FRAZE MOWING ARTICLE BY GRADUATE STUDENT KEVIN HANSEN

Nick Christians
July 29, 2015
nchris@iastate.edu

Former graduate student Kevin Hansen finished his MS degree at the end of spring semester.  He recently started a new job at the Houston Texan's stadium.  Here is a little about his new job.

I am the grounds foreman here at the Texans.  We have three practice fields, an indoor and our game field that is grown on a tray system.  These trays are moved in and out of the stadium to make the stadium a multi-purpose venue.  It is a lot of work but it makes is easier to maintain the game field throughout the season because other events in the stadium aren't being held on the turfgrass.  The biggest challenge with this system is getting the seams to match up right and leveling them out.  This takes some labor but our crew has got it down to a science. There is a crew of about nine here and we all work hard to get the job done.  Training camp has just started so we are pretty busy setting up the practice fields. 

Kevin Hansen

Houston Texas

Kevin worked on Fraze mowing during his MS program.  An article based on his work was just published in Golf Course Management.  It is available on line at http://gcmdigital.gcsaa.org/i/532236-jul-2015/90 

Congratulations Kevin on your new job and your publication.

SNAILS AND SLUGS BY DR. DONALD LEWIS

Nick Christians
nchris@iastate.edu
July 28, 2015

Here is the latest blog by Dr. Donald Lewis, Entomology Extension, at Iowa State.  It is in repsonse to Jim Woods of Woods Lawn Service in New Sharoin, Ia., who sent in the picture below.

Donald Lewis

Donald R. Lewis, Extension Entomologist

Department of Entomology

104 Insectary Building

Iowa State University, Ames IA 50011

http://www.ent.iastate.edu

 Here are Don's thoughts on the subject:

Snails and Slugs in a Wet Year

A message from alert reader Jim Woods from Woods Lawn Service in New Sharon prompted a review of what are slugs and snails and why are there so many of them this year?

Slugs and snails are animals on a very large branch of the Animal Kingdom family tree called Mollusca.  The best known molluscs are the clams, oysters, squids and octopuses.  The closest relatives of snails are the clams and oysters, called the gastropods.  The name gastropod literally translates from Greek to mean stomach-on-foot.  The large fleshy foot that protrudes from the shell of a snail or oyster and on which they crawl, also contains the mouth opening.

Snails and slugs are very nearly the same thing!  The easy distinction is that slugs are snails without the shell.

The few molluscs and gastropods that have evolved to live on land rather than in the water still require a lot of water to thrive.  They are active at night when humidity is higher and spend the daytime hidden in damp locations such as under mulch, leaf litter and debris on the ground (an exception being cloudy, rainy and humid days).

Snails and slugs do best in damp environments.  That's why slugs are such a pest of hostas because hostas grow in a garden that is shaded and holds the moisture longer.  http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2009/7-15/slugs.html

Slugs and snails also do well in rainy summers like this one.  During drought years they almost disappear from sight.  Prolonged periods of wet weather, however, have the opposite affect and numbers become noticeable.