Extension Service Site Publications

• (2022) Through thoughtful practices, lawns can be climate-friendly Love your grass lawn but want to make your landscape more climate-friendly? There are thoughtful ways to keep a lawn as part of your landscape while balancing climate change concerns.
• (2020) Managing Crane Fly in Lawns Crane flies are large, gangly insects that do little damage as adults. But crane fly larvae are known for chewing through patches of lawn, damaging roots as grass starts growing in spring. Learn how to prevent damage to your grass with simple maintenance and irrigation practices.
• (2022) Tips for Making Your School IPM Plan Complete Oregon Integrated Pest Management coordinators and other school staff from Oregon school districts, education service districts, community colleges, private K-12 schools and federal Head Start programs collaborated to develop suggestions and tips that enable schools to create and conduct more site- and situation-specific materials, education and outreach to comply with Oregon’s school IPM law.
• (2021) Managing Microdochium Patch in Pacific Northwest Turfgrass Those round, brown rings that appear on your lawn in spring may just be a passing problem. But if you manage a golf course, you may want to take steps to control Michrodochium nivale, the fungus that causes Microdochium patch on turf grass. To prevent problems, learn how to select the right species of grass, and pick up that rake come fall.
• (2021) Irrigation Rates and Frequencies for Western and Eastern Oregon Turfgrass When trying to minimize irrigation inputs, the best turfgrass species for the Oregon climate include perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) in Western Oregon, Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) in Central/Eastern Oregon and tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus) in Western, Central or Eastern Oregon.
• (2017) Managing Moss in Lawns Fed up with moss taking over your lawn? Oregon State University Extension Service turf specialist helps you learn about the conditions that encourage moss growth and the steps you can take to promote a healthy, moss-free lawn.
• (2015) Integrated Pest Management for Turfgrass This video highlights the five cultural practices needed for proper integrated pest management in turfgrass: (1) mowing, (2) fertilization, (3) irrigation, (4) cultivation, and (5) pesticide selection and use.
• (2019) Starting a lawn from scratch?
• (2018) Lawns Presentation Primary Cultural Practices, Cultivation and inter-seeding, Management of False dandelion and White clover
• (2017) Managing Moss in Lawns in Western Oregon This video demonstrates how to identify and eliminate moss from your lawn. It is a companion to OSU Extension publication EM 9175.
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• (2017) Managing Moss in Lawns in Western Oregon The mild, wet winters in western Oregon encourage the growth of lawn mosses. This publication describes the factors that contribute to this growth and provides tips for reducing problems. It is a companion to OSU Extension video EM 9176.
• (2017) El mantenimiento práctico del césped en el oeste de Oregon Esta publicación describe opciones para varios niveles de mantenimiento del césped—desde las prácticas necesarias para mantener un césped densa y verde durante todo el año hasta los cuidados limitados de un césped que se torne color café en el verano. Trata los temas del corte, el riego, la fertilización y la escarificación, y sugiere un programa para cada uno. Incluye una lista de recursos adicionales.
• (2015) Best Management Practices for Maintaining Sand-based, Natural Grass Athletic Fields This publication recommends specific ways to manage of sand-based fields, which will require more frequent fertilization, irrigation, and cultivation for proper maintenance than native soil fields. This publication emphasizes the critical aspects of maintenance, including the primary cultural practices (mowing, fertilization, and irrigation), as well as the secondary cultural practices (cultivation, top-dressing, and interseeding).
  This publication is available as a PDF and as an eBook
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• (2015) Best Management Practices for Construction of Sand-based Athletic Fields for Football and Soccer Sand-based, natural turfgrass and synthetic surfaces are the best options for athletic fields in the rainy Pacific Northwest. Sand-based, natural turfgrass fields, when compared to synthetic surfaces, are initially less expensive, more enjoyable to play on, cooler in warm weather, less hazardous when wet, more resilient, and are 30 to 50 times less expensive to replace. However, high-quality, sand-based sports fields able to withstand intensive traffic under the range of climatic conditions present in the PNW depend on many construction components, including sand selection, base grade, surface and subsurface drainage, turfgrass genus, and species selection.
  This publication is available as a PDF and as an eBook
  Learn more about downloading OSU Extension eBooks.
  After downloading and using an OSU Extension eBook, please send us your feedback.
• (2015) Integrated Pest Management for Turfgrass This video highlights the five cultural practices needed for proper integrated pest management of turfgrass: (1) mowing, (2) fertilization, (3) irrigation, (4) cultivation, and (5) pesticide selection and use.
• (2015) Summer lawn weed?
• (2015) What is the best driveway grass?
• (2014) Retail Lawn Seed Mixtures for Western Oregon and Western Washington This publication describes the benefits of choosing the right cultivar, species, blend, or mixture. It will also explore the advantages of seed coating and other preplant packaging options, such as fertilizer and mulch. Finally, this publication highlights seed mixture and coating research conducted at Oregon State University.
• (2023) Practical Lawn Care for Western Oregon Describes options for different levels of lawn care – from keeping a lawn lush and green year-round to allowing it to go partially dormant in the summer. Discusses mowing, watering, fertilizing, and dethatching, and gives recommended schedules for each. Includes a list of additional resources.