Spring Operations Around the Grounds

 

Turfgrass Challenges:

The winter and early spring seasons are a great time to evaluate the turfgrass across the property with many plants displaying distinct characteristics.  The putting greens are exhibiting the many types of creeping bentgrasses present. All of these different grasses perform different and exhibit different challenges from increase susceptibility to plant diseases to poor heat tolerance, both of which require increased labor, chemicals and poor playability. The yellow turf in the rough are the high populations of Annual Bluegrass which requires significantly more water and chemicals to survive the summer months. Unfortunately, the roughs at Hyde Park have populations higher than 50 percent of Annual Bluegrass. The ideal turf in the rough is Turf Type Fescue.  

Left: Annual Bluegrass Rough/ Right: Multiple types of bentgrass 

Bryan Miller, Site Preparation for the Princeton Elm 

Princeton Elm Preparation-:

The ailing Pin Oak was removed from the pavilion area, oddly enough when removing the stump we found out this location had a second stump in the same area. The new Princeton Elm that will be planted in early April will be the 3rd tree is this location. Bryan Miller, has been working hard at the site preparation with the install of 20 yards of new soil along with updated irrigation and future lighting. He will work closely with the nursery to make sure this tree is installed correctly, this will be a challenging task as the rootball of the new Elm will be 4000lbs! 

Jared Marshall, Turfgras Intern 

Grounds Team:

We are excited that are friends from Mexico will be joining our team for another season, we have been fortunate to navigate the many challenges of the H2-B guest worker visa program. Many of these folks have been part of our seasonal workforce for 7 years! Also, we are excited to have two turfgrass interns this season. Jared Marshall joins us from The University of Tennesse and Ross Greenwood will arrive in April from Wales. Our intern program has allowed us to develop our team within and has produced many leaders in the industry. 

Silt Contamination Noted in Dark Areas

Bunkers:

The 18-year old bunkers continue to be a challenge with contaminated sand and inconsistencies in playability. Over the winter, the grounds team added 400 tons of new sand to try to improve the playability. Albeit a short term work around until a long term solution is adopted. The bunkers will continue to play differently with the amount of silt contaminated sand and failing drainage.

Late August Ideal Timing to Plant New Seed 

New Rough Seeding Trials:

Last season we engaged in a couple trials to see the differences between late august seedings on the 15th hole (ideal) vs late October seedings (not so ideal) when the golf season is winding down, The goal was to see if we would be able to accomplish a late seeding and have it ready for play in the spring. The results: 15 looks great with an excellent stand of Turf Type Fescue and is very playable. On the flip-side the right side of the second hole will require more time to grow-in with limiting cart traffic. In order to produce a consistent playable rough with reducing inputs of water, chemicals and labor the Annual Bluegrass needs to be removed and Turf Type fescue needs to be planted during the ideal seeding dates of late August.

Late October- Not Ideal Timing to Plant New Seed

Thanks again for the feedback and questions on the course, we look forward to seeing you out on the course. If you have any questions please email us at grounds@hydeparkcc.com

Thank-you,

Pat O'Brien 

Grounds Superintendent 

Plant Diversity at Hyde Park- Bryan Miller

Plant Diversity

Earlier in the month, I had the opportunity to attend the Tri-State Green Industry Conference. The main topic of conversation was plant diversity. I was happy to sit in on the lectures and learn that what we have been doing here at the club over the last several years is what the industry as a whole is starting to practice. And that is plant diversity. Gone are the days of planting a single or just a handful of species of trees and plants. There has been a lot of research done over the years that show the more plant diversity you have, the fewer pest that are introduced into the landscape. Dutch Elm Disease, Emerald Ash Borer, just to name a few, wiped out single species of trees  and left huge voids in the landscape due to lack of diversity. We can break down the landscape into two categories, simple and complex. Simple landscapes being those with a lack of or very few species, and complex having an abundance of plant species. The simpler the landscape, the more pest presence and potential for more crop loss. The more complex, the less pest presence. More diversity is being presented in a complex landscape offering less of a single species to a pest and the potential of it being wiped out. Shown below is some of the data presented by Dan Herms of OSU, and Paula Shrewsbury and Mike Raupp of the University of Maryland.

The past 50 to 100 years, tree diversity out on the course has been lacking. As evidenced by the oaks and maples being to the two main species of trees out there. Over the past few years that has changed, with the introduction of the following species, with more to come over the years: Tilia (Linden), Cercis (Red Bud), Betula (Birch), Ulmus (Elm), Ginko, Robinia (Locust), Zelkova. Those are just the trees. Around the clubhouse, for years, it was boxwoods, taxus, and viburnum. At current count, we have approximately 30 different shurbs and ornamental grasses, 10+ different perennials, and in the summer time over 60 different kinds of annuals. These range from flowering trees like Magnolias and Crape Myrtles to flowering shrubs such as Spirea and Butterfly bush. Perennails like Cone Flower and hardy Hibiscus to annuals in likes of Gomphrena and Lantana.

Right around Christmas 2022, we were hit with significant sub zero temperatures that many of the plants around here have never seen. Hardy or not, the effects of those temps show in many of the plants, broadleaf evergreens being hit harder than others. Most appear to have survived, just severe winter burn shown in the browning and or dropping of leaves. But there is hope, these plants do have fresh buds beginning to appear and plenty of green tissue. Some will need a good pruning like the Schip Laurels while others will just leaf out like nothing ever happened. With the good comes the bad, and while minimal is the best you can hope for, there were some plant casualties that will need to be replaced come spring time.

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions about anything, feel free to stop me and ask or email me; bmiller@hydeparkcc.com

Cheers!
Bryan Miller, Horticulturist