Monitoring soil moisture: it's time to start

As the weather warms, many suspected pest problems turn out to be drought problems instead. This is not surprising, since the symptoms of drought stress are very similar to the symptoms caused by many turf diseases and insects.

The culprits involved in drought stress range from poor irrigation distribution to localized dry spot to pump failures, to contour issues and/or surface sealing.

Whatever the causes, it is very important to avoid drought stress — for both obvious and not–so–obvious reasons.…