion for up to 60 days when water temperatures are 50...

Healthy turf areas provide many environmental and recreational benefits. A properly fertilized turf has fewer weeds, is more resistant to insect feeding and is less disease prone than malnourished turf. Furthermore, a dense turf slow and decreases water runoff following...

Eight weeks or more of high temperatures with minimal rain has taken a toll on turfgrasses around the state. Though some local areas in central IN have received ample rain in the last week, many areas are still very dry....