Landscape,
Lawn Care &
Golf Course
Management
© 2001 National Council for Agricultural Education.
Instructional Materials
Preface Preface Preface
Preface Unit 3 Unit 3 Unit 3 Unit 3 Unit 6 Unit 6 Unit 6 Unit 6 Unit 1
Unit 1 Unit 1
Unit 1 Unit 4 Unit 4 Unit 4 Unit 4 Unit 7 Unit 7 Unit 7 Unit 7 Unit 2
Unit 2 Unit 2
Unit 2 Unit 5 Unit 5 Unit 5 Unit 5 Unit 8 Unit 8 Unit 8 Unit 8
To: Agriculture Educators From: Bernie L. Staller
Re: Lawn, Landscape and Sports Turf Instructional Materials
I am please to enclose the Lawn, Landscape and Sports Turf Instructional materials. These materials are made available by the National Council for Agricultural Education as a special project of the National FFA Foundation.
To encourage sponsors to support the development of instructional packages, please write (or have your officers write) a brief note of thanks to:
Don St. Dennis
President, The Toro Foundation The Toro Company
8111 Lyndale Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55420-1196
Kimberly Erusha Director of Education
United States Golf Association PO Box 708
Far Hills, NJ 07931-0708
Donald A. Clemans CGCS, C.P. Ag
Northwest Turfgrass Association P.O. Box 2150
Sisters, OR 97759
Syngenta (formerly Zeneca Ag Products) Neil Strong
Director, Agriculture Relations Syngenta
5330 Katrine Avenue
Downers Grove, IL 60515-4095
Kerry M. Bierman
Vice President, Corporate Communications The Scotts Company
41 South High Street, Suite 3500 Columbus, OH 43215
These educational materials were developed by the National Council for Agricultural Education in partnership with the National
Association of Agricultural Educators as a special project of the National FFA Foundation, Inc.
Co-Project Directors Dr. Haibo Liu Dr. James Martin
Writers Dr. Haibo Liu Dr. James Martin
Ms. Joan Martin Mr. Cletus Mitchell
Dr. Jack Rudolph
High School Field Test Teacher Mr. Jonnie Mathias
© Copyright 2001
By the National Council for Agricultural Education ISBN:1-929938-21-7
The National Council for Agricultural Education is a not-for-profit organization that provides leadership, coordination and support for the continuous improvement and
diversity of agricultural education
National Council for Agricultural Education 1410 King Street, Suit 400, Alexandria, VA 22311
Phone: 800-772-0939 Fax: 703-838-5888 Internet: http://www.teamaged.org
Email:[email protected]
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Acknowledgements Acknowledgements
This project began in Kentucky in November 1999 and it was designed to provide a teacher's guide for teaching the major subjects in the green industry. This teacher's guide provides a unique resource for teaching courses in these fields for high schools, vocational schools, or junior colleges.
Advisory Committee
To begin the process of designing this guide, an advisory committee was formed. The objectives of the advisors were to guide the writers concerning proper content and format with updated knowledge in these fields. The advisors were from the green industry, high schools, colleges, and universities. The advisors also served as scientific reviewers of this project. These advisors were:
Mr. Ron Biondo
Facilitating Coordinator in Agricultural Education 6438 Joliet Road
Countryside, IL 60525 Ms. Lynn Campbell
National FFA Foundation, Regional Director 6060 FFA Drive
P. O. Box 68960
Indianapolis, IN 46268-0999 Mr. Donald A. Clemans CGCS, C. P. Ag
Northern Turfgrass Association P. O. Box 2150
Sisters, OR 97759 Dr. Van Cline The Toro Company
8111 Lyndale Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55420-1196 Dr. David Coffey
Department of Agriculture Western Kentucky University 1 Big Red Way
Bowling Green, KY 42101 Mr. Ray Davies, CGCS Crystal Springs Golf Course Burlingame, CA
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Mr. Tom DelaneyPLCAA
1000 Johnson Ferry Road, NE, Suite C-135 Marietta, GA 30068-2112
Dr. Jim Ethridge
Professor, Horticultural and Agricultural Sciences Department Chairman, Joliet Junior College Joliet Junior College
1215 Houbolt Road Joliet, IL 60431 Mr. Mike Gillispie Peoria High School 7730 N. 83rd AV Glendale, AZ 85303 Mr. Bill Hoopes
Director, Training & Development, Regulatory Affairs Scotts Lawn Service
14111 Scotts Lawn Road Marysville, OH 43041 Ms. Ronda Kurka Kentwood High School 28605 194th Av SE Kent , WA 98042 Mr. Randy Miller
Department of Agriculture Iota High School
P.O. Box 980
Iota, LA 70543-0980 Mr. Chris Morgan
Department of Agriscience Marcus High School
5707 Morriss Road
Flower Mound, TX 75028 Mr. L. John Neyhart
Monmouth County Vocational School District Monmouth County Career Center
1000 Kozloski Road Freebold, NJ 07728
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Dr. David C. Ross,National Accounts Mgr.
Zeneca Professional Products (Sygenta) 1800 Concord Pike
Wilmington, DE 19850 Mr. Don St. Dennis
President, The Toro Foundation 8111 Lyndale Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55420-1196 Project Funding and Management
This special project of the National Council for Agricultural Education is managed by Dr. Rosco Vaughn, the Executive Director and Melissa A. Lewis, Former Director of The Council's Special Projects, Dr. David Coffey, Agricultural Education Professor, Department of Agriculture, Western Kentucky University, and Mark Leitman, Director of The Council's Special Projects.
Co-Project Directors and Writers
This instructional materials project was conceived and directed by Dr. Haibo Liu and Dr. James Martin, Department of Agriculture, Western Kentucky University. These materials were written by Dr. Haibo Liu, Dr. James Martin, Ms. Joan Martin, Mr.
Cletus Mitchell, and Dr. Jack Rudolph.
Dr. Haibo Liu is an Associate Professor of turfgrass science and management. He has taught courses in turfgrass management and golf course management and computer application course at Western Kentucky University since 1996. He has been involved in numerous scientific research projects and publications in the turf area.
Dr. James Martin is a Professor in the same department and has taught horticultural and landscape maintenance courses for the last 23 years. In 1998, Dr. Martin was honored as the outstanding teacher in the Ogden College of Science, Technology, and Health at Western Kentucky University. Dr. Martin has conducted numerous research projects and authored publications in the horticultural and environmental areas.
Ms. Joan Martin is the Assistant Director of the Center for Mathematics, Science and Environmental Education at Western Kentucky University. Ms. Martin has more than 15 years experience directing, coordinating and implementing numerous grant-funded projects. She designed and produced educational materials for Grades K-16 and for handicapped and disabled students in Vocational Education. Recent publications include Man and the Biosphere: Protecting, Conserving, and Using Our Natural
Resources for middle and high school teachers; A Teacher's Guide to Biodiversity for middle school teachers; and the training manual Utility Management 101 for managers of rural water systems.
Mr. Cletus Mitchell is a retired faculty member from the Department of Agriculture, Western Kentucky University. He has taught agricultural mechanics for 30 years.
Dr. Jack Rudolph, an Associate Professor in the Department of Agriculture, Western Kentucky University, has taught agricultural education courses and laboratory
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courses in agricultural mechanics for 22 years, the last 13 at the university level. He has been involved in many research and educational projects and has numerous publications in agricultural education and agricultural mechanics.
High School Field Test Teacher
Mr. Jonnie Mathias, Henderson County High School, Henderson, Kentucky , a high school turfgrass teacher, an FFA Advisor and a business owner. He has been in the agricultural education field for 26 years teaching in Virginia and Kentucky. As the Grounds Coordinator for Landscaping and Turfgrass with the school system, Mr.
Mathias has been given the opportunity to use the athletic complexes, fourteen elementary schools, school board office, and two junior highs as a huge outdoor laboratory in turf education at the high school level.
Special Reviewers
Mrs. Janet Chamberlin, Retired High School Teacher, Bowling Green High School, Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Dr. Ron Eckard, English Professor, English Department, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Special Thanks
Dr. David Coffey for leading and organizing three advisory committee meetings and the
"Train-the Trainer" workshop with his time and effort to this project.
Mr. Mike Gillispie for hosting the Third Advisory Committee Meeting at Peoria High School, Glendale, TX.
Mr. Tim Closs and Mr. Chris Morgan for hosting the "Train-the-Trainer" workshop and providing the facilities at Naaman Forest High School, Garlend, TX.
GCSAA (Golf Course Superintendents Association of America) for facilitating the
"Train-the-Trainer" workshop during their 2001 annual conference at Dallas.
The representatives in the "Train-the-Trainer" workshop at Dallas for their participation and input to this guide.
The following Advisors for lecturing during the "Train-the-Trainer" workshop:
Dr. Jim Ethridge Mr. Mike Gillispie Ms. Ronda Kurka Mr. John Mathias Mr. Randy Miller Mr. Chris Morgan Mr. John Neyhart.
Whitney Elmore, a M.S. candidate in turfgrass science at Western Kentucky University for her lecturing during the workshop and reviewing of the guide.
Aaron Mathews, a M.S. candidate in turfgrass science at Western Kentucky University for his reviewing of the guide.
Our students for their support and understanding during the year of writing.
Western Kentucky University for providing the facilities and support for this project.
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PREFACE
The Green Industry is one of the fastest growing and most rewarding fields in which to build a career. The Green Industry today employs hundreds of thousands of professionals. These turf care and landscape professionals are charged with an awesome responsibility of keeping our environment healthy while meeting the needs of their clients: keeping golf courses in top shape, giving the homeowners a perfect, weed–free green carpet, providing beautiful gardens, irrigating, fertilizing and controlling pe sts–all without harming the environment.
Technology and research have provided the tools necessary to make our green world a beautiful and healthy place to live. Thus, it is not surprising that people in the Green Industry use these tools to protect our environment and
understand the related science and technology it takes to achieve their goals.
Some of these tools, techniques, and benefits are outlined in this document.
Lawns have a long history of being recognized as beneficial. Whether the turf is used for relaxing during a game of golf, lounging in the backyard, playing a spirited football game, the turf industry fulfills an internal need in all of us to surround ourselves with beauty. The vast variety of grasses and landscape plants protects our soils from erosion while enhancing the beauty of our environment with their grace, charm, and excitement. Turf and ornamentals provide the perfect picture frame for any landscape.
Aside from fulfilling our aesthetic needs, turfgrass areas provide other important benefits, including the cooling of our air by as much as 7 degrees F and our turf surfaces 10-14 degrees F. Turfgrasses provide oxygen to the air, absorb pollutants from the air, reduce undesirable noise levels by 20%-30%, help to condition our soils, and provide a very effective filter for water. Many golf courses, large parks, and housing developments collect, filter (with grass), and recycle their own irrigation and storm water, preventing any contamination in local streams, rivers, and lakes. Golf course managers, and professionals in the Green Industry as a whole, utilize responsible methods of applying products to the turf. Their careful attention to detail is helping to keep our beneficial insects and wildlife safe.
As the population of an area increases, the demand for safe wildlife habitat also increases. Golf courses in the United States protect two million-plus acres of land from being turned into impervious surfaces. This new (different) habitat is used by many of our native animal species. People and animals continue to coexist in a common environment!
This instructional material is designed to give insight into specific areas of the Green Industry. Materials focus on environmental issues, turfgrass
maintenance, lawn care and production, sports turf, irrigation, turf equipment, turfgrass management, plant science, and public relations. The information in this manual is by no means conclusive; yet, it contains beneficial information for teachers of high school and junior college students. It is designed to be used as a teachers guide to practical, “hands-on” experiences in the Green Industry.
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These materials also suggest opportunities for you and your students to become involved with the Green Industry. Through guest speakers and site visits, you will have an opportunity to expose your students to industry professionals and vice versa. A positive relationship with a lawn care business owner, a turfgrass manager, or a golf course superintendent is priceless; so keep it professional.
The outline below will help with some small but very important details while working with turf industry professionals.
Keep It Professional, Please
1. Always give plenty of lead time when scheduling a visit to a turfgrass site.
2. Call and confirm numbers and time with the person in charge 2-3 days before the visit.
3. Never cancel.
4. Instruct your students on appropriate behavior and consequences.
5. Have the students and teacher design a question list for the speaker before you go. Make sure each person is assigned a question.
6. Write a thank-you note to the speaker, superintendent, or tour guide within 4 days of the visit.
7. Be willing to reciprocate; let the industry come see your site sometime.
Ronda Kurka
Member, Writing Team Advisory Committee, Kentwood HS, 25800 164th AV, SE Covington, WA 98042
