Texas A&M TurfgrassResearch & Extension

Reagan Hejl, M.S.Turfgrass Research Associate

Texas A&M TurfgrassResearch & Extension • Topics of Discussion

• Texas A&M Turfgrass Research and Extension

• AggieTurf Website• Extension Publications• Weed, Insect, & Disease Control in Turfgrass

• Healthy Lawns/Healthy Waters Research and Education Program

• Current Water Research

Texas A&M Turfgrass Resources

Texas A&M Turfgrass Faculty & Staff

Extension Turfgrass Specialsts To Be filled

Texas A&M Turfgrass Resources

NEW AggieTurf WebsiteLaunched in July 2015• Over 130 pages of content• Texas Turfgrasses• Turfgrass Weeds• Turfgrass Insects• AgriLife Publications• Useful Links• Events

Texas A&M Turfgrass Resources Turfgrass Identification & Selection• Description of Turfgrasses• Texas Uses• Growth Habits• Inflorescences• Useful Terminology• and more…

Texas A&M Turfgrass Resources

12 Texas Turfgrass Pages• Each Texas Turfgrass species has

its own page with useful information on:

• Use sites• Strengths & Weaknesses• Growth Habits• Texas Adaptability Maps• Recommended management

practices such as mowing height, irrigation, etc.

Texas A&M Turfgrass Resources

Weeds of Texas Turfgrass• Over 100 common Texas

Turfgrass Weeds• Weed Identification Tools• Hundreds of high-

resolution digital images for help with weed identification

Texas A&M Turfgrass Resources

Insects & Mites of Texas Turfgrass• Insect Identification Tools• High-resolution digital images for

help with insect identification• Direct links to AggieTurf Insect

publications on common Texas Turfgrass insects

Texas A&M Turfgrass Resources

Texas A&M Turfgrass Resources

Bermudagrass Home Lawn Management Calendar• Monthly Guidelines for Managing

Home Lawns• Fertilization• Irrigation• Mowing• Weed Control• And more…

• Home Lawn Management Calendars for other species are currently being produced

• St. Augustinegrass• Zoysiagrass• Etc..

Texas A&M Turfgrass Resources

Printable Turfgrass Insect Publications with ID, Life Cycles, & Treatment Options

Texas A&M Turfgrass Resources

Weed, Insect, & Disease Control in Turfgrass• Over 120 pages of herbicide,

insecticide, and fungicide control options labeled for Texas Turfgrasses

• Viewable for FREE in the Publications section of AggieTurf

• Hard-copies available for purchase through the AgriLifeBookstore

August, 2017Seguin, TX

Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters

Who are we?• John W. Smith, Rainwater Harvesting Program

Co-Coordinator

• Diane Boellstorff, Associate Professor & Extension Water Resource Specialist

• Reagan Hejl, Turf and Landscaping Co-Coordinator

• Ben Wherley, Associate Professor, Dept. Soil and Crop Sciences

2. Adoption of appropriate landscaping methods to improve lawn health and water quality.

Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program Goals

Desired Outcomes1. Changes in knowledge, awareness, attitudes

and actions of lawn owners.

Healthy Lawns/Healthy WatersResearch and Education

Courtesy: Raul Cabrera

Healthy Lawns/Healthy WatersResearch and Education

Courtesy: Raul Cabrera

• Never overlook the benefits of turf in the landscape • Soil erosion control• Dust stabilization• Enhance groundwater recharge• Improved surface water quality• Filtering of chemical pollutants• Heat dissipation • Temperature moderation• Noise abatement• Glare reduction• Sequestration of CO2• Production of O2• Enhances property value

5000 sq ft lawn = 8 ton AC unit

Healthy Lawns/Healthy WaterEducation

Provide education to homeowners to help reduce excess fertilizer and irrigation water inputs to residential lawns to reduce runoff and improve water quality.

Turfgrass Topics:• Turf Species Selection• Nutrient Management & Soil Testing• Improving Irrigation Efficiency• Irrigation Scheduling Methods • Irrigation Equipment and measuring water distribution• Free soil test for participants

Healthy Lawns/Healthy WatersResearch and Education

Healthy Lawns/Healthy WatersResearch and Education

Watersheds:Upper San Antonio RiverAlligator CreekCypress CreekUpper Cibolo CreekPlum CreekGeronimo Creek

Courtesy: Raul Cabrera

Texas A&M Turfgrass Ecology RProgram• Collaborative research program

targeting basic and applied issues relating to ecology, management, and environmental impacts of turfgrass systems.

• Focus on cultural management strategies for improving sustainability of turfgrass systems.

Texas A&M TurfgrassCurrent Water Research

• Persistence, Survival, and Recovery of Warm-Season Turfgrass for Sustainable Urban Landscapes Under Limited Irrigation and Long-Term Drought (SCRI)

• National Turf Evaluation Program (NTEP) St. Augustinegrass Summer Drought Stress

• Development of a Landscape Irrigation Runoff Mitigation System (LIRMS)

Persistence, Survival, and Recovery of Warm-Season Turfgrass for Sustainable Urban Landscapes Under Limited Irrigation and Long-Term Drought (SCRI)

• Collaboration of 5 University Breeding Programs:

• UF, UGA, Ok State, NCSU, TAMU• Prior funded USDA-NIFA SCRI project

identified 105 advanced warm season turfgrass lines with improved drought and salinity tolerance.

• Before commercialization information is needed on:

• Long-term drought persistence • Ancillary and consumer preference

information

Persistence, Survival, and Recovery of Warm-Season Turfgrass for Sustainable Urban Landscapes Under Limited Irrigation and Long-Term Drought (SCRI)

• Planted August 2016• Treatments start July 2017• Evaluating performance under water stress

conditions on 25 different warm season lines including 4 commercial checks:

• Seashore Paspalum• St. Augustinegrass• Zoysiagrass• Bermudagrass

Persistence, Survival, and Recovery of Warm-Season Turfgrass for Sustainable Urban Landscapes Under Limited Irrigation and Long-Term Drought (SCRI)

• 5 Irrigation Treatments (Per month)• 8x (.5” twice per week)• 4x (1” per week)• 2x (1” biweekly)• 1x (1” once per month)• 0x (unirrigated)

• National Turf Evaluation Program (NTEP) St. Augustinegrass Summer Drought Stress

• Established 2016• Study years (2017-2020)

Development of a Landscape Irrigation

Runoff Mitigation SystemB. Wherley1, J. Alvarado2, R. White1, F. Jaber1,3, J. Thomas1, U. Kothapalli2, J. Men2, D. Tate2, and R. Hejl1, and C. Reynolds3

1Texas A&M AgriLife Research2 Texas Engineering Experiment Station

3 Texas A&M AgriLife Extension

Project Dates: 2014-2017

Background• As municipal water supplies become strained, conservation of

irrigation water has become very important to municipalities and water utilities

• Municipal (day of the week) water restrictions may result in greater potential for irrigation runoff losses

• Currently the only feedback control systems for automated irrigation systems are based on rain sensors, soil moisture sensors, or weather-based ET controllers

• There are no landscape irrigation technologies which operate to mitigate runoff

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LIRMS Project Goals

pDesign, build, and test proof of concept of a reliable, durable and low-cost LIRMS. ØNeeds to intelligently control irrigation (cycled-soaking) to reduce runoff and

save water

ØNeeds to be reliable in all environmental circumstances and strong enough to endure impact or mechanical failure

ØNeeds to be low-cost for mass production

ØShould be capable of working alone as well as acting as an add-on in an existing irrigation system

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Ø Qualitative testing was performed during 2014/2015 season to test proof-of-concept of LIRMS

Ø 9 plots allowed for testing of various sensor prototypes as well as control plots

Ø All sensors were hard-wired during qualitative testing

Ø Observed durability and operation of units under actual turf maintenance conditions (clippings, soil, debris, etc.)

Ø 3% slope down to curb face

LIRMS

Operating Principle of the LIRMS I/O Communication and Control Module

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0.00

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4:48:006:00:007:12:008:24:009:36:0010:48:0012:00:0013:12:0014:24:0015:36:00

Run

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e (L

/s)

Real Time

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5:45:36 7:40:48 9:36:00 11:31:12 13:26:24 15:21:36

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LIRMS Mitigates PEAK Runoff Flow Rates

Plot 15 (Cubic Float)Plot 18 (Control)

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LIRMS Quantitative Field Testing Phase2015-2016Ø Texas A&M Turfgrass Field Research Laboratory

Runoff Facility

Ø 24 independently zoned irrigation plots with Raleigh St. Augustinegrass

Ø Plots are 13’ x 27’ and have 3.5% slope to collection gutters, which run into H-Flumes

Ø Flow meters record amount of water used in each plot

Ø ISCO flow meters monitor flow rates of runoff from plots with and without LIRMS unit in place during irrigation events

Parameters for quantifying LIRMS performance:

20.45

70.52

45.42

70.16

21.54

42.24 44.56

25.4022.86

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

8/6 8/13 8/26 9/2 9/9 9/23 9/30 10/14 10/21

RUN

OFF

RED

UCT

ION

, %2016 LIRMS Testing- Runoff Reductions

6.52

13.43

18.72

27.10

12.61

20.0818.17

22.11

12.68

6.518.81 9.06

16.08

9.77

14.2012.62 13.43

10.14

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

8/6 8/13 8/26 9/2 9/9 9/23 9/30 10/14 10/21

SOIL

WET

TIN

G E

FFIC

IEN

CY IN

DEX LIRMS CONTROL

2016 LIRMS Testing- Soil Wetting Efficiency

• Produces a pause-irrigate-pause pattern, orcan terminate irrigation at first detection ofrunoff, depending on the site/soilcharacteristics

• Reduces peak flow rates by ~10x and totalrunoff volumes by ~30-70%

• Leads to a ~1.5 to 2X increase in soilwetting efficiency, i.e. increase in soilmoisture per gallon water applied

• Patent pending, and we are currently indiscussions with potential licensees withinterest in the technology

LIRMS Project Summary

Questions?