No. 10/August 26, 2021
Yellow Foxtail – A Warm-Season Weed in Cool-Season Turfgrass
Warm-season annual grassy weeds can be problematic in cool-season turfgrass. Common offenders include crabgrass, goosegrass, barnyardgrass, fall panicum, and foxtail. As a reminder, these plants live for only one year and their growth and development will be ending soon. A killing frost will control these weeds effectively. However, they are likely producing seeds now for next year’s weeds that will germinate in late spring or summer. Plan accordingly with your control tactics if this sounds like your situation. These weeds are particularly a problem in newly seeded areas in the spring as there is little competition, good growing conditions, and often an abundance of seed from these warm-season grassy weeds. Often too the presence of these weeds will indicate difficult growing conditions for the turfgrass.
Late Summer Leaf Diseases
Keep an eye out for the following shade tree diseases. They become evident in the waning days of summer.
University of Illinois Plant Clinic Notice
The University of Illinois Plant Clinic will be closed from August 27 through September 8. We recommend not shipping or dropping off samples during this time. Samples that are delivered will be put into cold storage until we reopen.