PLANT HEALTH CARE

Most ornamental trees and shrubs appear green in the landscape . However there are notable exceptions , such as Gold Coast juniper and golden euonymus . Knowing the difference is the first step in managing potential problems . Photos by John C . Fech

By John C . Fech

As a general rule , most trees and shrubs are green . Yes , there are a few select species of desirable ornamentals with non-green leaves such as golden birch , golden euonymus , sunburst honeylocust , Gold Coast juniper and tri-color beech that are exceptions , as well as Norway maple and yellow buckeye that turn to a delightful yellow / orange / reddish hue in the fall , but typically , yellow color means “ sick plant .”

It ’ s common to see both the exceptions and the customary in the sports field and campus landscape . The job before us as managers is to figure out why each appears the way they do and deal with it appropriately . For the plants with some sort of malady , following the 4 R ’ s is the best approach .

R = REVIEW First , consider the site . The natural tendency when a yellow plant is observed is to think that it needs an application of some sort of nutrient mix ( a . k . a ., fertilizer ). However , trees and shrubs generally don ’ t need nearly as much fertilizer as turf , especially if they are growing near grass that is regularly fertilized . On average , trees and shrubs can perform quite well on about a third of the amount required for healthy turf growth . When adjacent to , or in the midst of , sports fields or maintained campus grounds , the small amount that percolates downward past the turf roots usually suffices . Thus , the first few review or investigation considerations should be influences other than a lack of nutrients .

In addition to a lack of certain nutrients , other factors that can cause leaves to turn yellow include

18 SportsField Management | July 2024 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com