Soil Texture Analysis “The Jar Test”
Soil is a medium comprised of soil particles, organic matter, water, air, and living organisms, all of which are important to the overall health of the soil and the plants that grow in it. The three...
Category: Landscape
Poison Ivy
Eastern poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) is a woody, perennial vine or small shrub that can be found in fields, pastures, woodlands, farms and home landscapes. As a vine, it attaches itself to...
Pond Turnover and Dissolved Oxygen
Turnover in ponds and lakes is a natural phenomenon that is a result of the influence of thermal stratification on dissolved oxygen levels in a water body. Sometimes, pond turnovers can result in...
Broadleaf Weeds
Most broadleaf weeds have netlike veins in their leaves and nodes containing one or more leaves. They may have showy flowers. Broadleaf weed seedlings emerge with two leaves. Because of differences...
White Grub Management in Turfgrass
White grubs are the larval (immature) stage of several different scarab beetles. In South Carolina, as well as the rest of the southeastern United States, turfgrass can be attacked by the grub stage...
Nematode Problems in Home Lawns
Nematodes are major pests of lawns throughout the Southeastern United States. They are microscopic roundworms that live in the soil and on plant roots. Nematodes are particularly a problem in areas...
Spring Dead Spot
Spring dead spot is a fungal disease of bermudagrass lawns and is a result of infection by one or more species of Ophiosphaerella. These soil-dwelling fungi damage the roots, rhizomes, and stolons...
Gray Leaf Spot on St. Augustinegrass
Gray leaf spot is a fungal disease (caused by Pyricularia grisea) that occurs most commonly on St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum), but occasionally may also be found infecting tall fescue,...
Leaf Diseases of Lawns
Several fungal leaf diseases may commonly occur in South Carolina home lawns, including dollar spot, rust, gray leaf spot, powdery mildew, anthracnose, and Helminthosporium leaf spot. Most of the...
Brown Patch & Large Patch Diseases of Lawns
Introduction Brown patch and large patch are probably the most common and damaging diseases of cool-season and warm-season turfgrasses, respectively, in South Carolina. The beauty of all South...
Grassy Weeds
Grassy weeds are true grasses or monocots. A grass seed germinates and emerges as one single leaf. It develops hollow, rounded stems and nodes (joints) that are closed and hard. The leaf blades...
Managing Weeds in Warm Season Lawns
Bermudagrass, centipedegrass, zoysiagrass, and St. Augustinegrass are the most popular warm-season turfgrasses grown in South Carolina. Warm-season refers to the fact that they prefer the warm...