Rainy wet days

Well, we have had a few wet days lately. Dry enough to get most of our mowing completed at least once during the week but we have not been able to make it around twice like we normally attempt. On some of the wet days when we attempt to keep the larger equipment off of the course, we have other jobs that have to be completed sometime during the season. As you know, the property lines are fenced which creates issues for us from time to time. Plants of all types attempt to start their lives in our fence line. This week, we've spent some time working along Lucas & Hunt and the property line along #6, 8 and 9.

The Amur Maple which provides some welcomed screening from the traffic is our main tree along Lucas & Hunt and we are required to remove some of the dead and or dying wood. We also attempt to remove some of the low hanging branches which affect our ability to mow and the trimmed trees improve the overall aesthetics of the facility. We also have unwanted species such as honeysuckle, mulberry and other junk trees that attempt to take up rights to our property. If we do not remove them when they are small, it requires twice the work when they get large. We also must prune the hedges which grow along the fence line of 6,7 and 8.

An ornamental grass planting has been growing to the right and down the hill from the 9th tee along the fence. The staff cleaned this area and placed free wood chips from our grinding operation over the winter along this bed to make it easier to mow and improve the look of the area. They also cleaned the fence line between the bed and the back gate which had become overgrown with poison ivy, honeysuckle and some other weedy material. Last fall, the staff mulched the tree and shrub border which goes around the lower end of the employee parking area and they freshened up the mulch again in the last few days. We also used the chipped material for the shrub and grass beds along Wallinsford as you drive by the short range area. Sometimes chipped material has a tendency to fade and not have a good look to it but since there was some pretty substantial oak chips in our ground material, I think the look is pretty good.

Here are a couple of pictures to show some of the work.

Arturo(closest to the chipper), brothers Jose and Armando are completing the chipping of the material that was hauled into the yard area. You can see the fresh chips in the background. We probably had at least 20 yards of free chipped material that we were able to use since last fall. This has saved on hauling costs for our large waste dumpster and we have saved money by using less mulch which we have to purchase.

Tom hauling in another batch of Amur Maple limbs.

This is the view from the employee lot looking toward the 9th tee box. You can see the mulch along the parking lot which has some grasses and trees and to the left of the photo is the grass bed which was cleaned and mulched along the fence line.