GECC Plant Sale May 13th

The annual Glen Echo CC Plant Sale will be Saturday May 13th from 9 to 11 at the maintenance building. Plants can be charged in the usual manner. Might not have every Plant Becky has grown from babies but she will have a nice supply for you to chose from!

 

Spring Color in the Ornamental Pots

Horticulturist Becky was busy this past week planting the numerous pots around the facility.

 

Varieties in the large pot on The Pearson Plaza and other areas include Gerbera, Dianthus, Lobelia,Snapdragons, Agyrathemum, Stock, Margurite Daisy, Osteospermum, and Kale.

Greenhouse Plant Sale Tomorrow Saturday May 7th

Greenhouse Plant Sale will be tomorrow, Saturday May 7th from 9-11 at the maintenance building below the first tee box. Becky will be here to help with your selections for this year. All plants can be charged to your account in the usual manner. Some but not all of the plants in the picture will be available based on Becky's needs for the course this season. She is just beginning to plant on property.

Rejuvinated Ornamental Bed Next to Clubhouse Almost Ready For Plants

First, quick announcement. Annual plant sale will be on Saturday May 7th from  9-11 at the maintenance building. We won't have every plant available for sale that is in the greenhouse now but we will have a nice cross section of plants available. Your plants can be charged in the usual manner as you do your other purchases at the club.

Its taken us a couple of weeks to get the bubble bed near ready for planting for Becky but we are close. I like to have slightly raised beds for the following reasons; It provides for better drainage and helps to separate the bed from the surrounding turf area. Our process included the following

•  Dig up the old plants and spray out some of the creeping plants
•  Till the existing bed
•  Dig up the sprinkler heads so they can be raised
•  Haul in new topsoil to raise the level of the bed
•  Place a layer of black gold compost over the top
•  Till it all up again, heads raised, plants removed
•  All that's left is to smooth it out and install the plants

The old bed planted at what is now ground level

Plants ripped out, dug out

Soil hauled in and you can see hole in foreground from sprinkler head area. Probably hauled in about 10 yards of soil, around one dump truck load. Individual piles at a time which had to be hand spread.

How that make it in there. LadyBug in the early days at Glen Echo when she would get fired up, grab a stick, fling it in the air and run around like a crazy girl

Black gold on top of the bed and raised grad of the bed

Finish tilling in the compost and mixing soil together. Need to clean up the edges, smooth out the soil so that surface water will drain from the building out onto the turf area.

Weather Stats for March, Water Line Repair/Cart Path Repair, Ornamental Bed Rejuvenation and More

The very nice weather stats for March.

MONTHLY RECORDS

9TH WARMEST MARCH ON RECORD

TIED 2ND LEAST NUMBER OF OCCURRENCES OF MINIMUM TEMPERATURE LESS
THAN OR EQUAL TO 32 DEGREES

DAILY RECORDS

3/8...RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 63 PREVIOUSLY 62 IN 1974

3/15...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 82 PREVIOUSLY 81 IN 2012

Temperature
                                    Observed      Normal Value    Departure from Normal  Last Year

High                                 62.5                   55.9                           6.6                            57.2
Low                                  43.6                   36.6                           7.0                            35.6
Average                            53.0                  46.3                            6.7                           46.4

Precipitation

Rainfall                             2.29"                3.32"                        -1.03"                       3.0"

Snowfall                              .3"                  2.3"                          -2.0"                          .6"



The short range grass tee is now open. Long range tee will be another week or so. Short range tee is built on sand which allows it to warm quicker and begin growing and repairing itself a little faster. Long range also sits in a hole and its definitely colder down here but it is looking good.

The staff repaired the water line for the water fountain on #14 yesterday. The leak was directly in the middle of the cart path. They cut the asphalt out and were able to locate the leak about 15" underground and made the repairs pretty quickly.

Tom and Jason down to the dirt.

Leaking metal line on the right side of the picture.

Skip touching up the new asphalt patch.

Russ packing and smoothing the newly laid asphalt.

At the top of hill of #7 about 50 yards from the green  significant bump that developed over the last year or so in the cart path. The boys cut out the asphalt and patched the area to make it smooth again. Also at the main road and 7 cart path, we have had the little path blocked off that goes up the right side of the hole. We are eliminating this cart road because of the wear and tear it creates at the beginning and up the right side of the fairway for at least 50 yards. Excessive cart traffic weakens the zoysia. We used the asphalt saw to cut a small walk path for our walking golfers to continue to use. We will be picking up the asphalt next week and will fill the area with soil and fescue sod next week. We will be placing Ornamental wood stakes with rope along the main road to block cart traffic from entering this area. We are requesting that carts use the left path and then cross the fairway. 

Russ tamping the new repair on hole 7.

Finished

The arrows point to the new path that will be for walkers only. Rope and stakes will be used to direct carts to the left path on #7 near the red tee. Excessive wear at the beginning of the fairway from cart traffic is the reason for the changes.

Becky has designed a new planting scheme for the Bubble Ornamental Bed. The existing bed was a bit overgrown and tired and was in need of some attention. I pulled the plant material out today, we will be tilling the area, adding soil, changing the shape of the bed, adjusting irrigation as needed, till in compost for the new bed and plant it all hopefully within the next week. Some of the perennials she planned are still growing in the greenhouse and will be delayed in their installation until they are mature enough to plant.

Plants removed and now empty.

You will notice some additional sod work was completed by the staff early this week. Areas repaired include the drive off near 8 green just short of the bunker. The left fairway bunker on #5 needed some replacement. There was an area to the ornamental planting as you come down the hill toward the first tee. Trees have been removed in this area but rough mowers and roughed up this spot pretty significantly over the last few years. This area had soil added and new sod. A few other spots were completed as well like the walk off area near 17. We used 480 yards of fescue sod in the last 2 weeks. 

Fairways and all tees were mowed early in the week. Yes it will be cold Friday night but I don't expect the temperatures will be cold enough to stop the green growth in our warm season grass.

Greens continue to heal but these cold temperatures have not done us any favors. I did roll a few balls on the putting green today and our ball roll is improving noticeably since we have been able to mow a couple of times this week. We mowed and rolled today and will roll the greens again in the morning if the frost stays away and greens aren't damp. Warmer temperatures next week with early week rain should continue to move them in the right direction.

Spring Urns/Pots/Ideas For Your Home

As we mentioned at last weekends gardening event, Becky is preparing pots for the spring season. She just received a shipment in and I thought I would take a few pictures of the items she is using this season. These plants come in fully grown and ready to plant. You can also include some bulbs and pansies in your pots as well. We usually keep these in place until the end of May, early June depending upon the weather. Some years we hate to pull them out because they are spectacular but you have to get the summer items in. This is one of the many reasons why I am thankful Becky is here because of the work required and the plant selections for the pots. She will do a third transition in these plantings for the fall as well.

Gazania

Mixed Mesculin Lettuce mix for interest and leaf color.

Lobelia

Dianthus

Snapdragon

Asparagus Fern

Osteospermum

Alyssum

Primrose

Osteospermum

Osteospermum

How Does Your Garden Grow? Very Nicely I Must Say Here At Glen Echo

How does your garden grow is a presentation taking place this Saturday by our very own horticulturist Becky Edwards. Becky does outstanding work on our grounds and will give here insight into her work at Glen Echo. She will provide you with professional advice on how to transition what she does at Glen Echo to your landscape and or patio at home. I know my bride will want me to pay close attention since I need to finish off the front landscape of our home.

Sounds like its going to be a wet week with not much work being able to be accomplished outside. Come to the club and have some lunch before and a glass of wine or cocktail during the event or lunch at the end whichever you prefer.             

Please sign up on the club website so we can plan for proper seating for this event. 

What Is The Landscape Fund?

New multiple bed planting near pro shop

Years ago a fee was approved to charge members $25 once per year which was placed in the Tree Fund. As the years have progressed, our landscape has become dominated by trees and the need for trees has been reduced. The fund is now called the Landscape Fund and is being used to rejuvenate existing ornamental plantings on the property, planting trees as the need arises, and establishing new beds.

Over the past couple of years, we have built new beds at 13 tee, the pro shop, planted 10 trees on property, established a new screen planting at 6 green and expanded/replaced two of the plantings at the back patio. Since the start of 2015, we have spent $5,000 to construct the planter boxes on the veranda,  the new construction/planting at the pro shop and purchased the limestone planter for the Pearson Plaza. This fall or next spring we intend to improve the Sun-room planting bed.(we call it the bubble). Becky, our horticulturist and I agree that the Principals of Landscape Design should be emphasized and our focus should be on year round interest in our beds emphasizing form, variety, and sequencing. We hope this will provide greater enjoyment for you and the many guests who attend events at the club throughout the year.

Upon my arrival in 2008 at the club, the landscape around 9 lake with the Woodland Garden on the dam side of the lake and the ornamental planting of the tee side were overgrown with weeds. Since that time we have made efforts to improve this area which is the largest total continuous planting at the club. Becky has moved plants from other beds as we've replaced plants and has worked hard at weed control. In an effort to reduce costs, we utilize chipped tree limbs that have been ground up from our property. Since this area has highly visible by both our members and guests, it is important that this area look its best.

This fall/winter, we intend to start a tree nursery behind the 17th green. My thoughts are that we would establish 6-8 trees in this area which will be used to grow trees for 5-10 years and then contract with a company with a large spade to move these trees to areas where trees trees are significantly aged or compromised. A golf course architect, superintendent and green committee will be involved in the placement of these trees and a majority of trees planted in the future at this club. Our goal is to keep green and tee complexes in as much full sun as possible and to improve sunlight to fairways whenever possible. Some of this work can be completed by not fence lining trees but staggering trees so light can enter these areas for longer periods of time.  Also understanding the path of the sun in all seasons and the shape and size of grown trees is important so that turf grass and trees can co-habituate peacefully without a caretaker like myself wanting to remove the offending party!
Placing 80' trees on the east and western exposure of a fairway will lead to a shaded and weakened fairway. You will wonder why there is very weak zoysia and I will be praying for lightning to help me remove the tree.

New planter box on the veranda

Greenhouse Plant Sale

Little slow on the trigger this season but our greenhouse plant sale will be on Saturday, May 9th from 9-11 a.m. at the maintenance building. We will have a few more perennials available this season and some other plants for you to add to your patio or landscape. For our newer members, most folks walk away with15-20 plants or more to fill some pots or a planting bed. Most products will be in 4" pots.  Plants are only available during the sale. We are in the process of moving plants out of the greenhouse to harden off as we prepare to plant. Plants will be sitting out and are not set out for purchase or removal without authorization.  We will charge your account in the usual manner as your other purchases at the club. Proceeds from this event help to support the horticulture program at our club which is continueing to expand with the hard work of our horticulturist Becky Edwards.

Why do we take the time to grow our own products some might ask? There are a number of reasons;

• We save money and cash is king for us at this time. It does take labor to pot the materials but we are already here working. Yes there is some water and heating costs but we purchase material at extremely low prices based even on wholesale pricing if we bought them already grown from a local nursery.
• We are able to purchases varietys of plants that local growers do not grow. Unique and different plants are not available at most local growers. They produce for the masses and you are stuck with what they grow.
• In the end, I like to grow plants. Well, Becky grows the plants now but our group is willing to take on any task that we can to help with improving your experience at the club.When you bring guests to the club, a majority of the plantings that you will see were grown from a very small size. I think many of you take pride in these efforts made on your behalf.

We are adding more work to Becky's plate this season with 7 new flower boxes on the Verandah with almost 40' of planting space on this great outdoor space at our club. We also decided to remove the strip of grass between the champions reserved parking and Mr. Ott's Clock. As mentioned in an earlier blog, the holly bushes along the parking lot were severly compromised in the winter of 2014.
We also expaned the plantings off of the main patio and the planting at 13 tee was new from late last summer. We've also added some plant material along the 6 green cart path which she will be monitoring.

Most of the plants in the pictures came from plugs but we have brought some partially grown material in to use for our pots and planters.

Middle view.

Some additional material. Becky reduced her overall purchases this season with the addition of some perennials which will be added to some of our spaces reducing the need of repeated annual installs.

First Mow, Planting Pots Waiting

We did a quick walk mow of the practice green after lunch today. We plan to roll and mow the rest of the greens in the next couple of days as conditions allow.

Becky is also preparing her 4" pots in preparation for plant plugs beginning to arrive this week.  She spaces arrivals over the next 3 weeks to give us time to get them planted.  They normally arrive on Wednesday and we want to make sure they are planted and in the greenhouse by the weekend.

Improvements to the Veranda(upper patio)

The Veranda(upstairs patio) has been pretty much void of color/greenery over the years.  From time to time we would place some pots up there but the space is very large in scale and the pots were too small to fill the space.

We've been in a carpentry mode so I contacted Becky a month or two ago about the potential of us building some planters that could make an impact in this area.  We evaluated it and thought it could provide great improvement to this under utilized area of the club.

The boxes will sit on the large brick/concrete railing around the outside of the veranda.  The planters will begin on the right as you walk out onto the patio.  The first will be 60" long. A second at the corner will be approximately 60" in total length, Three 69" boxes staggered above the willow room and Board Room and a 140" long spectacular double planter will be above what was the Family Room. The boxes will be 13" tall and 17" wide.  Substantial enough to grow nice sized plants and deep enough to prevent the soil from drying out too quickly during the heat of the summer.  We intend to place a automatic water system on each planter to assist Becky in managing these large planters.

The Veranda is a large space that is underutilized at the club.  We believe the boxes and the color of the plant material will not only enhance this area but will also give the clubhouse a great look from the course and or the Marvin Pearson Lane as members and guests drive toward the clubhouse.

Becky plants our urns and other pots on a 3 season schedule.  I think for this season, we will probably plant these for the summer season and will evaluate for additional seasonal plants after we've had a chance to determine what will work best.

Finished planter before staining.  They are 3" taller sitting on the table then what they will be on the railing.  We offset them 3" so the sides will overlap the rail providing some safety for the box as it sits on the wall of the patio.

Tom staining the box.  We used treated cedar to reduce the wood decaying prematurely.

No this is not a coffin, its the inside view of the planter.  60" long.  We lined to planter to protect from decay and also placed 3 drain holes in the bottom with hose attached to catch the water and drain it away from the brick/concrete so it does not stain it.  This planter will be above the ground patio.  We have 3-69" planters for the club lawn side as well as one two section planter which will be 70" a piece for a total of 140".  They should be spectacular. 

Skip and Jason working on the corner planter that will go above the ground patio.

That time of year, Deep-tine aeration planned for this Monday, October 26th.

In an effort to not disrupt ball roll out in the late summer/early fall, I delay greens aeration until the end of October.  Well, that day has arrived.  We will begin our greens aeration late Sunday afternoon 5 p.m. and throughout the day on Monday.  This process will involve the use of a heavy topdressing of our greens with sand, our Verti-drain deep tine aerator will then poke 9" deep 1/2" holes in our greens, a green profile builder with micronutrient package will be applied, blowing and brushing the sand in the holes and a final roll.  We will probably delay mowing greens for a few days to allow the sand to settle and the greens to growth through the sand layer.  I would expect to begin dry mowing late next week.  Within 10-14 days with the good weather predicted they should be back to normal.
We usually are not able to complete all of the greens in one day but will make every effort to complete as many as possible.  If we receive rain on Tuesday, we will leave the remaining greens until it is dry enough to complete.  Hopefully, this would only be maybe 16-18.  I will keep you updated on the blog and twitter on our progress so check out the twitter feed on the side of the blog main page.

This will also be the last weekend for practice off of the zoysia short range tee.  The zoysia has quit growing and any damage/divots made now will not heal.  In an effort to protect it from winter injury and delayed green up next season, we will be placing all stands on the mats beginning next Tuesday.  Your cooperation in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

The staff have been busy with leaf clean up this week from our Ash, Maple, Cottonwood and other early leaf dropping trees.  Two blowers, two rough mowers, 3-4 backpacks have been out regularly cleaning up playing areas.  Some days by the end of the day it appears that we have not done anything but that is our life in dealing with excess trees.   The real work will begin in a couple weeks when the Oaks begin to drop.

This is the last week for two of our seasonal employees Deron and Sam who have done a great job their first year out on the course.  Randy will be here the first week of November and will be laid off for the season as well.  Nick and Becky will be leaving at the end of November.  Great work as well.

Becky is busy with installing new plants in our beds for next spring with Pansies, Tulips and installation of new material in the two beds off of the patio area of the clubhouse.

Cool season tees, 2,3,10,11,14 were solid tine aerated as were the collars and cool season approaches of our greens.  Holes provide new areas for root growth, oxygen exchanged and compaction relief. Also provides water to penetrate and water to evaporate as nececcary for that particular area.

Ornamental Planting expansion behind clubhouse

The rear of the clubhouse is always a focus for our wedding parties and group gatherings here at
Glen Echo.  We have a couple of nice ornamental beds that are away from the building but they are to small to have four seasons of interest.  We are in the process of expanding the beds over the next few weeks.

Becky will be designing it with plants that will flower during the three growing seasons and will also have some architectural interest during the winter.  Becky ripped out the existing plants yesterday and has formed a new border.  I sprayed with a backpack selective and non-selective weed killer to reduce the competition of the bermuda grass.  We will strip out this material next week and will add soil, compost, expand the irrigation and it plants will be installed.  She will be adding more plants next spring and of course will have some splash of annuals for color next summer as well.

Light not the greatest but bed looked really good this season.

Plants removed and new outline with spray marking the area.

Very nice planting next to scoreboard but a little small.  Expanded border will allow for some structure to be placed in it  for off season interest.

Members entrance bed

As you walk into the members entrance, there is a bed to the left that was planted with ivy and vinca vine. Before construction of this area in 2012, there was an invasive weed that created issues for us.  When the beds were reworked, the weed of course was still alive.  It came up with a vengeance this season.  Too many to hand pull because once you pulled out one plant, vegetative parts were still in the ground which would then sprout.

We decided to spray over the top to chemically kill the weed.  It will probably ding the vines slightly but they should recover.

Becky allowed the weed to grow over the ivy and then lightly sprayed the weeds.

Pool plants for this season

Becky ordered in some larger hanging baskets for the pool area this season.  There are seven of them and they hold Dragon Wing pink and red begonias.  Should look really nice and the concrete planters have been growing as well for about two weeks.

Begonias ready to be hung up on the pergola.

The  pergola with seven new hanging baskets.

Right after planting from the greenhouse.  Details on the flower types at another time since I'm home and can't remember the varieties that Becky planted.  

Plant Sale Saturday May 10th

The plant sale will be held on Saturday, May 10th from 9-11 a.m. at the maintenance building. The greenhouse will be open but for viewing only. All plant material for sale will be in the maintenance building set up on tables.

When I first started the sale in 2009, I handled the ordering and installing all plant material. I figured many like to buy plants for their homes and I would have some extras available.  Why not share them with the members and the funds raised would offset the cost of growing the plants in the first place.  A win/win for everyone.  I ordered simpler varieties and a majority of the plants were grown in 6 pack flats and we would growing 6000 plants.  Would usually have an abundance of plants in some varieties. My bed planning was to buy the plants I liked and figure out a way to make them work.  Sometimes it worked, sometimes it did not.

Becky who now handles our horticulture program is just in the beginning stages of planting.  She now brings in a lot less plants per variety grown.  Most are grown in 4" pots but with many more varieties.  I believe 62 varieties totaling nearly 4000 plants this year.  As a horticulture professional, she has planned her combinations, estimated the number of plants she needs and then orders in the material in January.  As most home gardeners know, you might estimate and end up falling short or have too many plants. Some of the plants we ordered in to grow are not necessarily available from garden shops.  That is the dilemma she faces with making plants available for sale, especially since we are in the early stages of planting.  She spoke with me this morning regarding what she can make available and it sounds like a wide range of plants.

We will a number of items available for sale but will probably not have large quantities of any one item.  A number of unique species for containers or small plantings.  Accounts will be billed in the usual manner.  See you Saturday!