No timeframe has been set as to when golf courses in the North Battleford area of Saskatchewan will open for the season. Even if snow melts entirely over the next few days, course may not be playable for some time.

Spring sports seasons are scheduled to begin in just a couple of weeks in the Kitchener-Waterloo region, but the area's recent ice storm followed by a fresh blanket of snow seem destined to push opening day back a while.

What is believed to be the first multi-million-dollar sponsorship for the City of Kitchener, Ont. is poised to bring major developments to South Kitchener District Park, including new soccer fields. RBJ Schlegel has contributed $2.3 million toward the project.

Calgary high school rugby teams are being forced to practise indoors in cramped gymnasiums as they await the green light to move outdoors on fields that are still snow-covered. The extended winter season could keep athletes indoors for most of April.

A First Nation community in the Yukon will be building its field of dreams after being awarded a significant windfall from the Toronto Blue Jays' charity, Jays Care Foundation. The Kwanlin Dün First Nation will see its existing ball diamond refurbished to include new fencing, an electronic scoreboard, as well as new dugouts, bleachers and LED lighting.

Saskatoon's urban forest is under attack by a "vampire-like" predator called the cottony ash psyllid that is projected to claim about 1,000 trees this year in the city.

Already in the lawn maintenance profession for six years, 19-year-old Simon Rosas-Leon has created a thriving business in Winnipeg. Top Notch Yard Care is a city-wide venture that offers commercial and residential lawn care, small landscaping, vegetation control and snow removal.

Private snow removal contractors in the North Bay area have been caught off guard by the re-emergence of winter in their part of Ontario. Staff from several companies are currently vacationing in tropical locations during a period that ordinarily follows snow cleanup yet precedes spring start-up, and companies have found themselves shorthanded.

Toronto landscaper Bruce McArthur has been charged with the murder of an eighth victim.

Toronto is getting one of Canada's longest linear urban parks, allowing bicyclists and pedestrians to travel from the city's downtown to Rouge Park in Scarborough without leaving a natural environment.

Summerside, P.E.I.'s Leger Park will take on a different look over the next several months. Thirteen poplar trees affected by dry rot will be removed, and renovations will get underway to provide a splash pad, basketball courts and new play structures.

The City of Toronto's parks, forestry and recreation department is dedicated toward delivering safe and functional parkland and providing the economical, environmental and aesthetic recreational values associated with healthy parkland. Helping to meet the city's mandate is its integrated plant health care program that was founded in 2002 in response to new pesticide legislation Toronto was ready to adopt.

Sodium and bicarbonates in the soil are a “big deal” and can rob golf courses of their nutrient dollar, superintendents attending BrettYoung’s annual spring turf academy were told in March at the Links of Kent Golf Club in Chatham, Ont.

The return of winter in southern Saskatchewan is going to cut into the playing time of young soccer players who were ready to begin their outdoor 2018 season. Official are hoping the season can begin by the beginning of May, but irrigation start-up, aeration, fertilization and a first mow still need to be tackled first.

Achieving high-performance putting greens doesn’t just mean fast and firm, but how well they cope with traffic, an associate professor of turfgrass science at Cornell University said in January at the Ontario Golf Management Conference in Niagara Falls.

Several of British Columbia's west coast golf courses have made tremendous strides over the past decade in their reduction of pesticide usage. Cultivating healthier grass to outcompete moss and other pests has become the focus for these superintendents.

Spring is on its way and there will be plenty of work involved with opening your client irrigation systems. This checklist will help you and your staff to complete each opening in detail so that unnecessary callbacks are kept to a minimum. There will be additions and/or deletions as sites vary.

When overseeding athletic fields, sports turf managers have a number of options as to the varieties and species from which to choose, with the objective being to achieve a safe playing surface.

In some municipalities, sports turf managers work with separate budgets for irrigation and drainage, but it’s not always the best approach, claims an associate professor of turfgrass science at the University of Guelph.

Oak wilt, poised to destroy tens of thousands of Windsor, Ont.'s oak trees, is on the verge of arriving in Canada. The serious vascular disease has already been confirmed on Belle Island in Michigan where it has infected 112 trees. The island is only 600 metres from Windsor.

Katie Dodson grew up in golf course management. Her father and grandfather, two uncles and a brother all are – or were – golf course superintendents, and she herself was an assistant superintendent (in Whitehorse) before switching to the research side almost 15 years ago.

Dollar spot is typically the No. 1 disease facing golf course superintendents each year, and it’s one that was misunderstood for decades. “For about 30 years, folks were trying to figure out what this fungus was,” Richard Buckley, director of the plant diagnostics lab at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said in July.

A public hearing is being scheduled in Kamloops, B.C. to discuss a proposed campground that would be situated between two holes at the Eaglepoint Golf Course.

Even though the snow has largely melted from Steinbach, Man.'s sports fields, users are being told to stay off them for a while yet until they are sufficiently dry. "Those fields do a need a bit of time before they start taking a lot of wear and tear," Jason Peters of Steinbach Parks and Rec said. "It’s going to be a couple weeks before they’re all ready to go."

The Ontario Government has passed a law that will better protect Oakville, Ont.'s Glen Abbey Golf Club. "I am extremely pleased that the determination of Glen Abbey's future will be made locally, here in Oakville," local MPP Kevin Flynn said.

The City of Cornwall, Ont. wants to cut $95,000 from its municipal budget this year by reducing the number of times it mows grass in its city parks, but at least one councillor and Cornwall's medical officer of health argue the strategy will lead to increased populations of ticks.

Plans to install lights at Kitchener, Ont.'s Breithaupt Park in time for the start of this year's baseball season won't happen. When tendered, the city received only one bid which came in over budget and unable to meet the 2018 timelines.

Approval has been granted for the redevelopment of the Saginaw Golf Club in Cambridge, Ont. into 368 residential units, but neighbours of the property are ready to fight any new building. Those opposed to redevelopment claim it will lead to increased traffic in the area, a reduction in property values and the removal of valued open space.

The Souris Golf Club in Manitoba is asking for taxpayer support to help it overcome a debt load attributed to years of lost revenue due to flooding and the costs of a new clubhouse.

A province-wide elm tree pruning ban has gone into effect in Alberta as a means to stop the spread of Dutch elm disease. The ban is in effect from April 1 to Sept. 30. Any pruning that is to be done will have to wait until the winter months.

Toronto-area residents who install edge markers on their front lawns in an attempt to keep sidewalk plow operators on track are finding the practice to be a hit and miss exercise. Grass along the sidewalk edges is still being gouged. “The (city) councillors are more concerned about how many chickens one can have in their back yard than to take care of this problem," one irate resident said.

A proposed new bylaw in Owen Sound, Ont. will give the city the power to clean up private properties that have fallen to poor standards, including unkempt lawns. The bylaw also forbids the buildup of waste material, including grass or tree clippings, wrecked vehicles, discarded appliances and other garbage.

Plans to build two new artificial turf fields at Chapples Park in Thunder Bay, Ont. have been scrapped because federal funding has yet to be approved. Instead, the city will earmark its budgeted $1.25 million and rebuild its premier field on the site.

Syngenta's Secure® fungicide is a multi-site contact fungicide, in a unique chemical class, for golf courses. It contains the active ingredient, fluazinam, and is the only registered fungicide for turf in FRAC group 29. It has no known resistance and as a multi-site contact, it has low risk of developing resistance.

Syngenta's new Instrata II® fungicide combines the forces of two powerful active ingredients, providing long-lasting control of snow mould during the winter months. One case of Instrata II covers six acres.

The Bannerman/Re-Mac Debris & Stone Burier is designed to cultivate, grate, and bury stones as well as debris, leaving behind a leveled blanket of fine soil.

"Alexa, start the Automower." Husqvarna, manufacturer of the robotic Automower, has made its product compatible with the cloud-based voice service Alexa, allowing the Automower to start, stop, park and produce status updates by "asking Alexa."

Toro's new Outcross 9060 has the benefits of both a tractor and super-duty utility vehicle. The machine allows superintendents and turfgrass professionals to do more with less, using less labour, fewer resources and taking less time.

Bridge approach settlements can cause unsafe walking and cycling conditions, poor public perception, potential structural failure of bridges and long-term maintenance costs.

A new self-propelled, hybrid turf mower has been introduced to the sod growing market, enabling fast, precision cutting and decreasing the average cost per acre.

Outdoor power products manufacturer Husqvarna has reformulated its machine oils to set new standards in performance and product longevity. The improved formulations deliver low operating temperatures and greater detergency inside engines. The new bar and chain oil range offers reduced friction and wear on cutting equipment.

Grasshopper's new FrontMount Model 900D 1.3L mower is equipped with a Tier 4 final-compliant, fuel-efficient and powerful 1.3L MaxTorque diesel engine that requires no power robbing after-treatment systems.

Civitas Turf Defense is a registered plant protection, fungicide and insecticide product with an innovative ability to increase turf stress tolerance capabilities. Formulated with superior actives andproven through countless university research trials, the product primes turf to prevent damage from biotic and abiotic stresses before they would normally occur.

Save time and increase productivity when burying wire around the yard with the Perimeter Wire Machine PWM600MH from Portable Winch, available in Canada from Rittenhouse in St. Catharines, Ont.