Improving Lawn Quality Using IPM Techniques Without Pesticides

Abstract

Pesticides are widely used in lawn care, but IPM methods can provide many of the same functions. Proper fertility, use of correct grass species, repetitive overseeding and core cultivation are offered as ways to improve turfgrass quality and possibly replace pesticide treatments for weeds and grubs. This project demonstrated how repetitive overseeding four times in the late summer early autumn period can increase turfgrass density by up to 90%. While core aeration can be a valuable practice, under the conditions of heavy rainfall, plots seeded multiple times with perennial ryegrass performed better without aeration, while aeration was neither a benefit nor a detriment in tall fescue plots. While other studies have demonstrated that grub control is possible using a core aerator, three passes with a core aerator had no impact on grubs in this study.