Saturday 23 November 2013

It's snowing... leaves!

The leaves are coming down thick and fast and leaf clearing has become the major task for the greenstaff just trying to keep the key playing areas clear. 


Looking around the golf course - although we have taken away thousands of leaves - they say a healthy oak tree has 200,000 leaves during the summer. This means 200,000 down per old oak not including all the other species in the autumn. It looks as though most of the trees are still full of leaves, but the upside is the amazing autumn colour they are producing. 

Other works that have been going on when not clearing leaves-


Verti draining of the entire course was completed this week. Doing this helps with drainage, root growth, getting oxygen into the soil structure and help improve nutrient availability (as the oxygen breathes life into the bacteria and fungi in the soil).  This in turn will improve grass coverage. 


We Verti drained between 8-10 inches as the soil was still very dry underneath following the summer but this has allowed the moisture sitting in the surface to go down into the soil profile, drying out the fairways. 

We also sprayed the golf course for worms and leather jackets. These are sprayed with a product which suppresses the casting worms (3 types out of 9 cast) and stops the leatherjackets or crane flies as some say, from eating the roots of the grass plant. Remember we want worm activity in the soil as they do a great job at keeping it healthy but we don't want them on the surface as this effects our sward coverage. 
We try to spray this after aeration because along with the wetting agent this helps the products hit our target areas. 

We have also started hand cutting greens  (see photo top and below). This is very time-consuming but as the growth rates have dropped it is possible and gives a better cut and the machines are much lighter meaning the greens won't get compacted. This in turn helps root development. 

The greens are still looking in good condition at the end of November. 



Trolley lines have been introduced again. We tend not to do this in the summer as the growth rates and dry conditions don't require us to protect the aprons and greens but in the winter we need them in place. 
Please do not cross the trolleys lines with your trolleys. It does make a difference!! 


The forecast for the rest of this month is cold and dry. No snowmageddon like predicted by the press.

Cold, dry in my books is the best winter weather, we can still get golf played, do winter projects and function, it’s far more preferable to the extremely wet end to November we had in 2012 and with this cold snap it should help to bring the leaves down from the trees quicker. I always like to see them down by Christmas!  

That's become a bigger blog than intended, so I will sign off now and blog again soon.

Matt 

Sunday 10 November 2013

Autumnal feeling

You may have noticed the golf course is starting to change and the autumnal feeling has kicked in. 



Low winter sun levels and big shadows are now the look along with the tree leafs changing colour. 


The poplar trees and silver birches are always the first to start dropping there leaves followed by the Oakes and Willow. These normally finish dropping around Christmas (hopefully). 

This year I think the leaf drop has been later than normal due to the mild weather but it has started (see graph below).


We are now clearing greens everyday, blowing all over the course and now we are starting to pick them up with the Trilo. This acts as a big hover and is also great for clearing ditches. 

This week we used the mini digger to clear some of the exits in the ditches but from now on the Trilo will be used. 

We have had over 50 mm of rain on top of Octobers 123mm so far this month. The course is wet in places but the improvement each year on the drainage front is very noticeable but we still have a lot to do and add to get the course were I want it.

 Greens that were further down on our list following the data collection  back in 2008 are now showing the signs that they need to be drained or worked on like the greens that were further up the list like 16, 9, 3, 6 etc.

The 5th green has benefited from the drainage work at the rear left of the  green but the front does still hold water after heavy rain. This will require some drainage work this year but this will only be a short term fix as next year the hole is due new bunkering and shaping. This is part of the five year plan but new drainage will be needed for the entire area as the levels will change (Below is a picture of the green before we remove the water in the mornings following heavy rain).


The 12th green is also one of the wetter greens on the course and will need some drainage work soon. Our moisture readings prove the green is not wetter than any other year but the other greens that have been worked on are getting drier, this is now giving us the impression it's wetter. 

Other works on the course this week have included spraying the tees and greens for worms. (The rest of the course will be done in the coming days). Planting  flowers and heathers around the clubhouse. We finally finished clearing the  cut up trees following the storm, clearing the stump grinding debris. Finishing turfing at the 8th mound area. Clearing leafs as mentioned above, reinstating the bunkers following heavy rain and cutting the golf course (the growth rates are still really high). 



In the coming days we will start to Verti drain fairways. This will help with the recovery from the hot summer. Spraying the course for worms and hopefully if the dry weather comes we can finally laser level these new tees and turf them before the winter kicks in. 



Lastly here's a picture of the clubhouse set up for Presentation day. Well done to all those who won a trophy and received it today. I hope they look great on your mantle piece. 

I m off now to carry on clearing leafs off the course!!! 

Matt