News Filed Under Turfgrass and Lawn Management

rofessionals involved in the turfgrass industry can register now for a September field day that will showcase Mississippi State University turfgrass research and Extension expertise. The 2024 Turfgrass Research Field Day will be Sept. 19 from 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at the R.R. Foil Plant Science Research Facility in Starkville.

It’s spring, meaning things are starting to grow! The “spring transition,” when grasses go from dormant to active, is in full swing this month.

The new year is a great time to start learning about topics you don’t know much about.

Early fall is one of the best times to test your soil. A soil test can tell you if your lawn or garden needs critical nutrients and how much. This way, your plants and your wallet will stay healthy. You won’t waste your money applying fertilizer or lime that your plants don’t need.

A lot of time and energy is put into caring for your lawn: mowing, fertilizing, watering, and everything in between.

As we all know, good things require time and effort. That same concept applies to having an award-winning yard. You’re probably thinking, “Winter is around the corner. Why should I be worried about my lawn now?” A great spring and summer lawn is made possible by the work you devote to it during the fall. 

If you’re a homeowner who loves your bermudagrass lawn, be on the lookout for fall armyworms. These caterpillars can eat voraciously, devouring yards within just a day or two. These pests show up every year from late summer to early fall, and you never know exactly when or how many there will be.

With warm weather arriving, many people are starting to think about their landscape plan for the spring and summer. It’s so exciting to get those colorful flowers planted. But with warmer weather, we also get unwanted, pesky weeds. It’s inevitable to have some type of weed pop up in your flower beds, gardens, or lawn at some point during the summer.

A late September event at Mississippi State University testing grounds highlighted the significant attention turfgrass receives at the state’s leading research institution. At the 2021 Turfgrass Research Field Day held at the MSU R.R. Foil Plant Science Research Center, participants got to examine new turfgrass varieties in development, look at the performance of several selections in a side-by-side variety trial and examine the results of weed control tests.

Autumn is officially here! It’s not hard to love this time of year. Temperatures are cooling, leaves are changing, and there will be more branches than foliage soon. It’s hard not to love this time of year! As we close out this calendar year, it’s easy to convince yourself there’s not much to do in the yard. Take a break, but also take time to check off these tasks

Lawn burweed is something we all dread having in our yards during warmer months. This weed starts growing in the fall, but doesn’t become a nuisance until it’s fully matured in the spring. When temperatures rise, these weeds form prickly spines, or “stickers,” which they are more commonly known as.