Welcome!

Welcome! Odds are by landing here you are a curious industry professional, or you have been walking by one of the research sites and felt compelled to see what in the world is going on! Well, you have landed in the right place!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tyler VanLandingham. I am currently a Masters

Student at The Ohio State University in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science. As of this writing, I am about to turn 30! (yes I know, I am old to be in school). Let me explain. I graduated from OSU back in 2015 with a degree in Turfgrass Science. During school and for the following 8 years, I have been at a variety of golf courses including Muirfield Village Golf Club, Canterbury Golf Club, and an Assistant Superintendent for 7 years at The Golf Club in New Albany, Ohio. I recently ended those endeavors to pursue a Graduate degree and hopefully contribute to turfgrass research field. I have two young boys at home and enjoy spending my time with them and playing golf. I tell you all this because I will act as your tour guide of the following 2 years that this research study will be conducted. My hope is to provide you with some great, actionable, and thought-provoking information into how we can reduce our fertilizer inputs across both home lawns and commercial landscapes while still maintaining a beautiful and healthy grass stand. But more on that in a minute. Before I get into the basics of the research, I want to personally invite you to communicate with me. I love hearing comments and questions from those that are interested in what we are doing. I believe that the success and implementation of good research starts with frequent and clear communication with those that stand to benefit from said research. Yes that is you! So please feel free to reach out to me with either comments here on the website, at vanlandingham.11@osu.edu, or @tvland11 on Twitter. I look forwarded to connecting with you! 

Ok, enough banter. Let’s get into why you’re actually here….

The use of fertilizers to beautify, thicken, and make darker green lawns has increased as suburban areas have developed. Home lawns enhance life, allowing a place for families to interact and play, and green spaces have been shown to improve mental health. Healthy lawns can aid in reducing surface temperatures, reducing heat islands, increasing rain infiltration, reducing movements of nutrients such as phosphorus into waterways, as well as many other positive impacts. However, to have healthy turfgrasses that impart these benefits, there is a need for nitrogen fertilizer applications.

Traditionally, in Ohio, the approach has been to make four nitrogen applications per year with an average annual nitrogen rate of 4.0 lbs. of N per 1,000 ft2, but there are no clear statewide recommendations, leading to excessive nitrogen use. A recent survey of the Ohio Lawn Care Association (OLCA) membership indicated that lawn care companies (19 respondents) apply 1.5 – 7.0 lbs. of N per 1,000 ft2 per year, supporting the need for us to refine best management practices to curb excessive nitrogen use. We have also seen increases in the species and cultivars available for home lawns. Many of these grasses are touted as low input, potentially requiring less fertilizer, but this is not known in Ohio

Low-input turfgrasses including tall and fine fescues are gaining prominence in Ohio due to having enhanced tolerances to heat, drought, and pests. Pest reduction in these grasses is in part due to the presence of endophytic fungi that impart natural insect suppression, decreasing insecticide needs. Both hard and tall fescue also have the potential to require reduced nitrogen to stay healthy compared to other turfgrasses such as perennial ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass. Breeders of the latter two species have become aware of this and have begun introducing cultivars that are purported to require less input. For example, a genetically modified Kentucky bluegrass has been introduced from the Scotts company, which claims to require less nitrogen.

The green industry is moving towards reducing nitrogen fertility due to environmental impacts, product shortages, and consumer interest. Greater focus on water quality in Ohio requires refinement of fertilizer use rates. To make more informed choices, we need to refine our best management practices by examining responses of various species and new cultivars to low and high rates of nitrogen. This work needs to be done across different regions of Ohio that have unique environments which may impact turfgrass nitrogen needs; therefore, impacting the recommendations we would make. Refined best management practices for nitrogen applications will aid lawncare companies, sod farms, sports field managers, golf course superintendents, homeowners, or anyone managing high-cut turfgrasses. This will lead to more informed decisions, decreasing nitrogen use, reducing environmental impacts, and resulting in money savings.

Thanks everyone for checking this out! Keep following along for updates on results and an in depth look at how the plots were established, methods of data collection, and more!

Cheers,

Tyler