Success Story
We Don’t Make The Turf.
We Make It Better.™
We Don’t Make The Turf.
We Make It Better.
KINGS RIVER GOLF AND COUNTRY
CLUB, KINGSBURG, CALIFORNIA
Superintendent: Mike Kroeze
Experience: 10 years
Crew Members: 14 seasonal – 10 yearly
Course Length: 6,700 yards
Greens: Poa annua
Fairways: Bermudagrass
Roughs: Mixed
“Our extreme summers generally
include more than 40 days with
temperatures above 100 degrees
Fahrenheit – and crabgrass loves it.”
Breaking the Crabgrass Life Cycle
in Central California with Pendulum®
AquaCap™ Herbicide
In California’s central valley, golf course superintendents seeking
fairways that complement the pristine appearance of their carefully
groomed greens must address year-round crabgrass pressure.
With crabgrass, prevention is crucial. Over the past few years,
superintendent Mike Kroeze at Kings River Golf and Country Club
in Kingsburg, Calif., has learned to control crabgrass, despite the
weed’s resiliency.
Crabgrass is a warm-season, annual grass that grows most
aggressively during mid-summer’s heat and is much more tolerant
to drought and low fertility than desirable turf species. During the
warm summer months and early fall, crabgrass grows rapidly,
spreading across the ground and smothering the turf in its path.
As a prostrate-growing plant with a strong root system holding it in
place, it is almost immune to cultural controls, such as low mowing
height and hand weeding. About the only natural occurrence that
stops crabgrass is a good fall frost, but by that time it has already
produced thousands of seeds which will remain on the soil surface,
waiting for spring germination.
Kroeze had been fighting crabgrass on his Bermudagrass
fairways for three years at Kings River Golf and Country Club with
a preemergent weed control program that has evolved from a
single, springtime liquid application of prodiamine- or dithiopyrimpregnated fertilizer to his current preemergent program that
consists of two sequential applications of Pendulum® AquaCap™
herbicide.
The Fresno County weather in California’s central valley makes
season-long crabgrass control quite a challenge. The long
germination season begins in early March and lasts through
September, when mature crabgrass sets seeds and the cycle
begins again.
www.turffacts.com
“The temperatures here just don’t allow a preemergent
herbicide to outlast the long germination season,” said
Kroeze, explaining why he thinks that his previous singleapplication preemergent program didn’t provide optimum
results, even though competitive preemergent products
claim that a single application provides season-long
crabgrass control.
Crabgrass control is all about prevention, because if you
don’t control it at germination, it will rapidly dominate the
slower growing but more desirable turf that does not stand
up as well to summer stress.
“Our extreme summers generally include more than 40
days with temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit –
and crabgrass loves it,” adds Kroeze.
By understanding the crabgrass life cycle and the
environment in which his course survives, and given the
three previous seasons of poor preemergent control,
Kroeze decided to follow the advice of his local distributor
sales representative and try Pendulum AquaCap.
He then further adapted his preemergent program to
include a second application of Pendulum AquaCap
approximately eight weeks later (according to the product’s
label recommendation) to counter the long crabgrass
germination period.
Kroeze made the first application in early March (when the
soil temperature was in the 50 to 52 degree Fahrenheit
range) at the high label rate of 2.3 ounces per 1,000
square feet. This high-label-rate application covers the
fairway more uniformly with the active ingredient, greatly
reducing the number of crabgrass seedlings that will grow
through the spray-coverage cracks. Kroeze’s timing of this
application is also critical because crabgrass normally
germinates on days above 55 degrees Fahrenheit. By
applying Pendulum AquaCap just before the major
crabgrass germination flush, he maximizes the product’s
preemergent activity.
While crabgrass thrives in the region’s high temperatures,
the long growing season also allows the plant’s massive
seed bank to germinate over several months. Temperature
changes and increased rainfall throughout the spring
and early summer provide perfect crabgrass germination
conditions. Kroeze’s careful planning for the split
application helps ensure that the preemergence protection
of Pendulum AquaCap remains high when crabgrass
emergence usually occurs.
While Kroeze prefers to apply Pendulum AquaCap in
its sprayable formulation, it is also available in a granular
form (Pendulum® 2G herbicide). BASF pendimethalin
is also available from authorized BASF distributors as a
Always read and follow label directions.
Pendulum is a registered trademark and AquaCap and We Don’t Make The Turf.
We Make It Better. are trademarks of BASF. ©2005 BASF Corporation. All rights
reserved. APN 05-14-002-0099
1.800.545.9525
fertilizer-plus-pendimethalin product in which the BASF
pendimethalin has been incorporated on granular fertilizer.
Previously, Kroeze saw crabgrass breakthrough in late
June or early July and a postemergent herbicide
application was then a major part of keeping it under
control. Knowing this, Kroeze looked to extend his
preemergent program by making an additional Pendulum
AquaCap application in early May (eight weeks later), but
this time doing so at the lower label rate of 1.1 ounces per
1,000 square feet. This sequential application program
is essential in breaking the cycle of growth and seed
development that allows this annual weed to thrive in this
near-perfect crabgrass environment.
Kroeze admits that while the second application does incur
a greater use of man-hours, the payoff in terms of improved
efficacy and reduced crabgrass breakthrough during the
early summer months is well worth the time spent on the
sprayer. Additionally, Pendulum AquaCap is a better
value (based on cost per acre applied) than other premiumbranded preemergent crabgrass herbicides, while offering
the additional benefit of broad-spectrum control on more
than 40 troublesome grassy and broadleaf weeds.
“By switching to Pendulum AquaCap from a
dithiopyr-based product, I was able to save about $40
per acre on the 32 acres of fairway here at Kings River,”
explained Kroeze. “This initial application savings allowed
me to work within my budget and paid for the second
application.”
While currently not part of his program, the cost savings
in herbicide used throughout the year and his current
product rates used give Kroeze the option of adding a
third sequential application allowed by the Pendulum
AquaCap label. An additional technique that he is
considering for the near term is to apply Pendulum
AquaCap on approximately two mower widths between
the rough and fairways to help prevent the spread of
crabgrass from the formerly untreated area.
Breaking the crabgrass life cycle was Kroeze’s primary
objective, but he also notes that Pendulum AquaCap
provided a broad spectrum of control, helping reduce
both grassy and broadleaf weeds that neither dithiopyr
nor prodiamine do. Additionally, the Pendulum AquaCap
microencapsulation technology greatly reduced the
staining and odor previously associated
with pendimethalin.
“Getting rid of the crabgrass was my primary concern,”
admits Kroeze. “But Pendulum AquaCap made applying
pendimethalin more comfortable for my applicator and
easier to clean up.”