Released November 11, 2009
STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State University’s Hailin Zhang and Bill Raun did not have awards in mind when they updated the “Oklahoma Homeowner’s Handbook for Soil and Nutrient Management,” but that is exactly what they earned from the American Society of Agronomy.
Zhang and Raun’s work on the 2nd edition of the publication was honored with a 2009 Certificate of Excellence at the Nov. 1-5 combined meeting of the ASA, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America in Pittsburgh.
“This award-winning handbook brings cutting-edge research, honed over decades in cultivated field crops, to the lawns and gardens of Oklahoma, and does so in a format that is easy to understand and incorporate,” said Dave Porter, head of OSU’s department of plant and soil sciences.
Porter said the application of sound soil and nutrient management techniques outlined in the handbook advances the goals of the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources to promote an economical, environmentally friendly and effective approach to caring for home lawns and gardens.
“Most homeowners don’t know what type and how much of a fertilizer to apply to their lawn and gardens,” Zhang said. “As a result of repeated fertilizer applications, many lawn and garden soils are loaded with nutrients that may negatively affect plant growth.”
An OSU Cooperative Extension nutrient management specialist and director of the division’s Soil, Water and Forage Analytical Laboratory, Zhang said the handbook helps homeowners to manage their soil and nutrients in a professional manner.
Raun agrees, explaining that many homeowners over apply nutrients of all kinds.
“As a result, urban runoff across pavement and into local sewer systems continues to be an environmental concern, as well as an economic issue because the homeowner is literally flushing away money spent on fertilizer,” said Raun, OSU Regents professor of soil fertility. “It’s the worst of both worlds.”
The award-winning handbook takes readers through a broad-based background of practical soil and nutrient management techniques, complete with illustrations and graphs targeted specifically for homeowner use.
“Homeowners aren’t applying 80 pounds of nitrogen per acre; they want straightforward information targeted toward their application rates,” Raun said. “That’s what we provide in the handbook. Our intent was always to make the information as user-friendly as possible, building upon the great foundation of the 1st edition that was compiled by Gordon Johnson.”
The 2nd edition of the “Oklahoma Homeowner’s Handbook for Soil and Nutrient Management” can be ordered by contacting Zhang at hailin.zhang@okstate.edu by e-mail.
--30--
Writer: Donald Stotts, 405-744-4079, donald.stotts@okstate.edu
