May 21, 2019 – A "farmdener" with expertise in both soil science and horticulture says mixing plastic with soil is a bad combination. Those who use black plastic sheeting as mulch to keep weeds away are suffocating plant roots and microorganisms.

May 16, 2019 – A Sault Ste. Marie man who was laid off from his job in the steel industry three decades ago reflects on how that prompted him to start his own landscaping business, which has since flourished.

May 7, 2019 – Ask most people what type of mail they dread receiving and they’ll agree it’s bills. You shuffle through the stack of envelopes pulled from the mailbox and those with the transparent windows are the ones that elicit that woeful sigh, letting you know it’s time to pay up again.

May 14, 2019 – What began as a post-graduation adventure on the other side of the world with a few friends has evolved into a life changing career experience for an Edmonton-area man. Upon the completion of his studies in turfgrass management at Olds College in 2000, Grant Cantin and a group of friends embarked on a trip to Australia, with enough money to enjoy themselves in the land down under for nine or 10 months.

May 16, 2019 – Ticks are crawling back into the news and carrying with them the potential for Lyme disease. The number of reported Lyme disease cases in Canada between 2009 and 2016 rose from 144 cases to 992, and the areas where blacklegged ticks are found is growing.

May 10, 2019 – Consider this editorial a pre-emptive strike for a story that appears in this issue. The story in question is a profile of a lawn care company in St. Catharines, Ont. that has adopted a no-fertilizer, no-pesticide approach toward achieving healthy lawns for its customers.

May 3, 2019 – While a number of other golf courses in Canada have reached the end of the road, Nova Scotia's Abercrombie Golf Club is marking its 100th anniversary this year.

May 2, 2019 – Rotary Republic Park in Portage la Prairie is said to be one of the finest sports parks in Manitoba and possibly Western Canada. Dave Oshust of the municipality's parks maintenance department said the fields came through the winter in excellent shape and are already being used for soccer and baseball.

May 1, 2019 – A local landscaping company and a group of volunteers have gone above and beyond the call of duty to look after the yard of a Kelowna couple in need. The wife has been battling cancer and her husband has been putting in 60 hours of work each week to support her. His work and her needs haven't allowed time for the necessary yard work to be done.

April 30, 2019 – Four times as many ticks have been reported in the Niagara region compared to the same time frame a year ago. Among the 85 ticks plucked and placed in jars for reporting, 80 have been identified as the blacklegged species that can potentially spread Lyme disease.

April 5, 2019 – Landscape Ontario's Congress tends to get bigger and better with each passing year. It's not only the place to be for those long engaged in the landscaping industry, but for anyone thinking of entering the trade.

May 17, 2019 – Managing thatch on golf courses is a practice superintendents have engaged in for years and one they must continue to perform if they are to deliver faster, firmer surfaces for their clientele. What has changed over the years is the means by which thatch and organic matter in bentgrass/poa annua systems is managed and controlled.

May 13, 2019 – Not all lawn care businesses march to the beat of the same drummer. Many – probably most – offer their customers programs that include a specific number of annual fertilizer and pesticide product applications. The latter, usually herbicide applications, can vary from region to region, depending on the product’s legality.

Municipal sports turf managers who know how their playing fields are categorized have a better chance to manage them more efficiently based on agronomics. By paying close attention to the root zone, sports turf can be better managed than by simply basing maintenance practices on usage time.

Research at the University of Guelph into the potential of biosolids as a sustainable alternative to conventional fertilizer products has produced data that could be perceived as encouraging.

Managing putting greens can be compared to running in a marathon. Golf superintendents must do as much as possible during the spring to “train” for the marathon that is typically “run” in July and August, and sometimes into September.

Keeping up with worn goalmouth areas is typically the biggest challenge faced by sports turf managers on soccer fields. It’s the area of the playing surface that sees the greatest amount of wear, and keeping up with that section of the field is often a never-ending task.

A three-year research program aimed at improving turfgrass in residential areas has concluded at the Vineland Research & Innovation Centre at Vineland Station, Ont.

Best management practices for fertilizer application will differ from golf superintendent to golf superintendent, but it’s all about making the optimum use of available resources.

These days, homeowners are being pulled in more directions than ever and their free time is increasingly precious. As they look at how to simplify their lives, more and more of them taking a long, hard look at their lawns – and gardening centres must therefore be ready with both good replacement options and good guidance.

Oct. 2, 2018 – An opinion piece in the Vancouver Courier suggests it's time for city residents with synthetic turf lawns to do away with them and turn toward other natural alternatives if they don't wish to maintain a natural grass lawn.

There are many types of water aeration available on the market, ranging widely in application and price. As a result we are often asked, “How do you choose what is best for me?”

May 13, 2019 – Down to about 1,000 elm trees, the City of Fredericton is doubling its efforts to save what it has left. The city will be vaccinating its elm trees with DutchTrig, a biological and organic control agent designed to protect trees from Dutch elm disease.

May 10, 2019 – The future of Calgary's municipal golf courses is up for debate. Although a committee is looking into how Calgary's eight city-owned courses can become self-sustainable again, staff has been instructed to consider other options, including rezoning the land to build highrises and selling the courses for development.

May 2, 2019 – London's goal to have a tree canopy covering about a third of the city by 2065 may have hit a snag as a consequence of the recent Ontario government budget. The government pulled back funding on a program that would have subsidized a mass planting by about 80 per cent.

April 26, 2019 – The private Royal Mayfair Golf Club in Edmonton is having its lease extended for another 18 years. The lease, extended to 2069, may also allow for greater public access.

April 11, 2019 – A Vancouver Parks Board commissioner wants to have a closer look at whether or not the city's municipal golf courses present the best use for Vancouver's park land. Vancouver's three municipal courses have seen the number of rounds steadily decline since the late 1990s.

April 9, 2019 – A Winnipeg city councillor says taxpayer support of municipally-owned golf courses is an issue that needs to be explored. While the golf services financial report shows it’s breaking even, that’s only possible with an annual transfer from the city’s general revenue fund of $750,000.

April 9, 2019 – The second phase of construction at Kelowna's Glenmore Recreation Park has begun. The second part of the project includes the construction of two multi-use sports fields that are expected to be completed by the fall.

April 2, 2019 – The federal government is restricting the movement of all firewood out of Halifax County as a means of slowing the progress of the invasive emerald ash borer in Nova Scotia. Several trees have already been destroyed since the insect made its first appearance in the province last September.

April 1, 2019 – Leaf and yard waste will no longer be accepted in green bins in the City of Hamilton, as of today. Such waste must now be placed inside a brown paper bag marked with a city yard waste sticker.

March 27, 2019 – Esquimalt, B.C. is looking to give its sports facilities a multi-million-dollar makeover. The total cost of about 15 separate projects is about $17 million and would include a new artificial turf field at Bullen Park, upgrades to an existing field at the park and an outdoor track.

March 21, 2019 – Puslinch Township in Ontario remains committed to having a new soccer field in the community by 2020 to accommodate adult players. There is currently no adult league in the municipality and existing fields have been turned into "mini" playing surfaces to accommodate younger players.

May 7, 2019 – Weego, innovators of portable jump starters, has launched the Crankenstein® Jump Starting 12V/24V Power Pack - a powerful, new, combination 12- and 24-volt portable jump starting solution, designed for light and heavy-duty equipment in landscaping. Crankenstein revolutionizes jump starting with industry-first features built into a compact power pack that is just nine pounds – 80 per cent lighter than comparable lead-acid jump starters.

April 30, 2019 – KIOTI Tractor, a division of Daedong-USA, Inc., began shipping its inaugural Zero Turn Radius (ZTR) mower line to dealerships across North America this week.

April 29, 2019 – The Cat® 299D2 XHP Land Management Compact Track Loader is a superior, purpose-built machine solution for customers involved in demanding vegetation-management applications, ranging from mulching, brush-cutting, vegetation control, and mowing. This segment-focused machine delivers the advantages of efficiency and economy in specific applications, including site preparation, utility right-of-way clearing, vegetation management for fire prevention, railroad maintenance-of-way, agriculture, and forestry.

April 17, 2019 – Buyers Products, a leading manufacturer of work truck equipment, has introduced a new municipal flex plow. Operators can “flex” the upper moldboard of the SnowDogg® SuperFlex™ into various positions. This makes it ideal for urban and expressway use.

April 11, 2019 – Target Specialty Products, a leading value-added service provider of turf and ornamental solutions in the United States and Canada, has launched Turf Fuel G™ 24-0-11 Mini. The Turf Fuel G™ 24-0-11 Mini is exclusively co-branded with Scotts® PRO and is part of a broader line of fertilizers that leverage Scotts® PRO technologies.

April 10, 2019 – Winter Equipment, a leading name in the municipal snow and ice management industry, offers its universal spinner that provides superior spreading of snow and ice treatments.

April 5, 2019 – Husqvarna, a leading manufacturer of outdoor power products and lawn care equipment, has introduced several new products to the market to make lawn and garden work more productive and intuitive.

April 3, 2019 – NDS, Inc., a leading provider of drainage and stormwater management solutions for both residential and commercial applications, has launched a new mobile app designed for contractors, civil engineers, landscape architects, and DIY homeowners. The “Stormwater Drainage Tools” app simply and quickly calculates stormwater runoff and determines requirements for implementing a variety of drainage solutions.

April 1, 2019 – DeWalt has announced the six-tool Atomic™ compact series of tools that are lightweight and optimized for use in tight spaces. Part of the 20V Max® System, they will be available throughout 2019 and 2020.

March 14, 2019 – Fecon has introduced the Tier-4-compliant FTX150 mulching tractor, delivering 150 net horsepower for performance in a versatile, fuel-efficient, compact design.

March 14, 2019 – John Deere Golf has added two new E-Cut™ hybrid fairway mowers to its 6000A Series: the 6080A and 6500A.