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By Sam Bauer

Q: What mowing height should I keep my lawn at before winter?

By Josh Friell, former graduate student, currently with The Toro Company

Highlights

1) For many cool-season grasses under typical lawn management, total dry clippings production may be in the range of 1-3 g per square meter per day or about 4700 kg per hectare per year.

2) Regardless of growth rate, it is most important to remember that proper mowing practices include not removing more than 1/3 of the above-ground tissue in any one mowing. Removing more than the recommended amount can cause undue stress to the turf plant and stop root growth for as much as six days to two weeks.

By Sam Bauer

Lawns in Minnesota take a beating.  This is no surprise due to the extreme weather swings that we have from season to season and even within seasons.  Fortunately this year has been a banner year for lawn care with plenty of rain, mild temperatures and low dew points.  However, the current ten day forecast is setting us up to have some of the highest temperatures we’ve seen this summer, with dew points in the 70’s.  We may have another month of hot weather and then it will be time to seed bare areas in your lawn or conduct lawn renovations.  With that, now is the time to start thinking about seed selection and purchasing.

Visit this link to view the latest snow mold fungicide research reports from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Dr. Paul Koch

By Matt Cavanaugh, Sam Bauer, and Dr. Brian Horgan

By Maggie Reiter, Graduate Research Assistant

By Sam Bauer

As scientists and researchers we constantly strive to publish our work in peer-reviewed journals and there are many reasons for this.  The element of peer-review is a validation of the quality of the research conducted and the results that are presented.  In university settings, we often gauge the success of a researcher by the number of scientific articles that they have listed on a curriculum vitae.  These publications add to the scholarship of a discipline and are often used as new intellectual building blocks for specific areas within the discipline.  

By Sam Bauer

Last week I had the opportunity to volunteer with the golf course maintenance team at the TPC Twin Cities for their Champions Tour event the 3M Championship.  In the year that marks the 20th anniversary for this tournament, organizers achieved an unprecedented goal of 20 million dollars donated to charity since the tournament inception.  The 3M Championship is great for golf in Minnesota and the charitable donations benefit the lives of many Minnesotans.  Volunteer opportunities are always available for turfgrass managers and students that are interested in gaining valuable tournament experience in a friendly atmosphere.