Horticulture Corner

It has been quite the summer, weather wise, in the plant world. Unseasonably hot and rainy May/June, dry spell and mid to upper 90s to start off July, and unseasonably cool temps to close out July. Needless to say, it has been a tough year to get all of the new landscaping that is part of the legacy construction established. That being said, overall, new plant material is doing quite well. There are some standout performers such as the Ruby Falls Weeping Redbuds, Beebalm(Monarda), and the Russian Sage(Perovskia). Others are a little slower to get established, but once they get through this first year they'll begin to fill in the landscape. It's always tough to get a new landscape, especially one of this size, established, no matter what the conditions are, but it is a great learning experience to see what plants respond to certain conditions compared to others.

South side construction continues to move along. As the site progresses, the landscaping design continues to be evaluated and adjusted according. One area that will modified from the original design is the hillside surrounding the tennis courts. The slope of the hill is too severe to plant anything on. It has been seeded and covered with a straw blanket. This will help with erosion on the hillside and make for a nice turf area once established. Details on where to locate planter boxes around the paddle area has also begun. Much like the old paddle/tennis area, the new area will also have planter boxes and window boxes to bring the area together.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to stop me and ask. Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Bryan Miller, Horticulturist

@HPGCCPlantman

 

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Around the Grounds

The summer of 2018, is proving to be a challenge for turf managers across the country. In the Ohio Valley, a slow start to the spring did not allow for significant root growth, followed by a foot of rain in May and June and finally a 3 week period of a lack of rainfall with over 30 days over 90 and nightime temperatures in the high 70's did not allow for much recovery for the Turfgrass plants. So far, the staff has done an excellent job on the course while being involved in the Legacy project on a daily basis.

Rough Renovation Trials:

One of the most deficient areas on the course are the multiple types of turfgrasses in the rough, with high populations of Annual Bluegrass the inputs and consistency are a challenge. The grounds team, in the coming weeks will apply a non-selective herbicide between 11 green and 10 fairway followed by seeding of a mono stand of turf type tall fescue to determine if these techniques could be used in a wide scale renovation in the rough areas.

 

Legacy:

The "grow-in" of the practice area continues to move well even considering the weather conditions. The new putting green has excellent density and we are slowly lowering mowing heights. Significant gains in quality should be noticed in late August and September when the days become cooler and shorter.

The bentgrass tee, with multiple rain events is behind the rest of the areas, we finally have an OK stand of turf to work with, along with additional drainage we should make some headway over the coming weeks.

The Zoysia grass tee and target greens continue to move in a positive direction, in the coming weeks we will continue to lower mowing heights, aerate the tee and make herbicide applications.

Our timetable to open the Practice area is not clear at the moment, it will be determined by the progression of the construction and and turf health. For updates please follow us on twitter @pobrienhpgcc or the grounds blog.

Thank-you,

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent

 

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