Greg Grant

I get more questions about lawn problems than any other topic. There’s never a week that goes by without somebody asking about their dead, diseased, infested or dying lawn, especially those with St. Augustine grass.

The usual culprits are brown patch, gray leaf spot or take-all root rot in the spring and fall, chinch bugs and grub worms during the summer, weeds year round and too much shade all the time.

Unfortunately, all of these fall outside of my area expertise (horticulture) as I only took one class each in college in turfgrass, plant pathology and entomology. Each of these subjects were in entirely different departments at Texas A&M, with turfgrass (lawns and weeds) majors in the Agronomy Department, plant pathology (diseases) in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology and entomology (insects) in the Department of Entomology.

Thankfully, Texas A&M AgriLife has educational publications (with pictures) on all of these subjects available at aggieturf.tamu.edu. These publications are free and can be accessed via the internet. Once you get to the Aggie Turf page, just click on “publications” and you’ll see your choices. They will help you figure out what the problem is and how to correct it. Unfortunately, most problems aren’t easily corrected.

If you’d really like answers, solutions and the tools available for a good lawn, plan on attending the annual Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service East Texas Turfgrass Conference Feb. 7 in Overton. The program is $35, which includes lunch, and will be held at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, 1710 Farm-to-Market Road 3053, Overton. Registration and payment is at the door.

The popular yearly event is geared toward professional turfgrass managers, Master Gardeners and homeowners. In the past, the program has been heavily attended by professionals in golf course, lawn care and sports field management, but anyone interested in learning more about turfgrass and how to care for a lawn will benefit. A number of specialists will focus on those primary concerns, including lawn diseases, insects, weeds and irrigation. There will also be various exhibitors there in the lawn care industry. Five Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units will be available including four general and one integrated pest management.

The speakers and their topics include:

• Darren Rozell, Rozell Sprayer Manufacturing owner, Tyler: “Chemical Update.”
• Dr. Becky Grubbs, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension statewide turfgrass specialist: “Winter Weed Control” and “Major Diseases of Lawns.”
• Dr. Mike Merchant, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension urban entomologist: “Lawn Pest Update.”
• Brad Waters, A&A Landscape and Irrigation vice president, Farmersville: “Irrigation Efficiency.”
• Janet Hurley, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension program specialist at the Integrated Pest Management School, Dallas: “History of Integrated Pest Management.”

Greg Grant is the Smith County horticulturist for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. He is co-author of “Texas Home Landscaping.” You can follow him on Facebook at “Greg Grant Gardens,” read his “Greg’s Ramblings” blog at arborgate.com or read his “In Greg’s Garden” in each issue of Texas Gardener magazine (texasgardener.com). More science-based lawn care information from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service can be found at aggieturf.tamu.edu. You can also follow Aggie Turf on Facebook.