Archive for February, 2010

How golf courses prepare for the season’s rush

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Dr. John Stier, Environmental Turfgrass Extension Specialist, Professor and Chair of the Dept. of Horticulture-University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The PGA season has begun and people who live in temporal climates are itching to get back on the course, but it’s still too cold. Ever wonder what golf courses do when they’re covered in snow or the ground is frozen? What do the owners do when golfers aren’t coming to the course?

In the North, golf course superintendents spend their winters planning their management for the upcoming season and placing orders for fertilizers, equipment and other products.  Problem areas which had been hit hardest with pests or environmental stresses the year before are slated for renovation, if possible, to reduce future problems. 

Hiring of seasonal positions begins in February or March depending on the location, with many of the employees returning from the previous year. Teaching professionals, bag boys and drink-cart girls are all very important positions that are utilized during the summer to increase the number of golfers.  

Then the grounds keeping begins: tree debris from the winter is picked up and areas with low turf density are reseeded.  Mowing begins as soon as the grass starts to grow, which helps reduce weeds as most weeds can’t grow under well-maintained greens and fairways.  Fertilizer may be applied once the initial surge of spring growth passes.

Pest problems are usually minimal during early spring as temperatures and moisture are favorable for turf growth. Change may be in the works, though, as recent research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that a single application of fungicide applied in early spring may reduce the need for multiple applications throughout the summer. Most control measures are applied during the summer because of the increased chance of fungal diseases and sometimes insects.

In the South, golfers are lucky as the season never ends, but warming weather still brings changes. As warmer temperatures return, superintendents will begin to manage the warm season grasses versus the cold-season varieties that were planted to maintain green turf throughout the mild winter.

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Posted in Pest Management, Uncategorized, gardening | 15 Comments »

Are your pets more vulnerable to pests?

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Melissa Brookshire, DVM, runs North River Enterprises and provides consulting services on pet food and animal health companies while balancing her life as a mom of two active boys. A graduate of the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine, Melissa owned and operated a multi-species veterinary hospital with her husband before starting her consulting business.

Just like some people are more vulnerable to illness or irritation from pests, so are our pets. Young puppies or kittens, pets with chronic illnesses and older pets are especially vulnerable.

Young puppies and kittens are cute and adorable, but just like babies, their immune systems are not fully developed. They are particularly fragile and should not be treated with the same veterinary pesticides that are made for adult or senior pets. Products are specifically formulated for pets of different ages and weights.

Infestations of fleas are common in young animals. Young pets can lose enough blood from the bites of fleas to cause anemia. While these same young pets can quickly recover from the anemia once the pests are removed, they may require transfusions or other intensive veterinary care if the problem is not recognized early enough.

It is very important to follow your veterinarian’s advice for products to use to control these pests on your young pet. Many products are not made for animals under 10 or 12 weeks of age. Adverse reactions are a likely occurrence when label directions are not followed. Always follow the directions for treating your pet.

Now that our pets are living longer and getting better medical care than ever before, they are more likely to be diagnosed and treated for chronic medical conditions. While these pets can enjoy a great quality of life with the medical treatments available today, they are more vulnerable to illnesses transmitted by parasites like ticks. Ticks carry diseases that can cause kidney damage. If a pet that is already suffering from a kidney problem contracts a tick-borne disease, they are less likely to survive the illness than a pet with healthy kidneys.

Senior pets are less active and tend to sleep more than younger pets.  I love watching my old beagle bask in the sunshine, in a pile of fallen leaves. However, she is at risk from all those pesky pests that lurk in the yard.

In my veterinary hospital, I occasionally saw older farm dogs that had been infested with ticks. These dogs were so weakened that they could not even walk. Of course, caring for a dog that is sick or weak from an infestation of parasites is much more costly than preventing the infestation in the first place.

Even if your yard has been treated to eliminate pests, it is important to use appropriate parasite control medications on your pets. Talk to your veterinarian for a recommendation of the best options for your special friend.

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Posted in Pest Management, Pets, Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

How to control winter weeds

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Dr. John Stier, Environmental Turfgrass Extension Specialist, Professor and Chair of the Dept. of Horticulture-University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Winter weather alone doesn’t solve all your weed problems. Most winter weeds are known as winter annuals, which germinate from seeds in the fall, stop growing in the spring and flower shortly before they die.  (In the South winter annuals may flower as early as February, but in the North they may not flower until May.)  Common winter annuals in turf include annual bluegrass, henbit (a member of the mint family), common chickweed, and some types of speedwell. 

Here are some helpful tips for having the best lawn no matter what the weather outside your window. The best way to control winter weeds is stop them before they start.  This is most easily done by keeping a healthy lawn that doesn’t allow weed seeds to germinate.  All you have to do is take good care of your turf during the summer with proper mowing, fertilization and you’re on your way to preventing winter weeds.  If you’ve had problems in the past, and you couldn’t keep a healthy lawn when it was warm, using a pre-emergence herbicide can be very effective at controlling winter weeds.  A pre-emergent herbicide is simply a solution you apply before the weeds have a chance to grow (as opposed to post-emergence which you apply when there are already visible weeds). In most cases, it will be important to apply the herbicide before the weed seeds germinate and before any seedlings emerge above the ground. 

Wondering how these herbicides work? Pre-emergent herbicides usually aren’t very watery and don’t get absorbed so they tend to form a barrier between the seeds and the soil surface.  As the seeds germinate, the roots and shoots hit that barrier, which stops their growth.  The trick is getting the herbicides on before the weeds germinate, generally before soil temperatures cool to less than 70 degrees.  A good way to gauge the time for a pre-emergent application is when warm-season grasses stop growing for the year.  One important thing to know is that most pre-emergent herbicides will also prevent turf grass seed from germinating, so if you’re thinking about re-seeding your lawn when it’s cooler, make sure you use an herbicide that won’t prevent grass seed germination.

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Posted in Pest Management, Plant Care, Uncategorized, gardening | 17 Comments »

Keep your pets happy and healthy-the importance of a pest free environment

Friday, February 5th, 2010

Melissa Brookshire, DVM, runs North River Enterprises and provides consulting services on pet food and animal health companies while balancing her life as a mom of two active boys. A graduate of the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine, Melissa owned and operated a multi-species veterinary hospital with her husband before starting her consulting business.

When you and your pet go to the vet, you may hear about parasites – fleas, ticks, heartworms and whipworms. You may wonder why your vet keeps talking about these pests. Your pet has never had a problem, right? Well, the reason is simple. Pets with parasites are not healthy and happy pets. Your veterinarian wants your pet to feel the best that it can. Some pests may cause immediate and obvious discomfort while others may cause illness that will develop over time and can lead to expensive and sometimes even dangerous treatment.

Did you know that flea allergies are the most common type of allergy in pets? Many pet owners claim, “But my pet doesn’t have fleas.” However, pets with flea allergies are SO itchy that they often lick and bite themselves excessively. In doing so, they swallow the fleas and flea dirt that are the evidence of the problem. Not only can the bite from a single flea make your pet miserable, but fleas also can transmit parasites like tapeworms and diseases like Haemobartonellosis (a blood disease).

What about ticks? There is a long list of infections that are transmitted by ticks to pets. These include Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Lyme disease, Ehrlichiosis and Tularemia. While I was in veterinary school, my Australian Shepherd “Bear” was infected with Ehrlichia and ran a high fever, would not eat or drink and was very weak. This blood parasite causes anemia, or a decrease in the number of red blood cells. Although treatable, this infection will cause serious symptoms until it is diagnosed and the proper medication is prescribed. In addition to the risk of disease transmission, a tick bite can leave a nasty sore on your pet’s skin. These sores can become infected and require treatment by your veterinarian.

Mosquitoes are pests that are worth mentioning although most of us know about the risks of a bite from these nuisances! West Nile Virus first appeared in the news several years ago. While this viral infection can be quite a problem for us, it is not usually a severe illness in dogs or cats. For dogs and cats, the most serious illness that can be transmitted by a mosquito is heartworm disease. Heartworms are transmitted from an infected pet to an unprotected pet through a bite. The larvae (baby heartworms) are injected into the pet during the bite. These larvae grow to adult worms that live inside the blood vessels around the heart. Unfortunately, pet owners may not be aware that their pet is ill until there are obvious symptoms of heart failure. Cats sometimes will die suddenly because of a heartworm infection. Treatment for heartworm infection is very expensive and there are serious side effects associated with the medicine that kills the worms.

Making sure that your yard and home are free from pests will help protect your pets, keeping them happy and healthy.

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Posted in Miscellaneous, Pest Management, Pets, Uncategorized | 59 Comments »