Mary Hockenberry Meyer

Minnesota horticultural industry survey on invasive plants

SummaryHorticultural commerce of ornamental plants has been the source of many of our most troublesome plant invaders worldwide. The purpose of this research was to document the knowledge gap of industry perspectives and knowledge of invasive ornamental crops by surveying industry professionals in the Midwest region of the U.S. (primarily in the state of Minnesota). An invasive plant survey was created to assess this information and was mailed to n = 500 individuals and companies randomly chosen from the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association (MNLA) membership, which included wholesale/retail nurseries, landscape design, installation & maintenance firms, and retail garden centers. A total of n = 167 surveys (33.4%) were returned and analyzed. A majority of respondents, 62%, felt that the invasive plant issue was very important and 89% tried to direct their customers away from potentially invasive plants. Many respondents, 76%, indicated that they were responsible for educating their customers about invasive ornamental plants. Sixty-nine percent said that they would not sell a plant if it was potentially invasive; however, 57% indicated that this would be true if a competing business was selling the plant. Respondent’s knowledge about specific invasive plants varied from 75% to 89% on the identification of three terrestrial invasive plant crops. Far less, 20% and 21%, were able to identify Butomus umbellatus and Salvinia molesta, respectively, two invasive aquatic species. When asked about regulation of invasive ornamental crops, 43% preferred national, state, or USDA regulation while 22% felt industry self-regulation was best, and 21% approved of private regulation. Opportunities exist for educating horticulture industry professionals about invasive plants and providing information to the public through commercial businesses.

Competive ability of invasive Miscanthus biotypes with aggressive switchgrass

Miscanthus (Miscanthus sinensis Anderss. [Poaceae]) is an ornamental and invasive grass native to Asia that has naturalized in several areas of the Middle Atlantic United States. Predicting how likely miscanthus is to become invasive in other areas of the US is a concern of ecologists and horticulturists. The objective of this study was to measure the competitive ability of miscanthus with an aggressive native grass, switchgrass (Pancium virgatum L. [Poaceae]), in order to show which grass would be more likely to dominate when the two species were grown together. Although switchgrass is a smaller plant than miscanthus, in this greenhouse experiment it was significantly taller and had more vegetative and flowering culms than miscanthus. Miscanthus however, was a stable competitor and did not significantly change in shoot or root dry weight as 2 and 4 switchgrass plants replaced the respective number of miscanthus plants in each treatment. When miscanthus biotypes from four locations were compared, the Pennsylvania biotype was significantly larger and more competitive with switchgrass than was the Washington, DC biotype. As switchgrass plants were replaced with miscanthus, the shoot and root dry weights of the remaining switchgrass plants increased significantly, showing a higher competitive ability of switchgrass. Despite the fact that switchgrass was more competitive with itself than miscanthus, the highest overall dry weight per treatment contained eight switchgrass plants. Miscanthus showed stable, competitive growth when planted together with switchgrass and it is predicted to likely do the same in a field setting.

Sweet and Sour: A Scientific and Legal Look at Herbicide-Tolerant Sugar Beet

American sugar beet farmers produce half of our domestic refined sugar valued at over

Conversion of Kentucky Bluegrass Rough to No-Mow, Low-Input Grasses

3 billion per year ([APHIS, 2010][1]). The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (CA District Court) will soon determine whether U.S. farmers can continue to grow genetically modified (GM)

Native Prairie Graminoid Host Plants of Minnesota and Associated Lepidoptera: A Literature Review

Golf courses have become a large part of the environmental landscape today. The land area needed for golf is larger than any other sport and the United States alone has nearly 17,000 golf courses with the North Central Region having the highest concentration with 4,238 [6,11]. There are many scientific studies that have detailed the benefits of turfgrass. However, the use of water, fertilizer and pesticides in maintaining golf courses continues to come under fire for not being environmentally friendly and unnatural to the landscape. Golf courses and their turfgrass managers realize the need for continuing to decrease the inputs needed to run a golf course, not only from an environmental standpoint but also a monetary standpoint. Golf course superintendents have become highly educated professionals that continue to adapt their management practices in order to reduce the environmental impact of their golf course. Golf course rough is the largest percentage of maintained turf area of a golf course comprising 52% of the total maintained area [8]. Of this rough area, the most common turfgrass species planted in the North Central region of the United States is Kentucky bluegrass, accounting for 63% of the rough area. Under high management, Kentucky bluegrass is very aesthetically pleasing and provides a high quality playing surface that can recover from divots caused by golfers. However, inputs required to maintain playing conditions in golf course settings are often high. Kentucky bluegrass has a large demand for water to prevent dormancy from drought and a high need of fertilizer to maintain turfgrass color and quality [3]. Due to these high inputs of water and fertilizer, golf course rough generally needs to be mowed two times per week which increases labor, machinery costs, and fuel budgets. In addition, weeds are often controlled with herbicides adding to the inputs needed to maintain the quality of the largest area on a golf course. The combination of large amounts of established Kentucky bluegrass rough and inputs required to maintain its playing quality have prompted many golf courses to question the need for heavily maintaining their Kentucky bluegrass rough areas. Many golf courses are now considering the conversion of these high-input rough areas to no-mow, low-input grasses. There were two objectives to this study: (1) to compare several methods for converting Kentucky bluegrass rough to no-mow, low-input grasses and (2) to then determine the best turfgrass species for use in conversion. Conversion of Kentucky bluegrass rough to no-mow, low-input grasses is a relatively new topic. Although very few studies have focused on converting Kentucky bluegrass rough to no-mow grasses, some have focused on which species may perform well in low-input situations. Studies have found that fine fescues are more drought tolerant, require less fertility, have higher resistance to weed invasion in low-input situations, and have better stand quality in no-mow situations than does Kentucky bluegrass [1,2,4,5,7,12].

Switchgrass and little bluestem cultivars show performance variation across eight states in national grass trials

ABSTRACT. Native grasses act as host plants, providing food and shelter, for numerous Lepidoptera species during their larval stage. As grassland habitat decreases because of conversion to agriculture and urban areas, prairie specialist butterflies and moths have also declined. Addition of native species to urban and agriculture landscapes has been shown to benefit Lepidoptera communities in various ways. Native grasses have grown in popularity as a landscaping plant due to their low nutrient requirements, drought tolerance, and soil stabilization properties. However, the benefits of native grasses to Lepidoptera are not well known to many entomologists or horticulturists, let alone the average consumer. We reviewed the literature that identified native prairie graminoids as host plants for native Lepidoptera in Minnesota, especially plants widely available in the horticultural trade that could be planted for restoration or landscaping purposes. The context of the Lepidoptera and host plant associations found in the literature are described. In total, we found 36 Lepidoptera species that used 17 prairie graminoids as host plants cited in the literature. Three native grasses, Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash, Andropogon gerardii Vitman and Panicum virgatum L. and were found to be used by the most Lepidoptera species, 11, 9, and 8, respectively. Most likely there are additional moth species that use these grasses as host plants because butterfly species tend to be better documented than moth species. The specific larval habits and host plant species were unknown for many species of moths that feed or are suspected to feed on graminoids, showing the need for further research in this area. This information can assist horticulturalists, ecologists, landscape planners, land managers, and homeowners in their decisions to buy and plant native grass species. In general, this knowledge provides increased awareness about the larval life stage of butterflies and moths to concerned citizens and green industry and further supports the importance of conserving native prairie to support and maintain Lepidoptera species.

Miscanthus Anderss. produces viable seed in four USDA Hardiness Zones.

Landscape plant evaluations were conducted in eight states: Colorado, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Vermont for 17 switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and five little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) cultivars. Additional locations in Florida (Fort Lauderdale, Fort Pierce, Quincy, and Wimauma), Nebraska (Lincoln), and Lubbock and San Marcos completed 1 or 2 years of the trials. Plants were established in 2012 and data were collected for 3 years, 2013–15. Sites were asked to compile annual data on plant height, width, flowering time, fall color, pests, foliage color determined by the Royal Horticultural Society’s color chart, plant form, flowering date, floral impact, self-seeding, winter injury, landscape impact, and mortality. Texas A&M Agricultural Research and Extension Center (Overton), Florida (all four locations), and Vermont had the highest mortality rate. Southern Florida locations lost 50% of their plants by the end of 2014. Wide variation was reported for landscape impact, individual cultivar height, and width from different regions of the United States. Three of the 17 switchgrass cultivars, Cloud 9,Northwind, and Thundercloud, had a rating of 4.0 or higher averaged over six or more locations for plant form, floral, and landscape impact. ‘Shenandoah’ and ‘Warrior’ switchgrass had a rating of 4.0 or higher averaged over six or more locations for plant form and landscape impact, but not floral impact. Only one of the five little bluestem cultivars, Blue Heaven rated 4.0 or higher, for plant form and landscape impact when averaged over six or more locations. This range of variability in landscape plant performance demonstrates the importance of local plant evaluations.