Abstract
The use of pesticides on natural turfgrass school playgrounds in Korea is directly related to the health of school members, but it is difficult to ignore the use of pesticides in terms of improving the management efficiency of the playgrounds. In this study, in order to obtain basic data for the efficient management of natural turfgrass school playgrounds, the actual use of pesticides and the level of awareness among school members about pesticides were investigated through a questionnaire. In the surveyed natural turfgrass school playgrounds, there were observed diseases like fairy ring, large patch, and leaf blight, small animals like earthworm and zoysiagrass mite, and weeds like crabgrass, clover, annual fleabane, and Asian plantain. The range of the number of annual application of fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides were 0.4-1.4, 0.1-1.7, and 0.4-1.7, respectively. In middle and special schools, the ratio of hand weeding was higher than that of herbicide application. Most schools were spraying pesticides during summer vacation for the safety of students. School playground managers generally thought that pesticides were unsafe for humans, and the negative perception of pesticides was higher among student parents than other school members. Concerns about residual toxicity were the main cause of negative perceptions about pesticide use.
Figures & Tables
Fig. 1. Diseases, pests and weeds in the school's natural turfgrass playground. A and B: Fairy ring symptoms (A) and the fruiting body of the basidiomycetes that caused the fairy ring symptoms (B). C: Large patch caused by a fungal pathogen, (c). D: Damage of zoysiagrass plants by zoysiagrass mite (d). E: Occurrence of clover on natural turfgrass playground. F: Occurrence of Korean lespedza on natural turfgrass playground.
