Comparative evaluation of aesthetic, biological, and economic effectiveness of different lawn management programs

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1 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: DOI 1.17/s Comprtive evlution of estheti, iologil, nd eonomi effetiveness of different lwn mngement progrms Alfred Alumi & Seppo O. Slminen & Dougls S. Rihmond & John Crdin & Prwinder S. Grewl Pulished online: 26 Septemer 28 # Springer Siene + Business Medi, LLC 28 Astrt We evluted estheti (lwn qulity), iologil (weeds nd inset pests), nd eonomi (mngement osts) effetiveness of ommeril (mnged y professionl ompny), onsumer (mnged using onsumer lwn re produts following leled instrutions), integrted pest mngement (IPM) (pestiide pplitions sed on monitoring nd thresholds), orgni (monitoring nd need-sed orgni nd nturl produt pplitions), nd n untreted lwn re progrm. Perent weed over ws the lowest in the ommeril followed y IPM, orgni, nd onsumer progrms. The ommeril progrm hd lower white gru density thn ll other progrms, nd the orgni progrm hd lower white gru density thn the untreted progrm. The ommeril progrm hd the highest lwn qulity while the untreted progrm hd the lowest. The IPM nd orgni progrms did not differ signifintly in lwn qulity, ut oth rted signifintly higher thn the onsumer progrm. Annul osts were highest in the ommeril ($382/.5 h) followed y the orgni ($35/.5 h), IPM ($252/.5 h), nd onsumer progrm ($127/.5 h), respetively. We onlude tht the ommeril progrm produed the highest lwn qulity, nd weed nd inset ontrol, nd ws the most expensive. The IPM nd orgni progrms were heper thn the ommeril progrm nd produed slightly lower lwn qulity. Although the onsumer progrm ws the hepest, it produed the lowest weed ontrol nd lwn qulity mong treted lwns. Keywords Lwn qulity. Perent weed over. White gru density. Lwn mngement ost. IPM lwn mngement progrm. Orgni lwn mngement progrm A. Alumi : S. O. Slminen : P. S. Grewl (*) Deprtment of Entomology, Ohio Stte University, Ohio Agriulturl Reserh nd Development Center, 168 Mdison Avenue, Wooster, OH 44691, USA e-mil: grewl.4@osu.edu D. S. Rihmond Deprtment of Entomology, Purdue University, 91 W. Stte Street, West Lfyette, IN 4797, USA J. Crdin Deprtment of Hortiulture nd Crop Siene, Ohio Stte University, Ohio Agriulturl Reserh nd Development Center, 168 Mdison Avenue, Wooster, OH 44691, USA

2 128 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: Introdution Turfgrss lwns re mjor omponents of urn lndspes nd re highly vlued for reretionl, estheti, nd environmentl purposes (Berd nd Green 1994; Grewl 27). Lwns re now dominnt feture of residentil lndspes in North Ameri (Roins nd Birkenholtz 23; Ntionl Turfgrss Federtion 23; Milesi et l. 25). Unfortuntely, the inrese in lwn overge oinides with inresed use of syntheti inputs, inluding wter-solule fertilizers, heriides, nd insetiides (Bormnn et l. 1993; Jenkins 1994; Grewl 27). This is minly due to the homeowner quest for perfet lwn nd the resulting low tolerne for weeds nd inset pests. Aording to United Sttes Environmentl Protetion Ageny report (USEPA 1999), n estimted 36.3 million kilogrms of pestiide-tive ingredients re pplied nnully in domesti settings for ontrol of insets, invsive plnts, weeds, nd fungi in lwns nd grdens in the USA. The ontinued use of syntheti lwn inputs hs, however, een ssoited with environmentl pollution, lwn eosystem disruption, nd humn helth risks (USGS 1999). Thus, inresed puli onern over syntheti pestiide use nd the implementtion of the Food Qulity Protetion At (FQPA) hve resulted in redution in the vilility of syntheti pestiides for use in urn lndspes. Alterntive lwn mngement strtegies tht use integrted pest mngement (IPM), iologil pest ontrol gents, nd orgni fertilizers hve eome ville. The IPM strtegy promotes the integrtion of multiple ttis inluding ulturl prties nd iologil ontrol gents, with judiious use of seletive hemil pestiides pplied only when justified through dequte souting. The orgni strtegy promotes the use of sound ulturl prties nd nturl iologil or iortionl tools. The use of ulturl prties tht promote turfgrss stnd density, suh s grss speies nd ultivr seletion (Emmons 2), optimum mowing height nd frequeny (Lush nd Rogers 1992; Slminen nd Grewl 22; Slminen et l. 23), nd dequte fertility (Turner et l. 1979; Christins 24), n improve inset resistne, vigor, persistene, nd ompetitiveness of turfgrss over weeds (Rihmond et l. 26). Unfortuntely, these low-input strtegies hve not een widely dopted in lwn mngement due to severl ftors. First, studies designed to develop these strtegies hve often delt with insets, weeds, or diseses independently nd hve most often foused on speifi pest prolems within one of these mjor pest tegories. While suh studies provide importnt iologil nd pest mngement informtion, they do little to eluidte oherent nd oneptully rod pproh to mnging turfgrss lwns. Seondly, there is often pereption tht the ost of monitoring prohiits IPM implementtion in lwn mngement, nd tht orgni progrms re too expensive, ut there re no dt to support these ontentions. Thus, there is no eonomi sis for ompring different lwn mngement progrms. Thirdly, very few studies hve ttempted to ddress the question of wht onstitutes n esthetilly eptle stnd of turfgrss with regrds to lwn qulity. This lk of dt ddressing the more sujetive spets of lwns further omplites nd hinders the widespred doption of IPM in urn lwn mngement. Therefore, there is need for reserh to evlute nd ompre the estheti, iologil, nd eonomi spets of different lwn mngement progrms. To fill this void, we onduted 3-yer (24 26) study to evlute the influene of five lwn mngement progrms on iologil (weed over, white gru, illug, nd hinh ug popultion density), estheti (overll qulity), nd eonomi (produt nd lor osts) prmeters in replited experimentl plots. The results of this study revel interesting reltionships mong the estheti, iologil, nd eonomi onsidertions of seleting lwn mngement progrm.

3 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: Mterils nd methods Site nd tretment regime desription The study ws estlished on turfgrss lwns in April 24 on the grounds of the Ohio Agriulturl Reserh nd Development Center in Wooster, Ohio. The plots were estlished on m (88.8 m 2 ) lwn re onsisting of Kentuky luegrssperennil ryegrss speies mixture. The soil type ws Wooster silt-lom (fine lom, mixed, mesi oxyqui frgiudlph). Twenty-five experimentl plots were estlished, eh mesuring m (18.91 m 2 ). Five lwn mngement progrms (tretments) were rndomly ssigned to the experimentl plots in Ltin Squre design with five replitions per progrm. Individul plots were seprted y 1.5 m lleys to ensure tht the tretments remined isolted with minimum ross-ontmintion during tretment pplition nd mowing. The tretments in this study inluded ommeril, onsumer, n IPM, n orgni, nd n untreted (no-input) lwn mngement progrm. The shedule of produt pplitions in the lwn mngement progrms is given in Tle 1, nd rief desription out eh progrm is provided elow. In ddition, totl nnul nitrogen, phosphorus, nd potssium input in eh progrm resulting from fertilizer pplitions re shown in Tle 2. The ommeril lwn mngement progrm is system in whih professionl lwn re ompny is hired y homeowner to mnge pest prolems on lwns. We hired TruGreen ChemLwn, ommeril lwn nd lndspe ompny hedqurtered in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, to mnge the five experimentl plots. A tehniin from lol TruGreen ChemLwn rnh in Mnsfield, Ohio, visited the plots during the yer nd mde lendr-sed pplitions of vrious syntheti produts. The pplition regime ws s follows: in erly spring, prodimine (Brride pre-emergent rgrss ontrol in grnulr formultion) nd fertility tretments were pplied to the plots. The soure of fertility inluded grnulr formultion of ure (N), mmonium phosphte (P), nd potssium hloride (K) in rtio of 3 3 3, respetively. Lte spring pplitions inluded Triplet SF ( three-wy heriide lend ontining 3.56% 2,4-D, 8.17% meoprop, nd 2.77% dim, liquid formultion providing post-emergent rodlef ontrol), N, P, nd K (3 3 3), nd imidloprid (Merit ) ( liquid formultion for preventive white gru ontrol). Erly nd lte summer pplitions inluded Tri-Power ( liquid formultion of three-wy heriide lend ontining 4.42% MCPA, 7.99% meoprop, nd 3.97% dim, providing post-emergent rodlef ontrol) nd N, P, nd K (3 3 6) fertility. Erly utumn pplitions were Triplet SF or Tri-Power nd N, P, nd K (3 3 3, respetively) fertility, while in lte utumn only N nd K fertility ws pplied to the plots. Prodimine (Brride ) (7.2% tive ingredient) ws pplied s grnulr produt using drop spreder. Triplet SF or Tri-Power ws liquid produt nd ws pplied using hnd spryer. Imidloprid ws lso pplied s liquid formultion using hnd spryer lirted to deliver 7.57 L of produt/.1 h. N, P, nd K fertility ws pplied s liquid or grnulr produt. The liquid produt ws pplied using hnd spryer lirted to deliver 7.57 L of produt/.1 h while the grnulr produt ws pplied using drop spreder lirted to deliver 2 3 g of produt/.1 h. The onsumer lwn mngement progrm refers to system of lwn re in whih homeowners mnge their own lwns using lwn re produts speifilly formulted for the onsumer mrket. In this system, the homeowner pplies vrious produts following lendr-sed shedule nd lel reommendtions. Severl suh progrms re ville to the onsumers (see Cheng et l. 28) nd re often referred to s four- or five-step progrms sed on the numer of times produts re pplied in yer. We used Sotts

4 13 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: Tle 1 Annul produt pplition shedule for lwn mngement progrms (exept for the untreted ontrol) in Kentuky luegrss-perennil ryegrss mixture experimentl lwns over 3-yer period (24 26) Time of yer Lwn mngement progrm Commeril Consumer IPM, Orgni Erly spring (Fe. Mrh) Lte spring (April June) Erly summer (June July) Lte summer (July Aug.) Erly utumn (Aug. Sept.) Lte utumn (Ot. Nov.) Brride (.23 kg) NPK fertilizer (1.36 kg) Triplet SF (7.57 L) NPK fertilizer (.91 kg) Tri-Power (7.57 L) NPK fertilizer (.91 kg) Merit (7.57 L) NPK fertilizer (1.36 kg) Triplet SF or Tri-Power (7.57 L) NPK fertilizer (.91 kg) NPK fertilizer (.91 kg) TurfBuilder with Hlts (.91 kg) TurfBuilder with Plus 2 (.54 kg) TurfBuilder with Summergurd (.54 kg) TurfBuilder fertilizer (.6 kg) TurfBuilder Winterizer (.64 kg) TurfBuilder with Hlts (24 only) (.45 kg) Triplet SF (24 only) (9.1 Lt) TurfBuilder fertilizer (25 only) (.73 kg) Triplet SF (24 26) (2. L) TurfBuilder Winterizer (.64 kg) Corn gluten mel (Weed Prevention Plus ) (7.59 kg) Ringer Lwn Restore (3.8 kg) Ringer Lwn Restore (2.74 kg) Corn gluten mel (7.71 kg) Boron (Twenty Mule Tem Borx) (13. L) (25 26) Ringer Lwn Restore (2.5 kg) Figures in rkets following eh produt re the mounts of produt (formultion) pplied per.1 h/nnum Yer in rkets for the IPM progrm indites when prtiulr pestiide produt ws determined to e required Tle 2 Totl nnul nutrient input from fertilizer pplitions in Kentuky luegrss-perennil ryegrss experimentl lwns over the ourse of the study (24 26) Lwn mngement progrm Nutrient input (kg/.1 h/nnum) Nitrogen (N) Phosphorus (P) Potssium (K) Commeril Consumer IPM Orgni Untreted The plots were estlished t the Ohio Agriulturl Reserh nd Development Center, loted in Wooster, Ohio, USA Nutrient input ws lulted s follows: kilogrms of nutrient pplied/.1 h/nnum=kilogrms of fertilizer pplied/.1 h/nnum fertilizer nlysis in perent nutrient input/1. This lultion ws done for ll produts used for eh progrm, nd summed to provide the totls shown in this tle for eh progrm. For the orgni progrm, nitrogen supplied y orn gluten mel, in ddition to the nitrogen supplied y Ringer Lwn Restore, ws lso inluded in the nitrogen mount shown here

5 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: (Mrysville, Ohio) nnul TurfBuilder progrm s our onsumer tretment. The pplition regime ws s follows: during erly spring, TurfBuilder with Hlts ws pplied to the plots s reommended on the lel. This produt is lend of fertilizer (N, P, nd K: 3 3 4, respetively) in grnulr formultion to provide erly spring fertility nd pendimethlin (1.7% tive ingredient) to provide pre-emergent ontrol of rgrss nd other nnul grsses. During lte spring, TurfBuilder with Plus 2, grnulr formultion, ws pplied to provide supplementl spring fertility (N, P, nd K: , respetively) nd rodlef weed ontrol using lend of post-emergent ompounds (1.21% 2,4-D nd.61% meoprop). In summer, TurfBuilder with Summergurd, grnulr formultion, ws pplied to provide summer fertility (N, P, nd K: , respetively) nd protetion ginst surfe feeding insets suh s hinh ugs nd sod weworms y inorporting the pyrethroid, ifenthrin (Tlstr ). In erly utumn, TurfBuilder lwn fertilizer, grnulr formultion, ws pplied to provide fertility (N, P, nd K: , respetively) to filitte grss reovery from summer stress. In lte utumn, TurfBuilder Winterizer fll fertilizer (N, P, nd K: , respetively) ws pplied in slow relese grnulr formultion to strengthen root growth nd provide erly spring green-up. All TurfBuilder produts were pplied using Sotts Au Green drop spreder. The IPM lwn mngement progrm relied on weed nd inset pest monitoring with need-sed pplitions of syntheti heriides nd insetiides. Eh replite IPM plot ws mnged individully ording to its need ssessed sed on monitoring. The plots were monitored for weeds, hinh ugs, nd illugs during lte April or erly My, nd white grus in erly June. Weed monitoring ws gin done in mid-septemer during eh yer. The threshold used for weed tretment ws set t 5% weed over. This is euse we determined tht t 5%, weed over ws suffiient to influene lwn qulity nd therefore wrrnted tretment. Thresholds used for inset mngement were sed on lredy estlished thresholds for turfgrss inset ontrol s desried in Niemzyk nd Shetlr (2). The mngement regime for the IPM plots ws s follows: Sotts TurfBuilder with Hlts pplied in lte April only during 24 to provide erly spring fertility nd to mnge pre-emergent rgrss s this re hd history of rgrss invsion. Therefore, this produt ws pplied on need sis only. In My of 24, Triplet SF (3 ml/3.785 L of wter) ws pplied s spot tretment for post-emergent rodlef weed ontrol. In June of 25, Sotts TurfBuilder lwn fertilizer ws pplied to provide fertility. In erly Otoer of eh yer Triplet SF ws pplied s spot tretment for post-emergent rodlef weed ontrol, nd during lte Otoer, Sotts TurfBuilder Winterizer fll fertilizer ws pplied to provide slow relese fertility for root strength nd erly spring green-up. All produts were pplied using drop spreder while Triplet SF ws pplied using hnd spryer. The orgni lwn mngement progrm ws sed on the use of nturl iortionl produts proured from Woodstrem Corportion (Lititz, PA, USA). The pplition regime ws s follows: Ringer Lwn Restore ws pplied to the plots t rte of 4.5 kg/.1 h during lte spring, nd erly nd lte utumn over the 3-yer study period to provide fertility. This produt is slow relese grnulr formultion tht onsists of poultry fether mel, one mel, nd soyen mel in slow relese formul delivering N, P, nd K fertility t rtio of 1:2:6. Pre-emergent weed ontrol ws mnged using orn gluten mel (Weed Prevention Plus ), wter-solule dry formultion, pplied t rte of 9.1 kg/.1 h twie per yer during erly spring nd erly utumn. Post-emergene ground ivy (Glehom hedere L.) ontrol ws omplished using spot pplitions of oron (Twenty Mule Tem Borx) t rte of.28 kg/.1 h.

6 132 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: The untreted lwn progrm did not reeive ny produt pplitions nd ws set up s the experimentl ontrol ginst whih ll other progrms were ompred. All lwns were mowed weekly t height of 8.9 m using mulhing mower tht returned the grss lippings to the lwns. This mowing regime represents est mngement prtie (Busey 23). No irrigtion ws used during the ourse of the study, exept when needed during tretment pplition. Dt olletion Biologil omprison Biologil dt olletion involved smpling nd quntifying density nd over of ll mjor weed speies, nd popultion densities of illugs, hinh ugs nd white grus. Weed dt were olleted from three.21 m 2 qudrts sped t 1.1 m intervls long digonl trnset estlished through eh experimentl plot over the ourse of the study. Weed density (numer per qudrt) nd perent over were reorded for ll weed speies present within eh qudrt, exept white lover (Trifolium repens L.) nd ground ivy, for whih only perent over ws reorded euse of the diffiulty in distinguishing individul plnts for these two speies without destrutive smpling. White gru popultion density dt were olleted in erly Otoer of 25 nd 26 y removing four,.3 m 2 squre pthes of turfgrss. The turfgrss pthes were ut.1 m deep using stright edged spde from eh plot, pled in field tus nd tesed prt to ollet, identify, nd ount white gru speies present. We lso heked for illug nd hinh ug infesttions during lte June nd lte Septemer, respetively, using the tehniques desried in Niemzyk nd Shetlr (2). Briefly, illug popultions were smpled y removing ten, 1.9 m dimeter soil ores from eh experimentl lwn nd refully inspeting the soil nd thth for lrve. Chinh ug popultions were smpled using 2.3 m dimeter metl ylinder fored into eh plot t five points (flottion tehnique), nd wter dded to the ylinder nd llowed to stnd for 5 min to llow hinh ugs to flot to the surfe where they ould e ounted. Aestheti omprison Lwn qulity rting of the experimentl lwn plots ws ssessed using visul sore sed on nine-point sle with 1 eing very poor nd 9 eing exellent. Lwn qulity ssessment inluded grss olor (greenness), presene or sene of weeds, nd the overll pperne. Lwn qulity ws ssessed during June 24, July nd Otoer 25, nd July 26. The plots were rted y minimum of five individuls on eh evlution dte. Speifi instrutions on lwn qulity rting were provided to rters y trined person who showed the rters how to evlute the lwns. Rtings were not lirted to ny stndrd form. During lwn qulity rtings, the rters sed their soring on individul judgments. Eonomi omprison Eonomi vriles onsidered with regrd to the different lwn mngement progrms were produt osts nd mn-hours ssoited with vrious tivities. The ost of eh produt nd mn-hours for its pplition were reorded for eh progrm. For the onsumer progrm, the depreited ost (5 yer sis) of drop spreder ws lso inluded in the progrm ost ssoited with mngement. For the IPM nd orgni progrms, in ddition to mn-hours spent on inset pest nd weed popultion monitoring, the depreited

7 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: osts of drop spreder nd hnd spryer were lso inluded in the progrm ost. The mn-hours for eh mngement progrm were equted to lor osts. Thus, the totl lwn mngement progrm ost ws lulted using the formul given elow: LMPC ¼ PC þ LC p þ ECL d þ ½LC m Š where LMPC is the lwn mngement progrm ost, PC is the produt ost for the tul quntity of produt pplied, LC p is the lor ost for produt pplition, EC d is the depreited ost of the equipment used (spreder nd hnd spryer), nd LC m is the lor ost for inset pest nd weed monitoring (IPM nd orgni progrms only). The LC p ws estimted t $1./h, while the LC m ws estimted t $3./h. The LMPC for eh lwn mngement progrm ws then djusted to reflet the ost of mnging.5 h lwn. The ntionl verge lwn size estimtes rnge from.2 h to.21 h (Vinlove nd Torl 1995). In the LMPC lultion, we did not tke into ount the time tken to mow the plots or the volume nd ost of fuel used during mowing euse these osts were ommon to ll the lwn mngement progrms nd hene, ws onsidered onstnt or equl for ll progrms. Dt nlyses Anlysis to determine the influene of lwn mngement progrm on weed over ws performed with multivrite nlysis of vrine (MANOVA) using the generl liner model (GLM) proedure in SAS (SAS 23). Totl weed over ws lulted y summing perent over dt for eh weed speies on eh smpling dte. However, euse we hd missing dt for two smpling dtes, April 24 nd Otoer 26, the weed dt were pooled y yer rther thn smpling dte to determine differenes etween the lwn mngement progrms for suessive yers over the ourse of the study. Prior to nlysis, weed dt were trnsformed to stisfy the ssumptions of the nlysis using rsine squre root trnsformtion of proportions (perent weed over). Differenes etween tretments were seprted using Fisher s lest signifint differene (LSD). Anlysis to determine the influene of lwn mngement progrm on white gru infesttion ws lso performed with MANOVA using the GLM proedure. White gru dt were pooled for ll speies reorded, nd log trnsformed prior to nlysis. Tretment mens were seprted using Fisher s LSD. Dt on lwn qulity were nlyzed using nlysis of vrine (ANOVA) using the GLM proedure nd tretment mens were seprted using Fisher s LSD. All sttistil nlyses on weed, white gru, nd lwn qulity dt were performed using SAS 9.1 (SAS Institute In., Cry, NC, USA) t α=.5. Results Biologil omprison Life history hrteristis of weed speies oserved in ll the experimentl plots over the ourse of the study re provided in Tle 3, most of whih hve perennil life yle. The yer tretment intertion signifintly influened totl weed over over the ourse of the study (Tle 4). Totl weed over ws signifintly lower in ll treted plots ompred with the untreted plots. Among the treted plots, the ommeril progrm hd the lowest (4.6±1.3%)

8 134 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: Tle 3 Weed speies oserved in Kentuky luegrss-perennil ryegrss mixture experimentl lwns over the ourse of the study (24 26) Weed speies Common nme Life history hrteristis Trxum offiinle F.H. Wigg. Dndelion P, NS, W Trifolium repens L. White lover P, S, NW Plntgo mjor L. Common Plntin P, NS, NW Plntgo lneolt L. Bukhorn Plntin P, NS, NW Veroni serpyllifoli L. Thymelef speedwell P, S, NW Cerstium vulgtum L. Mouse-er hikweed P, NS, NW Glehom hedere L. Ground ivy P, S, NW Prunell vulgris L. Helll P, S, NW Oxlis strit L. Yellow woodsorrel A, NS, NW Digitri snguinlis (L.) Sop. Hiry rgrss A, NS, NW A nnul, P perennil, S stoloniferous, NS non-stoloniferous, W wind-dispersed, NW non-wind-dispersed weed over, losely followed y the IPM (8.5±1.1%) nd the orgni progrm (18.5±2.3%), while the onsumer progrm hd the highest over (43.3±3.3%) (Fig. 1). The influene of lwn mngement progrm on perent weed over ws signifint for eh yer during the ourse of the study (Tle 5). In 24, the ommeril nd IPM progrms hd signifintly lower perent totl weed over ompred with the onsumer, orgni, or untreted progrms. The ommeril nd IPM progrms, however, did not differ signifintly from eh other. The onsumer progrm hd signifintly lower perent totl weed over thn the untreted progrm, ut perent totl weed over did not differ signifintly etween the onsumer nd orgni progrms (Fig. 1). In 25, the ommeril nd IPM progrms did not differ signifintly in perent totl weed over, ut oth hd signifintly lower perent weed over ompred with the orgni, onsumer, or untreted progrms. The orgni progrm hd signifintly lower perent totl weed over ompred with the onsumer nd untreted progrms. The onsumer progrm lso hd signifintly lower perent totl weed over thn the untreted ontrol (Fig. 1). In 26, perent totl weed over differed signifintly mong ll progrms with the ommeril progrm hving the lowest perent weed over, followed y the orgni, IPM, onsumer, nd the untreted ontrol, respetively (Fig. 1d). Among the ommon weed speies reorded over the ourse of the study, lwn mngement progrm hd signifint influene on perent over y dndelion (Trxum offiinle F.H. Wigg.), white lover (Trifolium repens L.), mouse-er hikweed (Cerstium vulgtum L.), nd ground ivy (Glehom hedere L.) (Tle 4). Tle 4 F-vlues from MANOVA estimtes for the influene of yer (Y) nd lwn mngement progrm (P), on totl weed over nd ommon weed speies over in Kentuky luegrss-perennil ryegrss mixture experimentl lwns over the ourse of 3 yers (24 26) Soure of vrition df F-vlues Overll weed over T. offiinle T. repens C. vulgtum G. hedere Y * * 1.9 P * 39.17* 28.88* 4.78* 54.11* Y P 8 9.4* 2.14* * df degrees of freedom *P.5

9 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: Fig. 1 Influene of lwn mngement progrm on men (±SE) perent totl weed over over the ourse of the study (), nd in 24 (), 25 () nd 26 (d) Perent weed over (Totl weed over ) d e Perent weed over 5 ( 24 weed over ) Perent weed over Perent weed over d ( 25 weed over ) d d 7 ( 26 weed over ) d e Commeril Consumer IPM Orgni Untreted Lwn mngement progrm

10 136 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: Tle 5 F-vlues from MANOVA estimtes for the influene of smpling time (T) nd lwn mngement progrm (P), on yerly sis on totl weed over nd ommon weed speies over in Kentuky luegrssperennil ryegrss mixture experimentl lwns over the ourse of 3 yers (24 26) Yer Soure of vrition df F-vlues Overll weed over T. offiinle T. repens C. vulgtum G. hedere 24 T * 4.96* 3.85* * P * 8.34* 4.16* * T P * 3.14* 2.76* * 25 T * * P * 22.23* 2.38* * T P * * 26 T * P * 18.52* 13.51* 2.6* 34.66* T P * df degrees of freedom *P.5 Perent over y dndelion vried signifintly over the ourse of the study (Fig. 2). Both the ommeril nd IPM progrms hd the lowest perent dndelion over ompred with ll other progrms, ut these two progrms did not differ signifintly from eh other. Although the onsumer nd orgni progrms did not differ signifintly from eh other, oth hd signifintly lower perent dndelion over thn the untreted progrm. In 24, perent over y dndelion did not differ signifintly mong ll progrms reeiving inputs, lthough ll progrms hd signifintly lower perent dndelion over thn the untreted progrm. In 25 nd 26, perent over y dndelion followed similr trend (Tle 5). The yer tretment intertion ws not signifint for white lover perent over over the ourse of the study (Tle 4). Although the ommeril nd IPM progrms did not differ signifintly from eh other, oth hd signifintly lower perent white lover over thn the onsumer, orgni, or untreted progrms over the ourse of the study (Fig. 2). With regrd to within yer vrition in 24, perent over y white lover did not differ signifintly mong the ommeril, IPM, nd onsumer progrms. The ommeril progrm, however, hd signifintly lower perent white lover over thn the orgni nd untreted progrms. Perent over y white lover in 25 nd 26 ws not signifintly different mong the progrms, lthough ll progrms reeiving inputs hd signifintly lower perent white lover over thn the untreted ontrol. Yer tretment intertion ws not signifint for mouse-er hikweed over the ourse of the study (Tle 4). The ommeril nd onsumer progrms did not differ signifintly in perent mouse-er hikweed over, ut oth hd signifintly lower perent mouse-er hikweed over thn the orgni or untreted progrms over the ourse of the study (Fig. 2). The ommeril, IPM, nd onsumer progrms did not differ signifintly in perent mouseer hikweed over. Likewise, the IPM nd orgni progrms did not differ signifintly. Similr results were oserved for perent mouse-er hikweed over in 26, ut no signifint differenes were oserved mong the progrms in 24 nd 25 (Tle 4). The yer tretment intertion ws signifint for ground ivy perent over over the ourse of the study (Tle 4), with signifint differenes oserved in the tretments in eh yer (Fig. 2d). Within yer vrition in ground ivy perent over ws s follows. In 24, the ommeril nd IPM progrms did not differ signifintly, ut oth progrms hd lower ground ivy perent over thn the onsumer, orgni, or untreted progrms, whih did not

11 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: Fig. 2 Influene of lwn mngement progrm on perent totl over y T. offiinle (), T. repens (), C. vulgtum () nd G. hedere (d) over the ourse of the study Perent over 8 (Dndelion) (White lover) 8 Perent over ( Mouse-er hikweed ) Perent over d (Ground ivy) Perent over d Commeril Consumer IPM Orgni Untreted Lwn mngement progrm

12 138 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: differ signifintly mong eh other. No signifint differenes were oserved mong the progrms in 25 or 26. Billugs nd hinh ugs were not found on ny smpling osion during the ourse of the study. Therefore, only white gru dt were nlyzed. Two white gru speies, Popilli jponi Newmn nd Cyloephl orelis Arrow, were reorded from the experimentl plots during the ourse of the study. The yer progrm intertion ws signifint for white gru density (Tle 6). With regrd to mngement progrms, the ommeril progrm hd signifintly lower men white gru density ompred with ll the other progrms. The onsumer, IPM, nd orgni progrms did not differ signifintly in white gru density. White gru density in the orgni progrm ws signifintly lower thn the untreted progrm, however, the onsumer, IPM, nd untreted progrms did not differ signifintly (Fig. 3). With regrd to within yer vrition, lwn mngement progrm hd no influene on white gru density in 25 (Fig. 3). However, signifint differenes were oserved mong the progrms in 26. Men white gru density ws signifintly lower in the ommeril progrm ompred with the onsumer, IPM, orgni, nd untreted progrms. No signifint differenes were oserved in white gru popultion density mong other progrms in 26 (Fig. 3). Aestheti omprison Men lwn qulity sores for the five progrms re shown in Tle 7. The influene of yer progrm intertion on lwn qulity ws signifint over the ourse of the study (Tle 8). While the lwn qulity rtings were generlly low for ll progrms in 24, the ommeril nd IPM progrm did not differ signifintly; however, oth hd signifintly higher rtings thn the onsumer, orgni or untreted progrms. The onsumer, orgni, nd untreted progrms did not differ signifintly in qulity in 24. The ommeril progrm hd the highest lwn qulity in 25 nd 26 while the untreted ontrol hd the lowest qulity. The IPM nd orgni progrms did not differ signifintly in lwn qulity, nd oth rted signifintly higher thn the onsumer progrm in July nd Otoer 25. The orgni progrm, gin rted signifintly higher in lwn qulity thn the onsumer progrm in July 26. Eonomi omprison Tle 9 shows summry of the estimted osts of mintining.5 h lwn using eh of the five progrms. The ommeril progrm hd the highest ost, followed y the Tle 6 F-vlues from MANOVA estimtes for the influene of yer (Y) nd lwn mngement progrm (P), on white gru density in Kentuky luegrss-perennil ryegrss mixture experimentl lwns over the ourse of 2 yers (25 26) Soure of vrition df F-vlue Y * P * Y P * df degrees of freedom *P.5

13 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: Fig. 3 Influene of lwn mngement progrm on men (±SE) white gru density over the ourse of the study (), nd in 25 () nd 26 () Numer of white grus/.3 m (Totl white gru density) 1. (25 white gru density) Numer of white grus/.3 m Numer of white grus/.3 m (26 white gru density) Commeril Consumer IPM Orgni Untreted Lwn mngement progrm orgni nd IPM progrms, while the onsumer progrm hd the lowest ost. In the se of IPM nd orgni progrms, out 4% of the totl ost ws expended on monitoring for weed nd inset popultions. As result, the IPM progrm reeived one less heriide pplition nd did not reeive ny insetiide pplitions ompred with the lendrdriven pplitions in the ommeril progrm. The orgni progrm reeived two less fertilizer, nd no insetiide pplitions per yer ompred with the ommeril progrm over the ourse of the study.

14 14 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: Tle 7 Men (±SE) lwn qulity rting of Kentuky luegrss-perennil ryegrss mixture experimentl lwns over the ourse of 3 yers (24 26) Lwn mngement progrm Yer 1 Yer 2 Yer 3 3-yer men (24 26) (June 24) (July 25) (Otoer 25) (July 26) Commeril 5.31± ± ± ± ±.15 Consumer 4.11± ± ± ±.26d 4.42±.19d IPM 5.23± ± ± ± ±.14 Orgni 3.69± ± ± ± ±.16 Untreted 3.42± ±.28d 2.91±.37d 5.51±.3d 3.75±.17e The plots were rted on nine-sore sle tht rnged from 1 (very poor qulity) to 9 (exellent qulity). Lwn qulity inluded greenness, presene or sene of weeds, nd the overll pperne. Men vlues within olumn with different letters differ t P.5 Reltionship etween iologil, estheti, nd eonomi effetiveness Figure 4 shows the reltionships etween weed over, estheti effetiveness nd lwn mngement ost mong the vrious progrms. The ommeril progrm hd the lowest weed over, ut the highest ost ompred with ll other progrms. The orgni progrm hd the seond highest ost followed y the IPM progrm, ut the IPM hd lower perent weed over thn the orgni progrm. The onsumer progrm hd the highest perent weed over mong ll treted progrms, lthough it hd the lowest ost (Fig. 4). With regrd to the reltionship etween estheti qulity nd progrm ost, the ommeril progrm hd the highest progrm ost nd the highest estheti qulity. The IPM progrm hd the seond highest estheti qulity, nd lower progrm ost thn the ommeril progrm. The orgni progrm hd the third highest estheti qulity nd lower progrm ost thn the ommeril progrm. The onsumer progrm gin hd the lowest estheti qulity nd lowest progrm ost of mngement mong ll treted progrms (Fig. 4). Disussion Our overll ojetive ws to ompre five lwn mngement progrms on iologil, estheti, nd eonomi sis. We found tht the ommeril lwn mngement progrm performed etter thn ll the other progrms in terms of estheti qulity nd iologil hrteristis, ut ws lso the most expensive. In generl, the ommeril progrm hd the most effetive ontrol of weeds nd white grus, nd hd the highest estheti rtings. Tle 8 F-vlue from ANOVA estimtes for the influene of yer (Y) nd lwn mngement progrm (P), on lwn qulity of Kentuky luegrss-perennil ryegrss mixture experimentl lwns over the ourse of 3 yers (24 26) Soure of vrition df F-vlue Y * P * Y P * df degrees of freedom *P.5

15 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: Tle 9 Summry of nnul mintenne osts y lwn mngement progrm Lwn mngement progrm Mngement ost ($/nnum) Commeril Consumer IPM Orgni Untreted. Mngement ost does not inlude lor nd fuel osts ssoited with mowing the lwns, whih ws ommon for ll lwn mngement progrms Thus, to hieve reltively weed-free nd inset pest-free lwn with exellent lwn estheti qulity, the ommeril progrm would e the progrm of hoie. However, oth the IPM nd orgni progrms hd only slightly lower qulity, whih ws hieved with fewer syntheti pestiide pplitions nd lower ost ompred with the ommeril progrm. Therefore, oth the ost nd environmentl nd helth risks ssoited with lwn mngement progrms n e signifintly redued if slightly lower lwn estheti qulity n e epted y homeowners. The onsumer progrm ws the hepest, ut it hd the highest totl weed over nd lowest estheti rtings mong the progrms reeiving inputs. The poor estheti qulity of these lwns is onsistent with the findings of Cheng et l. (28) who determined the Fig. 4 Reltionship etween perent weed over nd lwn mngement ost () nd etween estheti qulity nd lwn mngement ost (). Aestheti qulity ws rted on nine-point sle with 1 eing very poor nd 9 eing exellent. Lwn mngement ost does not inlude the ost of mowing Weed over (%) Untreted Consumer Orgni 1 IPM Commeril Aestheti qulity rting Untreted Consumer IPM Orgni Commeril Lwn mngement ost ($ per.5 h/yr)

16 142 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: effetiveness of ommeril nd onsumer lwn re progrms rried out y hemil ompnies nd homeowners, respetively, in Wyne nd Holmes ounties in Ohio. They found tht the onsumer lwn re progrm hd no differene in totl weed over ompred to the untreted lwns. In this study, G. hedere ws signifint ontriutor to totl weed over in the onsumer progrm, espeilly during the seond nd third yer of the study. This ould e ttriuted to the ft tht the TurfBuilder with Plus 2 (1.21% 2,4-D,.61% meoprop) leled for rodlef ontrol does not ontin dim, ompound tht provides good ontrol for G. hedere. However, G. hedere ws not ommon prolem in Cheng et l. (28) study. Aestheti qulity for the onsumer progrm ws omprle to tht of the IPM progrm on one osion (July 26), ut not on the other osions. This inrese in lwn qulity ould e ttriutle to the higher preipittion reeived during June July of 26 ( mm) ompred with mm reeived during the sme period in 25. The higher preipittion my hve enhned the ompetitiveness of turfgrss over the rodlef weed speies. This inrese in lwn qulity ws oserved ross ll the progrms, inluding the untreted lwn mngement progrm. The IPM progrm hieved good estheti lwn qulity, nd stisftory weed nd white gru ontrol, t reltively lower ost ompred to the ommeril nd orgni progrms. Furthermore, the good lwn qulity nd good pest ontrol were hieved with fewer syntheti inputs ompred to the ommeril progrm. This IPM result ws dependent on tion thresholds, whih hve oth eonomi nd eologil implitions. For instne, with regrd to weed over, rising or lowering the tretment threshold from 5% is likely to influene lwn qulity, weed over, nd ost of mngement euse of the quntity of given input pplied nd time spent pplying the input. The IPM nd orgni progrms, with proper ulturl prties over longer period, n further redue the need for syntheti inputs. With regrd to the IPM progrm, we did not pply integrted pest mngement priniples to fertility, espeilly nitrogen requirements, euse nitrogen is lwys in onstnt stte of flux in turfgrss (see Horgn et l. 22), nd thus, it is diffiult to determine the tul mount of nitrogen needed. However, it is possile to ssess how muh nitrogen is oming from orgni mtter nd miroil iomss, ut these were not mesured in this study. Overll, the estheti effetiveness of the orgni progrm ws eptle when ompred to the IPM nd ommeril progrms. While orn gluten mel is effetive s pre-emergent heriide ginst weeds suh s, D. snguinlis, Setri spp, nd some rodlef weeds (Grdner et l. 1997), it hd limited effiy ginst the perennil ground ivy, whih ws quite undnt in our plots. Borx, whih ontins oron, mironutrient, ws effetive for the post-emergent G. hedere ontrol in the orgni progrm, lthough it often used temporry rowning to the lwn tht possily ontriuted to the slightly lower estheti rtings for the orgni progrm. White gru density in the orgni progrm ws lower thn the untreted progrm over the ourse of the study lthough no insetiides were pplied. Although entomopthogeni nemtode pplitions were plnned for inset ontrol in the orgni progrm, souting indited tht white gru popultions were elow threshold levels for pplition. Therefore, nemtodes were not pplied. Aesthetilly, with the exeption of the first yer of estlishment, the orgni progrm hd eptle lwn qulity, espeilly during July when growing onditions re most stressful to ool-seson turfgrsses. In this study, we did not djust for nitrogen (N) fertilizer input in the orgni progrm, whih hd Ringer Lwn Restore s soure of N, supplying.83 kg N/.1 h during the growing seson. Corn gluten mel is out 1% nitrogen y weight (Christins 1993), nd thus, it would hve supplied n dditionl 1.53 kg N/.1 h during the growing

17 Urn Eosyst (29) 12: seson. Therefore, omined 2.36 kg N/.1 h ws supplied y oth Ringer Lwn Restore nd orn gluten mel in the orgni progrm during the growing seson. In omprison, the ommeril nd IPM progrms reeived 1.9 kg N/.1 h nd.5 kg N/.1 h, respetively, during the growing seson. These levels of N re within the nnul reommended rtes (.5 2. kg N/.1 h/yer) for ool seson grss lwns. If nnul nitrogen inputs for the orgni progrm were djusted for the nitrogen inputs provided y the orn gluten mel, the totl ost for the orgni progrm ould e $168 less thn tht reported here. The Ringer Lwn Restore fertilizer my not e needed t ll sine the orn gluten mel lone n supply the entire nitrogen requirement for the growing seson. Sine N in the orn gluten produt would e relesed slowly, single pplition my e suffiient for the entire growing seson. This study did not exmine wter nd mowing osts ssoited with lwn mngement. Thus, the tul mngement osts for.5 h lwn would likely e higher thn the estimtes presented here. Our results provide the first ttempt to ompre different lwn mngement progrms on omined iologil, estheti, nd eonomi sis. With the urrent environmentl issues ssoited with over reline on hemil pestiides (USGS 1999), the IPM nd orgni progrms ould serve s effetive lterntives to the ommeril nd onsumer lwn mngement progrms. Future reserh should fous on quntifying the environmentl osts nd enefits ssoited with lwn mngement progrms nd prties. Aknowledgements This work ws supported y the United Sttes Deprtment of Agriulture North Centrl Region Integrted Pest Mngement (USDA NCR IPM) grnt numer We thnk Dr. Thoms Bline nd Mr. Kevin Power for their tehnil support, nd Dr. Dvid Grdner, Dr. Dvid J. Shetlr, nd Dr. Joseph Kovh for their invlule suggestions. Referenes Berd JB, Green RL (1994) The role of turfgrss in environmentl protetion nd their enefit to humns. J Environ Qul 23: Bormnn FH, Blmori D, Gelle GT, Vernegrd L (1993) Redesigning the Amerin lwn. Yle University Press, New Hven Busey P (23) Culturl mngement of weeds in turfgrss: review. Crop Si 43: Cheng Z, Rihmond DS, Slminen SO, Grewl PS (28) Eology of urn lwns under three ommon mngement progrms. Urn Eosyst 11: doi:1.17/s Christins NE (1993) The use of orn gluten mel s nturl pre-emergene weed ontrol in turf. Intl Turfgrss So Res J 7: Christins N (24) Fundmentls of turfgrss mngement. Wiley, Hooken, New Jersey Emmons R (2) Turfgrss siene nd mngement, 3rd edn. Delmr, Alny, New York Grdner DS, Christins NE, Bingmn BR (1997) Pendimethlin nd orn gluten mel omintions to ontrol turf weeds. Crop Si 37: Grewl PS (27) The vlue of the Amerin lwn. Ohio Agriulturl Reserh nd Development Center, Speil Cirulr 194 Horgn BP, Brnhm BE, Mulvney RL (22) Diret mesurement of denitrifition using 15 N-leled fertilizer pplied to turfgrss. Crop Si 42: Jenkins VS (1994) The lwn: history of n Amerin osession. Smithsonin Institution Press, Wshington, DC Lush WM, Rogers ME (1992) Cutting height nd the iomss nd tiller density of Lolium perenne menity turfs. J Appl Eol 29: doi:1.237/ Milesi C, Running SW, Elvidge CD, Dietz JB, Tuttle BT, Nemni RR (25) Mpping nd modeling the iohemil yling of turfgrss in the United Sttes. Environ Mnge 36: doi:1.17/s Ntionl Turfgrss Federtion (23) The turfgrss industry present nd future. The Ntionl Turfgrss Reserh Inititive. Ntionl Turfgrss Federtion, Beltsville, Mrylnd, pp 5 7

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