Eric Watkins

Several members of our team will be giving talks at Northern Green, a trade show and conference dedicated to green industry professionals.  Register now for this worthwhile event!

Northern Green
January 15–17, 2019
Minneapolis Convention Center
REGISTRATION

This year’s presentations from our team include:

University of Minnesota Turf Research Update

By Brian Horgan and Eric Watkins
16 January, 7:30 AM

Check out our team’s latest efforts in educating the public about our work. We have an article, a conference presentation and an upcoming educational opportunity to register for the Great Lakes of Turfgrass Science Course!

Chase Straw and Brian Horgan co-authored an article titled Site-specific irrigation using sensors and mapping.  It can be found on the Golfdom.com website.  

The Turfgrass Science team at the University of Minnesota was well-represented at this year’s ASA and CSSA Annual Meeting held on November 4-7, 2018 in Baltimore, MD. Read on for a summary of the wide variety of topics covered by our researchers and be sure to check out the links with the full poster content.

A novel inoculation technique for integrating the endophyte Epichloe festucae into perennial ryegrass

By Garett Heineck, Brooke Ashbrenner, Michael Miller and Eric Watkins

Check out our team’s latest efforts in educating the public about our work.  We have a seminar recording, a podcast and an upcoming golf industry seminar from the MGCSA!

Florence Sessoms presented a seminar titled Unraveling Regulation of Soil Nitrification (recording available here) for the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate's Fall Seminar Series

Check out our team’s latest efforts in educating the public about our work.  We have a podcast, a blog post, and a lawn care calendar!

WCCO’s Smart Gardens August 25 podcast, featuring Eric Watkins and Julie Weisenhorn, answers listeners' questions on gardening and lawns

Lots of weeds in the grass? Make your lawn weed-resistant this Fall by Jon Trappe, Extension Educator & Turf Specialist

By Eric Watkins

I often get asked what I’d recommend for a good fine fescue mixture for Minnesota. I usually recommend a mixture of the three fine fescue species that are most readily available: hard, Chewings, and strong creeping red. The tricky part is determining the final components of a fine fescue mixture that will result in a high-performing turf.

The TURF & GROUNDS FIELD DAY is back on the St. Paul campus this year as the University of Minnesota once again partners with the Minnesota Turf and Grounds Foundation to produce this popular event at TROE Center and UFore Nursery.

MAKE PLANS TO JOIN US ON THURS., AUG. 9 for outdoor education presented by University of Minnesota faculty and staff working in turfgrass science, horticulture and forestry. The Field Day will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with presentation topics ranging from turfgrass species for natural areas to disease management in turf and trees. 

A University research team led by Professor Eric Watkins is working to promote healthy roadside turfgrass.  The current issue of Catalyst from the Center for Transportation Studies has an article that describes the project. 

Read more on this study, funded by the Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB), here: New recommendations aim to help turfgrass thrive on Minnesota roadsides.

Fine fescue turfgrass species are excellent alternatives to provide functional turf areas while reducing inputs of water, fertilizer, mowing, and pesticides.  Eric Watkins recently received a $5.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture to identify ways to facilitate adoption of these fine fescues on private and public landscapes.