We have been busy with a number of projects this week in addition to preparing for the Ladies Dellwood/North Oaks/White Bear Challenge and for the Memorial Weekend Tournament.  Earlier this week we took down a large Cottonwood tree off the right side of #11 tee.  This tree was removed because it was encroaching on the tee shot from the Blue tee and for another small tee (for #11) that will be constructed near the Blue tee for #9. 

These are the before and after photos of the area.

Colleen our Head Gardener and her crew have been busy filling gardens with fresh annuals.

 

We also were able to move some shrubs we had taken out from behind the Pro Shop and use them along the pool parking lot.

Just in case you were wondering why your eyes might be itching, your throat was sore, or you couldn't stop sneezing.  These pictures below tell the story.  The photo on the left is a deposit of pollen that was produced after an irrigation cycle washed it down into a collection area on a cart path.  The photo on the right is not smoke but rather pollen being blown off of some Scotch Pine to the right of #15 tee.  Everyday when I leave work I have to run my wiper blades and some wiper fluid to take the layer of pollen off my windshield.  Now if that wasn't enough we are inundated with the cotton from the Cottonwood trees and the little helicopters (seeds) from the Maple trees are coming down in copious amounts.

There has been a lot going on this last week.  Here is a look at some activities that the maintenance staff is doing and some things we are seeing.

Last Thursday we had a rain day where it was difficult to do anything on the golf course.  We decided it would be a good day to tackle a little project around the clubhouse.  This landscape was getting a little unruley so we removed some plant material so the Proshop could see better and help give the area more depth by opening up some sight lines.  We also had some overdue trimming to do on the four trees.  This should allow the trees to get more air flow and be more health.

A number of trees on the golf course look either dead or very weak.  The two species of trees are the Ash and the Honeylocust.  The Ash's leaves are curling up and turning black and falling.  This is not Emerald Ash Borer it is a fungus known as Anthracnose (not Anthrax) that develops during cool, wet weather.  This is an added stress to the tree but does not kill the tree.  I have seen this a number of times in my 12 years at Dellwood.  The Honeylocust are just slow to leave out which is very typical for these trees.  Here is a link to a great tool for diagnosing problems with plant materials.  http://www.extension.umn.edu/gardeninfo/diagnostics/index.html

I have posted an update from the Department of Agriculture on this main page.

On the left is a picture of some Honeylocust to the right side of #9 fairway. The picture on the right is of some Green Ash to the right of #13 green. The photo above and on the left is of a lone Honeylocust next to the forward tee on #12.

Poa annua

Have you noticed patches of turf in the fairways starting to have a white or tan look to it.  If you have this is Poa annua or Annual Bluegrass that is starting to seed or to grow it's "inflorescence".

In the foreground you can see the change in color.

If you were to look at it from the side it looks like a small tree sticking up.

  This seed growth can take place throughout the summer but generally speaking late May and early June is when you see the large volumes of seed growth.  Typically, this marks the end of spring root growth as the plant is putting it's energy into seed production and top growth. 

Cart Traffic Reminders

As cart use is starting to pick-up I just wanted to send out a reminder to cart users about the need to keep carts away from tees and greens. We have again installed our green and white stakes in the approach to the greens. Please take carts back to the cart path once you approach these stakes.

Another reminder is please keep carts on the path when parking next to tees and greens. I'm not sure if we have it ingrained in our heads that we need to pull off to the side of the road. I use to think it was just golfers until I started to notice that I pull off onto the grass and so do my crew members.  If we follow these simple practices we can help keep the turf around the tees and greens in better shape. 

The second project we have been working on is grinding stumps and cleaning them up.  We contract to have the stumps ground and do the clean work ourselves.  The grinder has a 55hp engine and  makes quick work of your average sized stumps.   However, most of stumps were of the above average size.  It took the contractor over an hour to grind the stump next to the 1st green and another hour for the stump next to the 10th green.  In fact the Willow stump next to 10 was the biggest the contractor had ever worked on.

It will take us another week to finish cleanup and prep these areas for sod.  We try to use composted material that we have generated on-site to fill in these areas.  Generally, if the stump hole is very large we will put some fill material first and cap it with the compost.

Spring Projects

   This last week was filled with some of our early season projects. Because the weather has moderated and turf growth has slowed we have been able to knock out some "to do's". The first project was edging of our bunkers. This can be a time consuming job as the elements over the winter tend to migrate the sand into the bottom of the bunkers.

The first step is to cut an edge around the bunker. We try to remove as little material as possible so the bunkers don't get larger every year. Once that is cleaned up the sand depth is checked throughout the bunker to figure out where the sand needs to be moved.  Then using the bunker rake with a blade attachment is used to push the sand into the areas that are deficient.

As this is taking place a couple of people take landscape rakes and spread the sand out evenly by hand. 

 

The finishing touch to the process is raking the bunker smooth using the bunker rake for the bulk area and hand raking the edges.