Progress 07/01/01 to 06/30/04
Outputs
We have completed an interactive guide for growing and maintaining healthy lawns. The final version was made public through the UC IPM Web Site in February 2004 and can be found at www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/TOOLS/TURF. The guide is divided into six main sections. The topics covered include choosing and identifying turf species, preparing the planting site and planting turf, renovating old lawns, caring for new lawns, caring for established lawns, and managing pests. Each section was carefully researched using existing UC turfgrass publications as the primary source of information but consulting with turfgrass experts and other University sites to fill in the gaps where information was lacking. Each screen was designed so that the information would be quick to locate and easy to understand, while the main points were highlighted. Images were chosen for each screen to highlight characteristic features of turfgrass species, equipment, or pests and to emphasize key lawn
maintenance practices. There are about 550 screens in the Healthy Lawns guide detailed with more than 300 color photographs and 200 line illustrations. The guide features an illustrated key to the sixteen most common turfgrass species grown in California. It is important that users determine what grass species they are growing. They must have this information in order to correctly schedule important maintenance practices. Users can enter their region, turfgrass species, and other factors to come up with irrigation, fertilization, and mowing programs specific to their situation. These interactive components of the guide have been very popular with Master Gardeners as they have been able to help their callers by referring them to these sections of the guide. The most recent addition and largest section of the guide is the pest management section. This section contains a diagnostic key to the most common pest problems occurring on the most common turfgrass species, a weed and
weed management section which includes an illustrated key to the fifty most common broadleaf and grassy weed species found in lawns, and screens on the most common pests and disorders found on lawns. Twelve invertebrates, five vertebrates, sixteen diseases, and ten abiotic disorders are covered. Also included is a screen on plant parasitic nematodes. A final review of the pest management section was conducted in January 2004, and comments and suggestions were incorporated. Credits, references, related turfgrass links, and a comprehensive index to contents were added to the final program. The pest management section was linked to the other five sections of the Healthy Lawns Guide already up on the UC IPM Web Site and made available to the public in February 2004. The Healthy Lawns Guide was presented at a turf workgroup meeting at UC Davis in March 2004. It has also been presented at adult education classes. We are committed to keeping the Healthy Lawns Guide up to date. If
problems are found, information changes, or if something needs to be added, we can easily make revisions.
Impacts
Since September 2003, the online guide has received more than 19,400 visits. It has been featured in the Sacramento Bee, the Davis Enterprise, and the San Jose Mercury News. Many Web Sites link to it, and Master Gardeners promote it in their classes. We expect that the guide will help people make informed decisions about their lawn maintenance practices and decrease their overall pesticide use.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/03 to 12/31/03
Outputs
We are in the final phase of completing an interactive guide for growing healthy lawns. The first five sections of the guide focus on turfgrass selection, soil preparation, planting, renovation, and lawn maintenance and were made available to the public in January 2003. A pest management section has been designed and programmed and is currently out for review. We anticipate that the entire guide will be up on the UC IPM Web Site by February 2004. The pest management section includes information on weeds and weed management, a diagnostic key to the most common turfgrass problems, and information on about forty turfgrass pests and disorders. In the fall of 2003, the weed and weed management section became available to the public through the UC IPM Web Site (http://www.ucdavis.edu). This section contains an illustrated key to more than 35 broadleaf weeds and 15 grassy weeds and sedges and provides information on hand-weeding and herbicides. In March 2003, the weed key
and an introduction to the diagnostic section were presented at a turf workgroup meeting at UC Davis. We also held an advanced training workshop for Master Gardener coordinators and UCCE advisors. The hands-on course gave participants a chance to work through the first part of the guide. Participants were very enthusiastic about the guide and have since indicated that they have been using the guide to identify turfgrass species and solve lawn problems as well as recommend the site to others. In June, we met with our advisory committee to discuss the approach to the diagnostic section. The committee agreed that diagnosing lawn problems is a complicated task and wanted to stress to users that the majority of lawn problems seen are actually caused by poor management practices rather than by insect pests or diseases. Therefore, we began the diagnostic section of the turf module with a series of questions to get users thinking about recent management practices that may have caused the
damage they see. For example, users are asked when they last fertilized or applied an herbicide or other pesticide. We also ask users to look for common patterns characteristic of poor management practices and to check to see if they are mowing and irrigating correctly. These questions lead users back to the first five sections of the turf module. Once some of these common sources of lawn problems are eliminated, users can go through a diagnostic key. The key is organized by turf species. Users enter their turf species followed by the season that damage first occurred. Next, users click on descriptions and photos that best match their problem. The diagnostic key leads users to screens showing problems caused by diseases and invertebrate pests. Summary screens provide information about identification and damage symptoms, life cycle, key hosts, favoring conditions, monitoring, and prevention and management tips. Diagnostic tips give users pointers on items such as how to check for
symptoms, how to take samples, and where to go for additional help. Users can link directly to summary screens. More than 40 invertebrates, diseases, abiotic disorders, and vertebrate pests are covered.
Impacts
The first half of the guide has received almost 18,000 hits, which are expected to increase dramatically when completed. It will help users to think about lawns as whole systems and reduce unnecessary water, fertilizer, and pesticide use. A favorite for UC Master Gardeners, the guide has been used in adult education classes and is a primary resource used to answer questions from the public.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/02 to 12/31/02
Outputs
We have completed five sections of an interactive guide for growing healthy lawns that will be accessible to the public through the UC IPM Web Site (http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu) by the end of the 2002 calendar year. The first section is an illustrated key to the 16 most common turfgrass species. Summary screens that list key qualities, identifying characteristics, recommended management tips, and tables comparing tolerance levels to various conditions are available for each turf species. The next section describes how to prepare the planting site and plant turf and includes screens on topics such as working the soil, adding soil amendments and starter fertilizer, designing and installing an irrigation system, and planting turf vegetatively or from seed. The third section describes repairing or completely renovating problem lawns, and the fourth section provides information on initial establishment and development of grasses. Finally, a maintenance section allows users
to get recommendations on how to properly mow, irrigate, fertilize, aerate and dethatch while taking into consideration such things as their turf species, time of year, and location. For example, in the irrigation section, users can get information on how many minutes a week they should be watering by plugging in their location, turf species, and sprinkler output.. For each section of the turf program, we gathered together relevant University of California publications and worked with our committee and other experts to develop new material. We worked with the software Dreamweaver to design the layout and flow of the guide. Each screen highlights the main ideas as well as provides thorough information on each topic. Interactive elements were included to help users interact with the program and grasp difficult concepts. Navigation from topic to topic is simple and logical. We searched our photo collection and incorporated photographs where appropriate. We took new photographs to
illustrate different types of equipment and garden tools. Other photographs were staged to illustrate different processes such as fertilizing, laying sod, and overseeding a lawn. We worked with an artist to develop line drawings for our illustrated key, and we have created additional illustrations for other sections of the guide. Our committee members and other experts reviewed the first five sections of the guide in text-only versions and on a test web site, and the screens were revised where needed. Parts of the illustrated turf key were presented in March 2002 at the University of California Ornamental Horticulture Coordinating Conference, and parts of the entire program were presented at a turf workgroup meeting at UC Riverside in September 2002. A sixth section currently being developed on pest management directs users to existing information on the UC IPM Web Site but is being expanded to include an illustrated key to weeds and a diagnostic key to identifying problems caused by
insects and diseases. We anticipate that this final section will be up on the Web by June 30, 2003.
Impacts
The first half of the turf module will be up on the Web by the end of the calendar year. We anticipate that this guide will help users tailor a lawn management program to their specific conditions while reducing unnecessary water, fertilizer, and pesticide use. This program will also improve the ability of Master Gardeners, advisors, and others to answer home gardener questions regarding lawn problems.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/01 to 12/31/01
Outputs
Funding for the project began in July 1, 2001. We have assigned staff, selected appropriate software, conducted a literature review, and met with our advisory committee. We have drafted an outline for the overall program, revised it based on reviewer comments, and written first drafts of the first two chapters of the program, including an illustrated interactive key to turf grasses. These chapters are now out for review.
Impacts
Too early.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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