Uncategorized

With the included attachments, both the XUX02SM1X5 and the XUX02SM1X6 Kits offer users a wide variety of cutting trimming and clean up-applications. Users also get the added convenience of the lever-style lock system for quick tool-less installation and replacement of attachments. The Makita Couple Shaft Power Head system has 16 compatible attachments, sold separately.

Bobcat Company has launched a nationwide Bobcat Park and Rec Makeover Contest to give one community a $100,000 sports park makeover.

Contest Kick-off

Chip Gaines and Bobcat help to rebuild the Bell’s Hill Park in Waco, Texas, on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Photo by Jenn Ackerman @ackermangruber

To kick off the contest, Bobcat teamed up with its brand ambassador and renovation expert Chip Gaines for a baseball field makeover. They hoped to inspire communities to see the potential in their local park and recreation spaces.

Bobcat brought equipment and a fleet of volunteers to Gaines’ hometown of Waco, TX, to make over a local ballfield. Gaines, host of the hit show “Fixer Upper” and Magnolia co-founder, is an advocate for youth sports, having played baseball growing up and during college.

“I grew up playing ball at local parks, and now, my boys have too. Spending time outside and being involved in community sports is such a big part of our family’s life, which makes me thrilled to partner with Bobcat here in Waco to renovate a local ballpark as they launch their national contest,” said Gaines. “It’s projects like this that really bring a community together, today but also decades down the road.”

Commitment to Community

Chip Gaines and Bobcat help to rebuild the Bell’s Hill Park in Waco, Texas, on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Photo by Jenn Ackerman @ackermangruber

The Bobcat Park and Rec Makeover Contest is open to communities in the U.S. with a shovel-ready park/recreation project. Funds can be used to renovate or create a park /recreation space or facility based on the winning community’s needs.

Bobcat has long supported communities where its customers, dealers and employees live and work. In 2023, Bobcat partnered with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) to offer grants to create sustainable community park and recreation areas. Bobcat continues to partner with NRPA for its Park and Rec Makeover Contest. The partnership also extends  through its sponsorship of Park and Recreation Month.

“At Bobcat, we’re all about building the kind of world we want to live in, and this contest is just one of the ways we’re giving back to help communities thrive,” Ness Owens explained. “Teaming up with Chip to fix up a ballpark in the Waco area is our way of encouraging people to take action in their own towns. It could be by nominating their community for a similar makeover or simply volunteering and getting involved.”

For full contest details, rules and regulations, and to enter for a chance to win, click here. Deadline for entries is August 16.

For more news including Bobcat, read:

Get Equipped: 9 New Battery-Powered Options In Landscape Equipment

Attractive Accessibility: Bobcat’s Backyard Makeover

Bobcat’s First Electric Zero Turn, The ZT6000e, Now Available

Graphic from Penn State Extension. Illustrations by Colleen Witkowski.

Summer season is in full swing and so are invasive spotted lanternflies, who are expanding their U.S. presence more and more each year. TruGreen, a leading national lawn care provider whose services include pest control, has announced its annual study identifying the top U.S. areas the invasive spotted lanternfly likes to call home.

Following an in-depth examination of data compiled during the calendar year from May 2023 to 2024, the study results indicate that Pennsylvania, where the pest first appeared, has a significant presence of spotted lanternflies, with Pittsburgh predicted to be the most impacted this year. The position was previously held by New York City last year. TruGreen has also identified four additional Pennsylvania metro areas that have taken top spots among the twenty markets most plagued by spotted lanternflies. These include Johnstown–Altoona, Wilkes Barre–Scranton, Erie, and Harrisburg–Lancaster–Lebanon–York.

While the top 10 markets most affected by spotted lanternflies are listed in the chart above, the remaining markets in the Top 20 Include:

11. Roanoke–Lynchburg, VA

12. New York, NY

13. Parkersburg, WV

14. Washington, D.C. (Hagerstown, MD)

15. Eureka, CA*

16. Hartford & New Haven, CT

17. Bluefield–Beckley–Oak Hill, WV

18. Jackson, TN

19. Salisbury, MD

20. Toledo, OH

“The presence of spotted lanternflies is set to significantly impact these cities as we head further into summer. This issue has captured national attention, particularly with the discovery of egg masses at California’s border and the first-ever sightings within Tennessee,” said Roger May, senior director of Technical Operations at TruGreen. “Our research indicates that, in 2024, Pennsylvania will endure the brunt of the spotted lanternflies infestation, which poses a considerable threat to the health of trees and other crops. When it comes to an invasive species like this, proactive prevention and management are critical. Given their rapid reproductive rate, anyone who notices potential infestations should contact a professional for appropriate treatment measures.”

California Wine At Risk

*While Eureka, Ca made the list, the study included data of “search interest”, not just presence of the pest. As of this writing, California was still considered free of spotted lanternfly, however, the state’s vineyards have been on high alert due to the insect’s affinity for wine grapes and great risk to their industry. The California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) announced in a June  news release that “egg masses” had been found at the Truckee Border Protection Station in a shipment of a large 30′ tall metal installation art piece from New York. Station staff inspected and found 11 viable egg masses on the artwork, resulting in the shipment being rejected and then returned to Nevada, where officials further inspected the artwork and found an additional 30 egg masses in areas that were not accessible to station staff. Nevada officials also supervised the hot water power washing with detergent of the artwork.

The artwork eventually ended up in Sonoma County under a Warning Hold Notice to allow for further inspection by county staff. In an example of just how hidden and prolific the pest can be, he county staff found an additional three egg masses when the sculpture’s owner accommodated the county’s request to open all hollow beams and use cranes to move pieces for a thorough inspection.

For more information on SLF and TruGreen’s five-step treatment program, click here.

Spotted lanternfly. (Credit: Lee- ADOBE STOCK)

Find Turf articles on SLF and other pests at:

Handling Spotted Lanternfly On Client Properties

Get A Jump On Invasive Insects With These USDA Updates

How To Trap Spotted Lanternfly, Not Other Wildlife

By John Black, RLA, CPLD
From the June 2024 Issue

No matter how large or small the site, irrigation is essential to a landscape’s health and beauty. But too much water can be as bad for plants as too little; and giving any plant more water than it needs wastes resources and money. To create water-efficient landscapes that are also easy to irrigate, start with a strategy known as “hydrozoning.”

In simplest terms, hydrozoning means grouping plants according to their irrigation requirements. Most growers simply label their plants as “low,” “average,” or “regular” water users, or with vague instructions like “keep soil moist.” While these terms don’t tell us how many gallons to apply, they do provide a rudimentary basis for combining comparable plants into hydrozones. Grouping species with similar needs allows all the plants in a hydrozone to receive just the right amount of water.

Lavender, kangaroo paw, smoke tree, rockrose, and hopseed bush comprise this low-water hydrozone enveloping a lounge patio. (Photo: Verdance Landscape Architecture)

Defining The Zones

Typically, we refer to a hydrozone by the water requirement of its plants: “high” (like a lawn), “moderate” (most ornamentals), “low” (usually native and climate-adapted species), or “very low” (such as desert plants and succulents). You don’t want to irrigate any one plant at the expense of its neighbor, so don’t mix plants with different needs within a hydrozone.

In actual practice, many factors contribute to a plant’s water use. For instance, shrubs located against a west-facing wall may get more reflected light and heat, and so require more irrigation than east-facing counterparts. As a result, hydrozones must consider not only plant species, but also local cultural factors such as sun, wind, soil, adjacent conditions, even the mulch used.

Hydrozones must consider not only plant species, but also local cultural factors such as sun, wind, soil, adjacent conditions, even the mulch used.

Existing vegetation, especially trees, can also define hydrozones. A high-water birch, willow, or redwood will require consistent irrigation that’s incompatible with low-water understory species like lavender or succulents. Conversely, a low-water specimen such as a native oak would be jeopardized by the irrigation needed to sustain high-water groundcover within its root zone. If you have significant trees or shrubs in a landscape, learn their water needs and plan the hydrozones around them.

Lawns present special challenges. Turfgrass is almost always considered high-water, and usually gets a hydrozone of its own. But water always migrates beyond where it’s applied, especially in clay soils, so planning a high-water lawn next to a low-water oak could be a death sentence for the tree. A smarter approach would be to create a moderate-water buffer zone between the lawn and the oak; or better still, keep all plantings (and irrigation) outside of the oak’s root zone.

High-water vegetable beds are located well outside the native oaks’ low-water hydrozone. (Photo: Verdance Landscape Architecture)

Zone Sizes & Valves

To that end, start your hydrozoning by considering the shape and the size of your planting areas. Spray areas in particular should be designed with the heads’ throw distance and pattern in mind: if high-water sprinklers overspray onto a moderate-water border, that border will receive more than “moderate” water.

Even if you’re using drip irrigation that can be applied precisely, a 3’ x 4’ hydrozone probably isn’t worth the expense of the unique valve, pipe, and other equipment it would require. Designing a patchwork of small hydrozones throughout the landscape also runs contrary to the intent of hydrozoning, which is to create efficiency.

It’s convenient to think of hydrozones in terms of irrigation valves: each valve serves one zone, and its controller will be programmed according to the unique water requirements, sun exposure, soil, and other cultural factors of that hydrozone. (Note that a very large hydrozone might require two or more valves to ensure uniform pressure and coverage; all those zones would simply follow the same watering program.)

The type of irrigation also informs the hydrozone design. Since high-volume and low-volume systems shouldn’t be combined on one valve, if you plan to use spray heads for most of an area but desire to use drip for part of it, you’ll need two valves, two pro- grams, and therefore two hydrozones — even if both have the same water requirement.

Evapotranspiration

The demarcation is clear between the low-water hydrozone beneath the native oaks and the moderate-water lomandra, berberis, carpinus, and daylilies beyond. (Photo: Verdance Landscape Architecture)

So far, we’ve described hydrozones in purely relative terms, like “low,” “moderate,” and “high.” But irrigation happens in measurable amounts, like inches and gallons. How can we quantify how much water each hydrozone should receive?

One term you’ll hear in hydrozone design is evapotranspiration rate, or ET. This refers to how much water is lost from the soil over time, whether by evaporation directly into the air or by transpiration up into and through plant tissues.

State agricultural agencies, often university extensions, publish reference ET rates—called “ETo” for short — for various locales. The ETo describes how many inches of water evaporate or transpire per square foot from a high-water reference surface (usually a large grass field, maintained and measured by the agency) in an average month.

The ETo is important because it provides a baseline against which plants’ water needs can be measured. Instead of just accepting that all the plants in a hydrozone require “average” water, we can now calculate how much water to apply. A 2017 national standard (ANSI/ ASABE S263) provides guidelines for the amount of water needed by turf, flowers, woody plants, and desert plants. Expressed as fractions of the ETo, these coefficients are known as plant factors.

For instance, if we’re working in Charlotte, the NC Cooperative Extension tells us that the ETo for an average June is 6.05″ per square foot. Assuming we have plants with “average” water needs requiring 50% of ETo, we can program our irrigation to deliver about 3″ per square foot that month. But that’s still an assumption, based on incredibly general guidelines. On the other coast, the University of California has evaluated the water needs of more than 3,500 plant species and defined four categories or plant factors there:

High water needs plants require 70% to 90% of ETo;
Moderate plants consume 40% to 60% of ETo;
Low water users take 10% to 30% of ETo; and
Very Low species need less than 10% of ETo.
(Learn more CA-specific data.)

As in most states, California publishes ETo rates for specific locations. The ETo for Palo Alto, where we work, is 5.3″of water per square foot for an average June, so species found to have a “moderate” plant factor here should receive 40–60% of that, or between 2.12″and 3.18″, over the month. Once you know the location’s ETo, the area of each hydrozone, and the plant factor of each hydrozone, you can begin to determine exactly how much water the irrigation system should deliver to each hydrozone every day or week.

Moderate-water Acer palmatum ‘Butterfly’ defines this hydrozone with miscanthus, heuchera, anemone, berberis, festuca, and dymondia. (Photo: Jude Parkinson-Morgan)

Some additional adjustments are necessary to account for the type of irrigation in each hydrozone — drip is more efficient than spray — as well as for environmental variations such as wind or soil type. For instance, you may opt to assign an otherwise moderate-water hydrozone (50% of ETo) a plant factor of 0.6 because it’s in a windy location that increases evapotranspiration.

Exacting Efficiency

A stone planter of moderate-water plants like canna and hakonechloa is a different hydrozone than the low-water euphorbia, echium, and Lavandula beneath. (Photo: Verdance Landscape Architecture)

While such fine-tuning might seem like overkill, or intimidating in its complexity, the possibilities that hydrozoning offers the modern landscaper are actually quite exciting. Fortunately, you’re not alone in your journey toward efficient and responsible water management.

Irrigation controllers have become incredibly sophisticated, able to not just sense rain but even poll meteorological data to adjust the watering schedule. They can calculate run times based on any plant factor, root depth, and efficiency you specify. They can control just a handful of zones, or hundreds on a park or campus. And they can be managed remotely by you or a maintenance company, for trouble- shooting and fine-tuning long after the new plants have established.

Low Input, High Impact Landscapes

Hydrozoning is not merely a technical strategy; it’s an art that blends scientific precision with environmental stewardship. Plants that are irrigated properly look better and grow better, needing neither excessive pruning nor extra fertilizer. And hydrozoning can help you and your clients save significant money — not to mention a precious natural resource — by cutting water use and reducing waste. If you haven’t started bringing all the benefits of hydrozones to your projects yet, the time to start is now!

Black is the founder and Principal of Verdance Landscape Architecture in Palo Alto, CA. He is a licensed Landscape Architect, a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), and certified by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD). He uses hydrozoning to create “Califriendly” landscapes that celebrate life in the Golden State. 

Do you have a comment? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below, or send an e-mail to the Editor at cmenapace@groupc.com.

By Sara Plocher
From the June 2024 Issue

While being one of the most visually stunning locations in the country, the Southern Arizona Sonoran Desert nevertheless has a number of uniquely challenging elements when it comes to creating breathtaking landscapes full of lush color. There are long hours of Summer sun exposure, scorching temperatures, and of course, the necessity of preserving water resources. However, there are many ways to achieve providing clients with magical and resort-like landscapes that are low-maintenance and water-conservative.

There are many ways to achieve providing clients with magical and resort-like landscapes that are low-maintenance and water-conservative.

While the Phoenix Valley does not have the legal residential water restrictions some states face, water conservation is obviously still a priority in the desert. Three key elements that address water-conservation challenges in Southern Arizona climates — while still working to provide incredible landscape installations — are lush-feeling and vibrant synthetic turf options, appropriate plant material selection and placement, and efficient irrigation systems.

The pool was designed with a negative edge and Baja shelf to maximize water view of the pond just beyond the property line. (Photo: Desert Foothills Landscape)

Case Study: Beauty In The Boulders

All three of these elements were an integral part of a recent Desert Foothills Landscape installation project in the Boulders Resort Community of Scottsdale, AZ. For this newly-constructed home on a lot overlooking a large, community pond, the homeowners were looking for a low-maintenance but awe-inspiring outdoor environment that would maximize the attributes of the property size and location. This required, as do most of our Sonoran Desert landscape designs, being very conscious of water usage while also infusing as much color and variation in texture and shape to create a breathtaking piece of environmental art.

A putting green was achieved with the use of synthetic turf. Today, synthetics are rapidly replacing natural sod grass in Southern Arizona due to their lush appearance with no water needs. (Photo: Desert Foothills Landscape)

The homeowners also wanted an outdoor environment that they could enjoy year-round, not just for themselves but for visiting children, grandchildren, and guests. As such, two priorities for the backyard were a pool and putting green.

This view of the putting green highlights how boulders, gravel, and plants such as agave, royleana, organ pipe cacti, golden barrel cacti, and trailing lantana can create landscape interest in a tough climate while still being water-conscious. (Photo: Desert Foothills Landscape)

With the beautiful pond just beyond the property line, the pool was designed to integrate seamlessly between the home and the water view. To maximize this view, but also work within the slightly limited dimensions of the backyard area, the pool was designed with a negative edge and Baja shelf (see photo above). These elements allow pool-users to enjoy the relaxing and cooling Baja shelf, while also embracing expansive views unhindered by a traditional pool wall.

Using the most efficient pool equipment and newest technology minimizes the pool water usage as much as possible.

The putting green and surrounding grass area consumed a large part of the backyard. Synthetic grass was used and created the foundation of a lush looking landscape. Today, synthetics are rapidly replacing natural sod grass in Southern Arizona due to its perennial green color with zero water usage required. Synthetic turf was also installed around the pool area, accented by stepping stones, to integrate with the stonework of the home design.

Arid All-Stars

In planning the design, our next step was to accent the main features with tree, cacti, and plant material that can thrive in the Arizona sun while minimizing water usage. We use flowering accent plants to provide pops of color among the soothing hues of green, blue, and yellow desert cacti specimens. This fills the landscape with a variety of color, texture, and shape that many Arizona transplants don’t realize can exist in this climate!

A blue agave cacti is contrasted in shape, color, and texture by three cardon spears and a yucca rostrata. (Photo: Desert Foothills Landscape)

Good options for plants that provide color and a feel of natural abundance include: Hercules aloes, euphorbia royleanas, salvias, and a variety of palms, such as Mediterranean Palms. However, since these plants are not as sun- and drought-tolerant as native cacti, it’s key to place them in the appropriate locations. Areas that receive shade at least part of the day, such as under a covered patio or below shade-providing trees, are ideal.

Some of our favorite Sonoran Desert species that provide the perfect ratio of maximum visual impact and minimal water consumption include: organ pipe cacti, agaves, and golden barrels. On this project, stunning, mature organ pipe specimens play the starring role in vignettes at both the front motor courtyard and backyard. A variety of agaves, like Queen Victoria, Moon Glow, Sharkskin, and Blue Agaves, provide a range of sizes, textures, and colors throughout our landscape designs. Striking golden barrel cacti are vibrantly yellow, while again requiring low-water usage to thrive in this environment.

While we are fortunate to have such beautiful native plants for xeriscaping, one of the challenges we commonly face is integrating these Sonoran Desert plants into designs for the many Arizona transplants from other parts of the country. Many of these clients have only experienced green, leafy, landscape plantings and desire that same look for their Southern Arizona homes.

A graceful ironwood tree arches over colorful blooms of trailing lantana. (Photo: Desert Foothills Landscape)

In addition to introducing clients to the frequently unknown array of our Sonoran Desert plantings, we also infuse landscape interest in other ways. Incorporating artistic pots; color-nuanced gravel; as well as stunning stone, travertine, and paver selections provides additional color and beauty without increasing water needs. For this project, colorful pots at the garage area, front entry, and the back covered patio provided eye-catching enhancements.

Irrigation Tips

While not a visually-exciting part of the landscape design, the irrigation system is at the core of installing a landscape that will flourish and endure for years. In Southern Arizona, irrigation systems should be designed using spaghetti lines and small drip emitters of varying sizes that are appropriately selected to provide each plant the correct amount of water. For lowest maintenance, the system is connected to a timer set for the appropriate season and plant material. The broad rule in Southern Arizona is that watering periods for Summer season (roughly May through October) should be double that of the Winter season.

A stunning, mature organ pipe cacti plays the starring role at the front motor courtyard. (Photo: Desert Foothills Landscape)

It is key to have proper watering schedules. Trees should deep-soak for an extended time every three days so roots grow further down into the ground, creating maximum stability and strength. Conversely, trees that are watered more lightly and more frequently will develop more superficial ground level roots unable to support the tree in challenging weather conditions like high winds or monsoons. Flowering plants, on the other hand, require such daily, more topical watering.

Despite multiple challenges, designing and installing a stunning, functional landscape, while also being water and climate conscious, is an achievable goal—even in the extreme heat conditions of Southern Arizona.

Appropriate drip emitter placement is also very important. Many of the native desert cacti species installed in our designs do not require a drip emitter at all. In fact, they will not flourish if overwatered. And, if there are undulating landforms on the property, emitter heads should be placed in consideration of this on the side of higher elevation from the plant.

Of course, installing wireless irrigation monitoring systems is a fantastic tool in water management best practices. The monitoring systems can detect extensive or unusual water usage typically due to leaks or other issues not visible at the ground level. Otherwise, homeowners may not realize there is an underground leak until receiving a suddenly expensive water bill for needlessly wasted water.

Natural Swimming Pools & Ponds

Despite multiple challenges, designing and installing a stunning, functional landscape, while also being water and climate conscious, is an achievable goal—even in the extreme heat conditions of Southern Arizona. Using various tools and techniques, like advanced synthetic turf materials, knowledgeable plant selection and placement, and proper irrigation system installation, Desert Foothills meets and exceeds clients’ visions every day, while also acknowledging and conserving the finite water resources of today and the future.

Plocher is the Pool Division Manager and Landscape Installation Project Manager with Desert Foothills Landscape in Cave Creek, AZ. The company started as a father/ son team providing landscape maintenance services to North Scottsdale. Today, with a private nursery and showroom, in-house trucking and crane capabilities, as well as hardscape and pool divisions, Desert Foothills has a team of design-build professionals who specialize in custom high desert landscapes.

Do you have a comment? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below, or send an e-mail to the Editor at cmenapace@groupc.com.

With prolonged heat waves ravaging the U.S. from both the Western and Eastern coasts, water conservation has become more important than ever. Vectorworks will be hosting a webinar on July 18th entitled, “Water Conservation with the Future in Mind.” According to Vectorworks, “Water efficiency has become an integral part of a landscape professional’s workflow.” Webinar registrants will join Bryce Carnehl, specification support manager at Hunter Industries, and Eric Berg PLA, LEED-AP, Principal at Pacific Coast Land Design, as they explore the basics of water conservation through irrigation techniques while applying these best practices within Vectorworks Landmark software.

ATTENDEES WILL:

Approach the right irrigation application for different planting scenarios.
Practice grouping similar plants, exposure, and irrigation types into irrigation zones.
Discover ways of regulating irrigation dynamic pressure to ensure optimum product operation.
Explore the BIM capabilities of Vectorworks to calculate and manage water use.

Click here to register for the webinar.

Turf Magazine‘s recently released June 2024’s “Water Issue” also offers vital information on water conservation by delving into hydrozoning, water-wise landscapes, smart savings with irrigation, lawn alternatives for low inputs and high impact, and more. Articles will be be published online within the next few weeks.

We start our U.S. tour in Colorado where Paige Payne of Online Landscape Designs outlines the basic principles of water-wise design that is increasingly a “must” in her area, but makes sense anywhere. Next, we head to Pennsylvania where Refugia Design-Build is redefining suburban landscapes with low input, yet high impact designs that are in hot demand from clients. Next stop is California where ongoing water crisis has made landscape designers into expert mathematicians, such as John Black of Verdance Landscape Architecture who can hydrozone, figure ETo rates, and still produce unparalleled beauty. And finally, we head to Arizona where Desert Foothills Landscape transforms hot and dry rockscapes into cool blue and green palettes of Sonoran desert cacti and agave.

For the full digital version of Turf’s 2024 “Water Issue”, click here.

Hilltip now offers its line of SnowStriker™ snowplows in North America. This includes straight blade and v-plow models for half-ton pickups, SUVs, UTVs, tractors, and loaders.

Hilltip SnowStriker V-plow

SnowStriker plows feature a curved, powder-coated snow blade made of high-strength steel, making them durable, yet lightweight. They also have adjustable two-segment trip edges for superior plow protection. The cutting edges are available with either polyurethane or steel construction. Other standard features include an adjustable attack angle and tilting blade.

Hilltip SnowStriker V-plow UTV attachment

The SnowStriker plows are available in widths ranging from 5’5″ to 8’6″. Hilltip’s Quick Hitch mounts allow for easy on/off connections to pickups, SUVs and UTVs. Convenient mounting options are available for tractors and loaders as well.

Hilltip’s HTrack™ tracking software can be used to monitor the SnowStriker plows in real time from a computer, tablet, or smartphone, when used with an IceStriker™ spreader or SprayStriker™ sprayer. It offers the industry’s only two-way GPRS tracking capabilities for seamless communication between drivers and operations.

Hilltip SnowStriker Straight Blade Plow

“The introduction of the light-duty segment of our plow line coincides with our new facility coming online in New Haven, IN later this year, and it brings us one step closer to offering the complete line of Hilltip products in North America,” said Craig Sandmann, managing director for Hilltip North America. “Our high-quality plows have been used for years in the extreme winter conditions of northern Finland, and they complement our technologically advanced spreaders and sprayers, giving customers a new level of automation, efficiency and documentation not seen before in North America.”

For Turf Magazine‘s most recent Get Equipped: Snow & Ice Management feature, click here.

For more PLOW® articles, a special insert in Turf, see:

Benchmarking Your Snow Business

Sustainable Salting

Create A Plowing Contract That Covers Snowfall Uncertainty

Be on the lookout for the August 2024 issue of Turf Magazine that will once again feature the latest in snow & ice management equipment and PLOW section!

Stormwater is a significant source of water pollution and a threat to the health of waterways across the United States. Due to the engineering and financial challenges associated with stormwater, it’s a complicated problem for communities to manage. In response to these challenges, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will award $5 million in grants to establish four new Centers of Excellence for Stormwater Control Infrastructure Technologies across the country.

Grant recipients will play an important role in conducting research on new and emerging  technologies and alternative funding approaches. As Centers for Excellence, they will also provide technical assistance and support infrastructure improvements that safeguard the environment, improve stormwater management and climate resilience, and advance environmental justice.

(Photo: Adobe Stock / Aleksey)

“Our waterways are treasured resources and economic engines for communities, and at EPA we strive to make sure waterways are both fishable and swimmable,” said EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for Water Bruno Pigott. “Stormwater runoff carries pollution from streets and land into our waterways and poses a significant challenge for water quality. Thanks to this investment from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we are working with our partners to advance critical stormwater technology and solutions that will protect communities across the country.”

In January 2024, EPA announced the availability of $3 million in grant funding through the new Centers of Excellence for Stormwater Control Infrastructure Technologies Grant Program. In March 2024, EPA updated the total available grant funding to $5 million. The Centers of Excellence are part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.

Look For Turf’s August issue focusing on Weather Xtremes including stormwater, erosion, snow management, fire resistant landscaping, and more!

EPA anticipates that once all the legal and administrative requirements are satisfied, it will award funding to establish the new Stormwater Centers of Excellence to the following recipients:

The University of New Hampshire
The University of Oklahoma
The Board of Regents Nevada System of Higher Education
The Center for Watershed Protection, Inc.

The Center for Watershed Protection, Inc. will also establish a national electronic clearinghouse that contains information about new and emerging stormwater control infrastructure technologies and funding approaches. This national electronic clearinghouse will be populated with research, best practices, and outreach from each Center of Excellence, and promoted with other organizations to expand the availability of water technical assistance, including States, Tribes, local government and disadvantaged communities.

Click here to learn more about stormwater management.

Last August, a Savannah, GA, beekeeper discovered an unusual-looking hornet outside of his apiary, and reported it to the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA). As it turned out, it was an invasive yellow-legged hornet and the first confirmed detection in the U.S. Three months later, South Carolina officials captured their first hornet. So where are we now? Have there been other detections? Are these hornets a threat to pollinators and agriculture? USDA’s National Policy Manager Anne LeBrun answered these questions and others, and provided a snapshot from this developing situation.

“Here’s the latest,” said LeBrun. “GDA found and eradicated 11 nests since their initial detection. This year they’ve set about 1000 survey traps in six counties—most are in Chatham County, GA. As of June 21, they’ve caught more than 40 hornets. It’s a different situation across the Savannah River in Jasper and Beaufort Counties SC. There, South Carolina’s plant industry staff have trapped four hornets, but they haven’t found any nests yet. A Bluffton, SC, resident however found and removed a nest on their house. That nest was sent to USDA’s Pest Identification Technology Laboratory, where it was confirmed as a yellow-legged hornet’s nest.”

The yellow-legged hornet is a social wasp native to Southeast Asia. Its nests look like paper cones with a single entrance, and they hang in trees and on structures such as barns, garages and sheds. This species feed on insects, including honey bees. If they become established in the U.S., they could threaten our domestic and feral honey bees, and other native pollinators. Their presence could also disrupt the pollination of many crops.

USDA has provided the States with money through rapid response funding for survey and eradication activities, and public outreach. USDA’s National Identification Services staff is also testing DNA from yellow-legged specimens to determine where they came from. So far, the testing has not identified a country of origin but likely ruled out ancestry with invasive yellow-legged hornet populations in Europe. Additionally, local staff continue to assist with weekly trap checks.

“These hornets aren’t more aggressive towards people than any of our native hornets; however, they are an apex predator in the insect world. That means they are at the top of a food chain without natural predators, and honey bees are at risk,” LeBrun explained. “Yellow-legged hornets display stalking behaviors around honey bees. They hover outside a honey bee’s hive waiting for foraging bees to return. That’s when they attack and carry off the bees to their own colony to feed their developing brood. This behavior is sometimes called ‘hawking’.”

Find your State plant regulatory official
Find your State plant health director

In Georgia only, people should report potential sightings of the yellow-legged hornet through the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s online form.

Article and photos from the USDA’s “Plant Protection Today.”

For more on invasive and pest insects, read:

Mosquito Control: Biting Back!

USDA’s Most Recent Plans For Eliminating Asian Longhorned Beetle

Box Tree Moth Quarantine Areas Expanding