Course objectives

1. To learn the biology and management of turfgrasses, a part of the ecosystem.
2. To strengthen a foundation in biology and plant sciences.
3. To become adept at solving turfgrass problems.
4. To speak both the practical and scientific languages relevant to turfgrass.

Learning goals

1. Units conversion. Be able to interpret and solve turfgrass word problems and convert units of measurements. When are rules of thumb appropriate? What are the four steps of conversion by the GRIN method? How are you always given the answer to problems? (What's required is what's given.) What can you always multiply something by, without changing it? What is the hardest part of solving any problem? Be able to solve all area-based calculations involving fertilizer and pesticide applications.
2. Grass form and function. Know what is a grass, the major parts of the grass plant, their developmental relationship, natural function, role in propagation and turf quality, and use in identification. How many grasses are there in the world? How do grasses differ from other plants? From sedges? How do grasses grow? How do cultural practices affect grass growth?
3. Turfgrass as cultural artifact. Know what turfgrass is and how it differs from other kinds of grass culture. Where did turf culture originate? Who invented the lawnmower and when? How do perceptions of turfgrass differ among cultural groups? Why? What is the role of The American Lawn?
4. Genera and species. Know the major genera and representative species of warm- and cool-season grasses: their origin, subfamily affiliation, climatic and maintenance adaptations, distinguishing characteristics, performance, and turf uses. What is the difference between C₃ and C₄ grasses and how do their physiological adaptations relate to shade, mowing, traffic, water use, CO₂ compensation, and insect resistance? Know genus, species, common name, and major features of 10 turfgrasses.
5. Cultivars. Know what is a cultivar and what are the major cultivars of Florida turfgrasses, their uses, history, and limitations. Why do southeast Florida lawns have a virtual monoculture of Floratam St. Augustinegrass? What is the most and the least that one might expect from a new cultivar? Why are there so many dozen cultivars of cool-season grasses?
6. Propagation and establishment. Be able to plan a turf area from the ground up, including selection of species and cultivar, steps in establishment, vegetative increase and seed establishment, and development of a maintenance plan. Why do golf greens frequently show genetic off-types? Why are most warm-season grasses propagated vegetatively? Is seed propagation better? Which turfgrasses are seed propagated? Vegetatively propagated? Both? What is the power of compounded growth and what are the blockages on establishment and propagation.

7. Water budget. Understand the four environmental factors affecting evapotranspiration, and the relationship of depth of rooting, soil moisture reserve, rainfall, irrigation uniformity, and the application of these concepts to the water budget method. Be aware of secondary considerations such as infiltration and localized dry spots. What happens when there’s too much water? How often should one water a lawn? A golf green? What is the best time of day to water a lawn and why are some of the ideas of nighttime irrigation a myth?
8. Irrigation design. Be able to design or retrofit an irrigation system considering performance and cost. Understand the interrelated concepts of precipitation rate, uniformity, wind distortion, pipe size, flow rate, pressure loss due to friction, valve control, and head characteristics. Why are irrigation systems inefficient? Why should one often choose the larger pipe size?
9. Soil chemistry and plant nutrition. Know the elements needed for plant growth, their relative preponderance in the turf plant, the effects of deficiency or over-application, and the tendency of different soils, different grasses, and different management situations to vary in the need for supplemental nutrients. Why and when do Florida grasses sometimes show micronutrient deficiency? How are consumers deceived by "organic" fertilizer?
10. Biogeochemistry. Describe the cycles of molecules in nature (water, carbon, and nitrogen), their relationship among organisms, and natural reserves (soil, thatch, and atmosphere). How much oxygen does an average lawn produce, and why is this not very important? What are the pathways and destinations of a pesticide in the environment?
11. Soil physics. Know how physical characteristics of soil relate to use factors (e.g., traffic). Know the relation of soil particle size distribution, compaction, percolation rate, aerification, and high intensity (e.g., athletic) turf. Why and when is it okay to drive on the grass? What is the USGA Green Specification?

12. Turf biota. Know major genera and species of turf pests (insects, fungi, weeds, and nematodes), beneficial organisms, their scientific and common names, and simplified life cycles. What is the disease triangle? What is the difference between signs and symptoms? If someone telephoned you with a supposed pest problem, what is the sequence of essential questions that you must ask?
13. Integrated turfgrass management. Be able to describe a turf installation, including maintenance inputs (irrigation, mowing, fertilization, pest control, and cultural practices), turf use, and economic aspects. Be able to show how practices (such as overfertilization) affect pest populations. Compare different turf installations. Why is most research on turf biota related to pesticides? Which biological controls (including biological pesticides) work? Are natural products safe?

14. Problem solving. Be able to solve turf performance problems through diagnosis, involving sample preparation, interviews, description of site conditions, management factors, turfgrass symptoms, and the interrelationship of this information to various classes of problems (soil and pests, including humans). If you manage a ballfield and you suspect a pest problem, what are some ways of testing the hypothesis?
15. Safety. Know how turf practices harm people and other inhabitants of the environment and know how to minimize these deleterious effects. What is meant by LD₅₀? What does a pesticide label tell you? What is chemical trespass?
16. Science and technology. Know and be able to skeptically interpret turf information (scientific papers, trade articles, and the experience of colleagues). What are the differences between science, technology, and engineering? What are the reason for randomization, replication, blind evaluation, and repeated experiments? What is a scientific paper?
17. Knowledge gateway. Be able to turn on a computer, open applications, and use a browser and search engine to find information on the World Wide Web. Be aware of other Internet communications tools, e.g., email, web, chat, and file formats and basic computer operations. Be able to cite a scientific paper according to a given style, and be able to find a citation in the library. What are the most appropriate trade journals? Scientific journals?

1. Units conversion.
1. 50 pound bag of 16-4-8 fertilizer is applied to a 3000 ft² lawn. How many pounds of nitrogen are applied per thousand square feet?
2. Ammonium nitrate 35-0-0 is to be applied to a lawn at the rate of 0.5 pound N per thousand square feet. How many square feet can be fertilized from a 25-pound bag?
3. Milorganite 6-2-0 is to be applied to a lawn 20 feet x 30 feet at the rate of 0.75 pounds N per thousand square feet. How many bags (40 pounds) will be required?
2. Grass form and function.
1. What is the ideal frequency of cutting turfgrass?
2. How do grasses survive mowing while many other kinds of plants do not?
3. Draw a grass spikelet showing the position of glumes, lemmas, anthers, and other parts.
4. What is a seed?
3. Turfgrass as cultural artifact.
1. What are the six components of turfgrass quality as stated by Beard?
2. What is the value of the turfgrass industry?
3. Where are there jobs for college graduates in turfgrass?
4. Genera and species.
1. In a table, list 5 warm-season grasses and 5 cool-season grasses. For each grass, write the common name and the scientific name, and fill in the other descriptive cells on use, environmental tolerance, and characteristics.
2. In a table, list the main characteristics of warm- and cool-season turfgrasses
5. Cultivars.
1. Compare two cultivars of warm-season turfgrasses, e.g., Pensacola vs. Argentine bahiagrass, Floratam vs. Palmetto St. Augustinegrass, or Tifway (419) vs. Tifdwarf . Show how they differ based on their morphology, performance, and use.
2. There has been substantial variety development of cool-season grasses, with hundreds of varieties developed. Not so for warm-season grasses. Why?
3. Development of turfgrass varieties has been compared to development of other products such as automobiles. How does this concept fail?
6. Propagation and establishment.
1. When grading a turf area, there are really two steps in the grading, rough grading and fine grading. Why are there two steps?
2. Why does vegetation control precede all other steps in turf establishment except planning?
3. Illustrate what is the ideal compound growth of turfgrass during establishment and explain why actual results do no reach the ideal.
7. Water budget.
1. Explain how the irrigation requirement for turfgrass is related to other management variables such as mowing and fertilization.
2. Why is the improvement of water use by turfgrasses an academic exercise in futility?
3. How often should one water a lawn?