April Showers

Over the past 2 weeks we have received a total of 4 inches of rain. The first rain showers of the previous week were needed as we were actually very dry.  That 1 inch of rain was soon soaked up by the ground and we were able to mow greens and fairways this past Sunday. 

The remaining 3 inches of rain came this past week between Tuesday and Thursday.  Of which, 2.5 inches was over a one day period.  Heavy rainfalls such as this result in swollen ponds and additional water hazards on the course. 

2 pond from Entrance drive

Path behind 11grn/10T

2 pond looking toward the green from left rough.

2 pond looking toward the Hamlet parking lot.

Propane Tank Movement

Last Wednesday we moved our propane tank that supplies the heaters in our main building at the grounds department. We did this too improve parking for our equipment during the day. The 1,000 gallon tank was moved from the west side of the building to the east side with help of an excavator. A trench was also dug for the gas supply line which was later installed by our propane supplier.

Each year we make improvements to our facilities to increase our operating efficiency and this project will definitely help with that.

Spring (Still feels like winter) Work

After the coldest March on record we have only been able to spend the last week and a half outside. Stumps leftover from the tree trimming/removal project were ground down and a portion of last week was spent cleaning up the grindings. We began filling them with topsoil at the end of last week and will finish the job this week.

Stick cleanup is at the top of our priority list at the moment and it will continue into next week.

MSU Turf Update

3-11-2013

 

Attempting to Prevent Ice Damage to Poa annua Greens Crown hydration followed by the crowns being crushed It is that time of year again when the snow is melting and the potential for ice damage may be occurring. Every year it seems that ice formation on Poa annua greens causes turf loss in some part of Michigan, with last year being the exception. The ice damage is referred to as crown hydration and believed to be caused by the Poa annua plants breaking dormancy early and taking up water, then when the temperatures drop at night, ice crystals form in the crown killing the plant. Most of the time the soil in the entire green is saturated following snow melt. While all the P. annua plants in the green take up water and the crowns become hydrated, only the plants in the area where the ice reforms die. The creeping bentgrass plants, which do not break dormancy early, have dehydrated crowns that are not as susceptible to being crushed by the reformation of the ice. So far, I do not see a problem as the Poa annua has not broken dormancy, but it will only take a few days in the 60’s for this to occur. As the snow melts and puddles of water form on the greens, it would be wise to remove as much of the standing water as possible. Good luck, and let’s hope it turns out to be an ice damage-free Spring. J. M. Vargas Jr. Professor, MSU   The message you received and any attachments may contain confidential, proprietary or privileged information and are only for their intended recipient(s). Do not, directly or indirectly, use, disseminate, distribute, alter or copy the message. No confidentiality or privilege is waived by errant delivery. E-mail transmissions cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late, incomplete, or contain viruses. Therefore, the sender, The Michigan Turfgrass Foundation, and their officers, directors, employees, affiliates, and agents (collectively, the "Michigan Turfgrass Foundation") do not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of the message.

 

http://www.michiganturfgrass.org/       miturfgrass@gmail.com      P: 517-392-5003

CH Bar Project

The clubhouse bar project is in full swing. The bar opening has been widened. The men's bathroom is getting a much needed facelift and the new fireplace is installed.

Eviction Notice....

Our tree trimming project this year was primarily focused on the removal of dead or declining trees.  Most of the work was centered around the new holes (5-8).

However, one of the trees we removed was a failing sugar maple right of 18 approach, near the cart path.  The top of the tree has been gone for a number of years and rotten wood and a few branches were left behind.  But, Nick Conklin (Conky) and I never anticipated we were cutting down someone's home.

Needless to say the resident raccoon was a bit shook up.  So, being the good Samaritans that we are, we moved the log and the occupant to an area out of our way and went about our work.  The next morning the log was empty.

 

Disclaimer:  No animals were harmed during the filming of this blog.  :)

Tree Trimming 2013

Part of our winter routine is usually tree trimming and removal.  We are just finishing up a two week project with a 65 foot lift and a small track loader.  The lift allows us to prune or remove branches near the top of the tree.  In some situations the removal of a tree is needed and the location doesn't allow for a normal tree felling or "tree dropping".  An example of this would be near a green, tee or fairway.  So, we use the lift to tie a rope to a limb then run the rope through a crotch in the tree.  The other end of the rope is connected to a tractor or, in this case, a track loader.  After the limb is cut it swings down, the rope tightens and the limb is slowly lowered to the ground by the track loader.  The result is no damage to the turf.  We repeat the process until the tree is at a manageable height to which we can perform a normal felling while minimizing damage to the turf.

We perform this work "in house" and all of the necessary safety equipment are used throughtout the process.  This includes chainsaw chaps, helmets, hearing protection, eye protection and most importantly, while in the lift, a safety harness is used.