Tree Management Plan

We had a couple removals today, one that will lead to improved conditions for a green and surround complex and the second to protect everyone from a hazardous condition.  We still have one more removal on the right of #16, an old Siberian Elm that we were planning to remove but we believe it has a family of squirrels inside of it.  I expect no further removals this season unless something does not leaf out this spring and we will decide if removal should occur immediately or can wait until next winter.

The first tree was the very large oak on the east side of #17 green that had a large void in it that I assume was from a lightning strike many years ago.  During the shade study that I have made over the last few years, #17 green would not receive full sun until 10 a.m. each day.  We are evaluating a couple of ornamental trees to go back in the general area where the removal occurred but the species will be much smaller so they will not interfere with the morning light that the green needs.

The second tree was next to 18 tee and had lost a large part of the crown of the tree last fall.  Gamma tree topped both trees to a pole and our staff will knock the trees down on Tuesday.

Shade on #17 green at 8:54 a.m.

Gamma tree removing rest of limbs from tree.

Finishing off the removal.  Our staff still need to remove the stub on Tuesday.

The staff cleaning up the sticks and cutting up the logs from the removal.

The view from the green at the end of the day.

The wound that went up the first 15-20' of the tree. 

The close up of the crown of the tree at 18 tee.  The whole center of the tree was damaged and exposed.  The larger limbs coming off that same area could have fallen without warning.

A pull back view of the tree and its damaged crown.

The topped tree waiting for our staff to remove to the ground.

This tree was right behind the tree we are removing.  The limb on the lower left goes over the cart path and tee.  A limb fell from this tree and weakened the other limb to the point that it needed to be removed.

The finished product after removal. The removed tree is in the background.

Aerating Rough

Over the next couple of weeks, we will be pulling cores in the rough.

Core aeration benefits the turf in a number of ways.

• Break up thatch and stimulate shoot and root growth.
• Allows oxygen into the root zone of the turf.
• The aeration holes will allow water to penetrate into the soil more quickly and deeper. The holes also provide tiny reservoirs to hold moisture in place.
• Wet areas will dry out more quickly because air can get into the soil helping to dry it out more quickly.
• Opening up the soil can release some nutrients to the root systems of the plant that were tied up in the soil.
• Over time, the soil will assist in filling small voids in the turf surface improving lies.

Once we pull the core, a drag mat will go back over the area to help break up the soil so there is less mess for you to content with while you play. Rain will help blend the soil back to the surface of the rough as well.

Below is a video showing the aerator in action.

Update on Greens Aeration

The staff rolled and mowed the greens on Monday.  It would be great if we received a little rain on top of this aeration and topdressing but it has stayed away over the last few days.  I did water the greens through the weekend until Sunday night.  Due to cold temperatures, I've keep the water off over the last couple of days until the warm up starts again later in the week.  Thunderstorms later in the week could help us a great deal in our recovery.  We have gotten a nice green up from the fertilizer application and the warmer days last week.  We will do a dry mow this week which means we only mow when its dry to prevent sand being pulled up from the green surface.  Pulling sand up into the upper leaf canopy will negatively effect ball roll and will reduce our mowers potential for getting a clean cut.

 Three green, 3/10/14 first mowing

 

Eighteen green, 3/25/14 after mowing four time and aeration.

Growing Degree Days, Poa Management

The work that we do here at Glen Echo is not necessarily set on a calendar.  There are seasonal schedules and as long as products are applied within a couple of weeks, there are not issues.  There is one early season application to our greens which is timed to within a day based on scientific models.  The model uses growing degree days to determine the date to spray our greens to suppress and or reduce the amount of poa annua seed heads that are produced.  As you know, the seeding of poa annua in the spring to early summer can lead to ball roll not being as smooth as we would like to see on our golf greens.  The production of more seed heads also increase the seed bank for poa annua.  Millions of seeds are produced and can be viable in the soil for years just waiting for some thinning of turf to encourage more poa to germinate.  Seed heads are not just produced on greens surfaces, they are produced in the 100's of millions underneath the mass canopy of trees that run along our fairways and roughs.    

Growing degree days are formulas which take the average temperatures for the day and subtracts them from the base number used.

I.E.  The base number for poa annua seed head suppression is 32 degrees.  The high was 38 and the low was 28 yesterday at our weather station. so the mean/avg temperature for the day was 33. Subtracting 33-the base of 32 = 1 growing degree day.  This number is then added to an accumulating total that begins normally around the end of the 2nd to 3rd week of February.  If the number would be negative for a day which it could if the mean temperature is below 32, you have no growing degree days for that date.  Currently we are at 344 growing degree days.  The range to spray is normally around 300 growing degree days, more or less depending upon the year.  The spray we use suppresses or reduces seed heads from about 50-80% depending upon if your timing was correct.  I sprayed 1/2 our greens on Friday and the other 1/2 on Saturday morning. The poa annua on a green, the more potential for seed head production.  This is one of the reasons we are trying to encourage sun on our greens.  Bent grass is a sun loving plant and poa annua likes it shady and moist.

Growing degree days models are also used for other weeds such as crabgrass germination and broadleaf weed applications.  Bluegrass weevils and grub control of beetles are a couple of insects that can be monitored using growing degree day models.  Farming relies heavily upon growing degree day models as well in planting of crops and applying pest control measures.

We will make a second application of the growth regulator products twenty one days after the first application.  The spray we use is a mixture of Primo which is our main growth regulator product for greens and Proxy which reduces the seed head formation.  With early season aeration in March, our seed head suppression application usually falls around the time of aeration. It can delay healing slightly but I think it might only delay it a couple of days at the most.  This season, a majority of our aeration was finished five days before the application of this product mixture.

Seed heads that are produced do have a tendency to be shorter and tighter and do not effect ball roll since the greens are regulated.  Ball roll in general should improve as the aeration heals and  the plant growth regulators PGR begin to do their work.

Greenhouse planting

One of the things that I established over the first winter upon my arrival at Glen Echo was to build a greenhouse and grow our own plant material for our grounds.  Below is a video I made explaining the process we use here at Glen Echo and the work it takes to grow the plants that you will see in the various ornamental planting areas around the club.

By the way, our annual plant sale will be at the maintenance building on Saturday, May 10th from 9-11a.m. for those interested in purchasing plants.  You may charge your club account for these purchases.

Tree Planted

We planted a new Sugar Maple in the area near 15 tee and 10 rough where the Siberian Elm had died this past season.

It is planted a little further from the tee so it will not encroach on the growth of the tee.

Greens aeration completed

Just a trace of rain last night and no frost allowed us to complete aerating of greens 10-14 today.