Category Archives: School Grounds

Specific IPM for school grounds and athletic fields

Dealing with Woodchuck Concerns

“My enemies are worms, cool days, and most of all woodchucks.” – Henry David Thoreau

photo of Paul Curtis

Dr. Paul Curtis

Thank you to guest blogger Paul D. Curtis, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Cornell University.

 

Woodchucks (Marmota monax) are large members of the squirrel family and are closely related to other species of marmots in North America. They usually are grizzled grayish brown from head to toe. Their compact, chunky body is supported by short strong legs. The forefeet have long, curved claws that are well adapted for digging burrows.

photo of brown, chunky mammal with short, rounded ears and a thick neck with one paw pulling a plant towards its open mouth

Woodchuck, aka Marmota monax, groundhog, whistle pig, and land beaver. Photo: mass.gov

Like other rodents, woodchucks have chisel‐like incisor teeth. Their eyes, ears, and nose are located toward the top of the head, allowing the animal to remain concealed in its burrow while checking for danger over the rim of the burrow opening.

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The Cornell Turf Show: fastest 30 minutes in turf

Every other Friday, starting on March 12th and ending the second week in May, Cornell Turf Guru, Frank Rossi, will have a guest talking about sports field management. This week, former graduate student, Chris Sitko, will be on to discuss sports field safety and the high demand school districts will be placing on sports field early in the season. Topics and speakers will be updated on the Cornell Turf website, Twitter account, and Facebook page as they are scheduled.There will be a golf focused webinar every Thursday through this time and topics relevant to lawns will alternate with sports fields on Fridays. It’s a good idea to check on the topics for those not specific to sports fields, as there might be something of relevance to you. For example, the webinar series kicks off Thursday, March 11th, with Art Degaetano, Professor in the Cornell Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, who will provide us with a winter weather review.

Can’t make a session live? Similar to last year, the webinars will be recording and posted to YouTube. (You can check out the 2020 webinars here.) We’ll also be posting the audio as podcasts for those who enjoy that medium.

All the webinar information can be found here on our website which will be updated periodically with guests and recordings: https://turf.cals.cornell.edu/news-2/webinars/

Stranger Things on the Playground

A cement walkway in front of a child care center that leads to a fence and gate

Walkway in front of the child care center

On a warm Long Island day in November (a warm week, to be accurate) I received a call from a BOCES* Health and Safety officer, who told me a local child care center was alarmed about a number of large black insects on the playground. The property manager and his staff had identified the bugs as oil beetles, also known as blister beetles, for a toxin they emit. Child care staff were worried about the hazard to their children, as kids can be curious and compelled to capture such a thing. I offered to visit after seeing a photograph of the bug in question: an oil beetle for sure. But why would they be on a playground?

A mulched playground with swingset and toy balls on the ground

A mulched playground and swing set

 

A shiny black oil beetle, dead, in mulch

Oil beetle found in the mulch 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oil beetles belong to a broad group called blister beetles, so named for the secretion of a defensive toxin (cantharidin) that causes blisters. They are stout, flightless, dark-colored beetles that have a rather strange life cycle. Adult beetles awaken from winter and females lay large numbers of eggs in soil burrows. The eggs hatch into tiny larvae called triungulins, which move quickly and aggregate on the tips of grass and plant stems. From there the triungulins produce pheromones that attract male solitary bees. The male bees arrive, hoping for the reward of mating, and become a vehicle for the larvae who hitch a ride and travel with the male to find a female bee. He passes the larvae to the female bee who inadvertently brings them back to her burrow, where larvae and their provisions are located. Triungulins then feed on the larval food (pollen), then the larvae themselves. In the Northeast, the adult beetles emerge from bee burrows in late-summer and early-fall to mate.

A black Meloe oil beetle with an orange droplet of hemolymph at a leg joint

A droplet of hemolymph on a Meloe oil beetle, Peter Coffey (petercoffey.com)

A black male oil beetle clings to a brown dry leaf.

A male oil beetle (Meloe sp.), by Peter Coffey (petercoffey.com)

 

So what does this have to do with a child care playground? My suspicion is as follows: Playgrounds, ball fields, office park grounds and college campuses are all places that end up with exposed sandy soils due to foot traffic and neglect. Many of the solitary bee species in the Northeast prefer nesting in dry, sandy soils like we find in these kinds of places. I have inspected a number of playgrounds with sand wasps (Bembix sp.), cellophane and digger bees – all of which are basically harmless. This playground with oil beetles had no sign of ground-nesting wasps or bees, but it is autumn and those insects are long gone, having completed their life cycle during the summer.  My guess is that the oil beetles emerged from ground-nesting bee burrows on the property and are mating and preparing for winter.

Bare soil on a playground near a small plastic slide

Bare soil on the playground attracts ground nesting bees.

If true, then how do we protect the kids from encountering blister-inducing beetles? New York State restricts the use of pesticides on school and child care playgrounds for good reason. So, non-toxic solutions are needed. The best approach is to create and maintain a barrier between the bees and exposed soil through the use of mulch and/or landscape cloth. In most places the mulch on this playground is deep enough to be spongy. However, there were bumps of exposed soil, especially around a small slide, on which a number of beetles were actually found! Digging up the soil, laying a piece of landscape fabric and replacing the soil to four inches deep can prevent bee nesting, and hopefully, oil beetle congregations.

To confirm my suspicions about this scenario, I plan to visit the child care center next spring to note spring bee activity and to make recommendations if needed.  Is there risk to the children from any of these insects? Yes, we don’t want little ones picking up toxic beetles. Ground-nesting bees have stingers, even if they are not known to use them. So there’s always a little risk when it comes to being outdoors. But being outdoors is necessary for children’s health. An integrated pest management approach, in this case reducing nesting habitat for the host species, will minimize risks from these insects.

*Board of Cooperative Educational Services.

graphic shows photo of Dr. Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, and her contact information

Ticks and Schoolyard Edges

The time of the falling leaves has come again. Once more in our morning walk we tread upon carpets of gold and crimson, of brown and bronze, woven by the winds or the rains out of these delicate textures while we slept. – John Burroughs, The Falling Leaves

image of a man in long pants and sleeves, a baseball cap, and ear coverings using a leaf blower. In front of himn leaves are being blown towards the camera.

Leaf blowing leaves is a common practice, but does it cause a risk for more ticks?

A recent study, Artificial Accumulation of Leaf Litter in Forest Edges on Residential Properties via Leaf Blowing Is Associated with Increased Numbers of Host-Seeking Ixodes scapularis Nymphs published in the Journal of Medical Entomology, showed that areas where leaves were raked or blown into forest margins tripled the number of blacklegged tick nymphs compared to areas where leaves were not artificially accumulated. (There was no observed impact on lone star ticks.)

chart showing that 14 ticks were found within the woods, 51 along the wood edge, 12 3 meters into the field,1 found 6 m into the field, and 3 on the technician.

Most ticks were found along the woodland edge.

Combine this with the findings of a Cornell study, Active surveillance of pathogens from ticks collected in New York State suburban parks and schoolyards, and it is clear that woodland edges are the areas of highest risk for students to encounter ticks. Fortunately, most students don’t spend much time in these areas. Unfortunately, students will chase stray balls into these areas when ticks are furthest from their minds.

What can you do to protect students from these tick risky areas? Step one would be to monitor your school grounds for ticks. This low tech monitoring technique can easily be accomplished by a coach, playground monitor, or even students. Knowing that ticks are active can allow for some adjustment of play, like putting up cones to let students know areas are off limits.

Is there an area with consistently high tick activity? Installing fences or netting can prevent stray balls from entering wooded edges. Think of it as reverse exclusion – in this case, we’re keeping the students out of the pest areas.

Keep in mind that blacklegged ticks prefer high humidity, so look to reduce shady and damp areas where students spend time. We can modify parts of the school grounds to make them less hospitable to ticks by:

  • Removing leaf litter from wooded edges in high traffic areas
  • Removing trees shading play areas if monitoring shows those areas have tick activity
  • Replacing wood mulch, which can store moisture, if monitoring shows tick activity,  with a different, drier option
  • Widening trails to reduce the risk of students brushing against vegetation
  • Eradicating invasive plants, such as Japanese barberry, honeysuckle, and multiflora rose, that easily establish along wooded edges, and have been associated with higher concentrations of ticks carrying disease-causing pathogens

For more information on ticks and schools, check out our updated fact sheet Understanding and Managing Ticks – A Guide for Schools, Child Care and Camps. Additional information can be found on our website Don’t Get Ticked NY.

Fertilizer and the Law

A deep, extensive root system helps cool-season grasses build up reserves to get through the winter, green up top growth in spring, and minimize vulnerability to insects, diseases and summer drought. Nutrients released from the soil, grass clippings and late season fertilization (feeding) will promote root growth.Lawn Care: The Easiest Steps to an Attractive Environmental Asset

photo of man wearing shite shirt and tan pants pushing a small fertilizer spreader on a soccer fieldWhy we would talk about fertilizer on an integrated pest management blog? Fertilization helps grow healthy turfgrass. Dense stands outcompete weed seeds. Extensive roots can withstand some insect feeding without impacting turf quality. Proper fertilization provides your grass with the proper nutrients for growth and recovery.

And now is one of the best times for fertilizing sports fields, but it has come to my attention that the legality of fertilizer application is in question. There is a rumor that one needs to be a certified pesticide applicator to apply fertilizer to school grounds. We’ll label that as fake news. Addressed in an earlier blog, some wonder if they are restricted under the Child Safe Playing Fields Act. The answer to that question is no.

But that doesn’t mean that there are no fertilizer rules. Here are the caveats:

  • Combined fertilizer and pesticide products (such as weed and feed) are covered under the Child Safe Playing Fields Act and do need to applied by a certified pesticide applicator.
  • Fertilizer use does fall under the NYS Nutrient Runoff Law, which prohibits:
    • Applying fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium between December 1 and April 1 (Nassau and Suffolk County have their own local laws restricting application dates)
    • Applying fertilizer containing phosphorus unless you are establishing a new lawn or a soil test shows the need for phosphorus
    • Applying fertilizer within 20 feet of a water body
    • Leaving fertilizer on impervious surfaces such as sidewalks, parking lots, or driveways (fertilizer must be swept up, not washed off with water)

So now that we know fertilizer can be applied to school grounds, what is the minimum that should be done now to produce pest resistant turfgrass on fields that are used year round?

illustration of turf growth showing that top growth surges in March through May, declines June through August, and then picks up again in August through September. Roots grow March through May and again September through October.

Fertilizing in the fall encourages more root growth.

  • Fertilizing -Apply 1 pound of 50% water soluble nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft. in September and ½ pound of 100% water soluble nitrogen in mid-October. Note – if you do not have irrigation, it is worth waiting until the day before rain is predicted to ensure the fertilizer is watered in.
  • Mowing -If the grass is growing, mowing should be conducted at least twice a week. Mowing increases shoot density by increasing tillering (stems that develop from the crown of the parent plant). More tillers means more traction and cushioning.
  • Overseeding -Seed perennial rye at 2 pounds per 1,000 sq. ft. weekly in high-use areas. The athletes’ cleats will make the necessary seed to soil contact. This year’s drought makes this practice tricky. If you can borrow irrigation equipment, do so.

What if I can do more than the minimum?

a bucket filled with mix of soil and turf seed being poured into a bare area on a lawn

A divot mix of seed and soil can help fill in bare spots on the field. Click on the image to view a video on patching weak or bare spots.

  • Fertilizing -Conduct a soil test to see if other nutrients are needed in addition to the nitrogen.
  • Cultivating -Concentrating on high-use areas, solid tine cultivate in multiple directions to maintain infiltration of air and water.
  • Overseeding -Have a mixture of one part seed to ten parts soil available so coaches and players can repair divots left after heavy use.
  • Watering -Maintain adequate soil moisture but keep surfaces dry to maximize traffic tolerance. Irrigate if you can see your foot prints after walking on the turf.

    photo of twitter handle, @Cornell_Turf, Cornel Turf website, turf.cals.cornell.edu, the motto "Stay connected to the source for turfgrass information in the Northeast US

    The official Cornell Turfgrass twitter account will provide you with timely turf care information.

For more information on maintaining safe, functional athletic fields, visit http://safesportsfields.cals.cornell.edu. You will find different maintenance schedules based on number of seasons used and resources available, detailed information on different management practices, and information on “Duty of Care”, a legal obligation to a standard of reasonable care. For the most up-to-date information, follow the Cornell Turfgrass twitter account.