Dead Spruce

It was another cold day here at Blue Hills Country Club. Although it's cold there's work that needs to be done and so the Blue Hills Crew tackled another tree project this morning. If you have been out on the golf course lately you might have noticed there was a dead spruce behind 3 green. The tree itself was very tall, close to 80 feet tall, but it was as dead as they come. The branches were slowly breaking off in the presence of bad weather and there was nothing that was going to save this tree. So, we took it upon ourselves to cut down the tree and put it through the chipper.

Twice As Bad, or Better?

This week at Blue Hills, the maintenance crew kept busy by cutting down and chipping up another tree that posed a problem agronomically as well as to the golfers. This tree in particular was located directly behind the right fairway bunker on number 18. The tree was close enough to the fairway that it posed a problem to the turf, but mainly we felt like the tree created an additional hazard, or a "double jeopardy" to golfers that were to land inside the bunker. The difficulty of shot would be hard out of the bunker, but it would be even more difficult to hit the shot out of the bunker and trying to avoid the tree as well. This is the first hole that was decided in this fashion, we will be looking at other holes/trees that have a similar setup throughout the winter months.

Dead Wood

These last few years we have been really working on cleaning out the canopy of the trees on our golf course. This winter we are continuing the process by cleaning out all the dead wood that has appeared in a lot of our oak trees. We contracted out a crew to come in and climb those tall oak trees. These climbers are professionals, they are able to climb the trees without spikes on their shoes so the trees aren't damaged during the process. They will start from the top working their way down the tree removing all the dead wood that is visible. The process should take only a few weeks since they are only concentrating their efforts on the oaks. Our crew then will come in later and limb up any maple trees that need it as well. This process is necessary for the health of the tree by severing off any portion of the tree that is dead. This will help keep unwanted insects from penetrating and entering those wounded areas and damaging the tree further.

Stump Grinding 101

This week our team completed phase two of our tree removal project. This phase involves grinding of the stump. This is accomplished by operating a heavy piece of machinery known as a stump grinder, which tears up the stump into little wood chips. These wood chips are then removed by hand in preparation for phase three. Phase three will involve bringing in topsoil to back fill the hole that was created from stump grinding. After back filling the hole we will then sod cut the area and prep for sod.
Click the video for a stump grinding experience.

Let it Shine, Let it Shine

          This week we removed a tree behind 17 green. This mature pin oak looked healthy and seemed to be out of the way in terms of affecting our golf course. Since the tree was so tall, it casted a large shadow on the south end of the green. During the winter months this is problematic especially during a snow event. The sun can't penetrate through the branches of the tree because of the sun angle being lower in the sky as compared to the summer months when the sun is higher. This will cause the snow to sit long periods of time on the surface, the same is true when it comes to frost. When looking at the pictures you will also notice that the tree, although looked healthy, it was beginning to rot from the inside out. This of course wasn't our intention, because it didn't show any signs of rot from the outside, but it goes to show what most of our mature trees might be experiencing on our golf course.

Removal of Rotted Trees

So far this winter, the Blue Hills Country Club turf team has been doing a lot of tree work. We have recently removed a tree at the beginning of the fairway on the right side of #15, as you can see in the pictures the tree was rotted out. With the tree rotting out fast it becomes a safety hazard and with any big gust of wind it could of came down.

Fall Leaves

The past few weeks have been keeping our blowers and mowers pretty busy. The colder temperatures with the early morning frosts have caused the majority of the leaves on our trees to drop. A drawback of having mature pin oaks, maples, and ash trees is all the leaves that they produce.  We do our best to manage all of these downed leaves by using our buffalo blowers in combination with our rough units to mulch the leaves. Spending a whole day blowing usually cleans up the course well enough to experience playable conditions for that day. This is an ongoing process and there will be an end in sight in the coming weeks. 

Raising the Canopy

This fall the Blue Hills Turf Crew began another tree project involving the removal of dead limbs, raising the tree canopy, and overall removal of dead decaying trees. We began the project towards the start of November by removing a few dead trees like the cluster of crab apples near hole number 4 tee box. There was another crab apple that was struggling on number 18 about 120 yards out from the green. We removed a few bigger trees that were beginning to grow hollow and already decaying towards the top of the tree. A few examples are the ash tree on the left side of 18 and another one on the right side around 250 yards out. Then we took a look and removed the two maples on the right side of 7 fairway behind the right bunker. These decisions will only benefit the turf health and possibly a few golf shots out on the golf course. We will be assessing more trees throughout the winter months and will make a decision whether those trees will need to be removed as well.

Clear Shot from the Forward Tee

The creation of the forward tee on 17 has opened up new possibilities for golfers. What was once a dog leg right is now a more approachable straight/slight curve for our golfers. However, when creating the forward tee there were limited locations for placement. The decision for the tee's final position left a problematic left side for golfers off the tee box. A Pin Oak hugging the left side of the fairway just in front of the tee box made it hard for golfers to hit a drive off the tee without disruption from the tree. Hence, the tree removal that the Blue Hills maintenance staff finished just this past week.

Not only will the removal of the tree help golfers hit a cleaner shot off the tee, but will also help with the growth and development of the zoysia tee box. The large tree projected a lot of shade over the tee box which was restricting optimal growth potential.

Reclaiming our Fairways

The BHCC crew has continued working on improving our turfs health by managing trees in the New Year. There were two problem areas on 18 that needed to be addressed. The first problem was a dead silver maple just North of the fairway bunker on the right side. The death of a large tree has a potential to decay near the base, allowing it to become unstable and unpredictable. The best course of action was to remove the tree and any potential danger it possessed. The next tree in question was located just West of the fairway bunker on the left side. This Oak tree posed two issues and it was determined that removal was the optimal solution. The first issue was the inherent mess that comes with Pin Oaks over hanging sand traps. The falling acorns make it impossible to maintain a playable hazard. The next issue is related to course layout. With the proximity to the fairway bunker and the fairway itself, the large oak made the left side of the approach shot a nightmare for golfers of all handicaps.

Winter Tree Work

The BHCC grounds crew has been keeping very busy during the winter months. Our goal has always been to provide our members with healthy turf and ultimately a well manicured playing surface. We were able to take significant strides this winter by improving the quality of both our Zoysia fairways and Fescue rough by spending time on our trees. Our first step was to remove dead limbs and thin out all of the trees on the front nine. This process took a couple of months, but it was well worth the agronomic benefits. By removing dead limbs, we are not only encouraging healthy new growth, we are also allowing more air flow and sunlight to penetrate to the turfgrass below. This will inevitably create a healthy turf stand, allowing it to become more dense and retain natural nutrients.The following pictures were taken before and after the process on hole #6.