Early Landscape Bed Maintenance

Despite the persistent cold weather, some perennial materials are starting to pop up.  Getting mulch down now is much easier than after plant material has fully emerged. 

Snow and Ice Removal

How's the golf course?

Recently there has been a lot of talk around the subject of how golf courses in our area are handling this extremely hard winter.  The answer is that nobody knows yet for sure.  For the past three days our staff at Walnut Creek has been working extremely hard at removing snow and ice from the greens.  The hard questions that Superintendents face in the winter are "should we remove snow and ice"...and if that answer is yes, then "when?".  Some may ask, "why wouldn't you remove snow and ice all year long?" The answer is that the possibility of mechanical damage from snow/ice removal poses a risk that is sometimes greater than just leaving it alone.  Most winters have freeze and thaw cycles which will remove the snow and ice but this winter has not been that way.  The decision to finally remove the snow/ice from our greens came from the extended forecast showing a warming trend in daytime highs coupled with below freezing temps at night. With the projected forecast, and with as many days as the greens have been under ice cover, snow and ice are now being removed.

Spreading black sand to soak up heat and cut channels through the ice.  Plants will suffocate under extended ice cover.

The goal for removing the heavy snow is to decrease ice cover that lies beneath.  Annual bluegrass, our predominant turf surface, is believed to be able to survive under solid ice for around 45 to 90 days. Southeast Detroit is now hovering around 70 days with this type of ice cover. With the warm daytime highs coming this week and below freezing nights, removing the snow will give the greens a time to melt any ice that was formed on the surface and move off the green while not allowing new ice to accumulate.  This will give the greens a chance to breath which in turn will increase the probability of turf survival.

Snow/ice melting away on 2 North green.

Michigan State University professors recently posted a letter which also describes the current conditions in Southeast Detroit and expectations for spring. Please feel free to read it at the following link: http://www.migcsa.org/uploads/Winterkill-Letter-2014.pdf

Sea Wall Update

The Redi-Rock sea wall is now complete!  Construction of the wall was delayed many times because of weather this winter but we were able to take advantage of a few good days and wrap it all up. When the ground thaws we will finish the details and cleanup that we're unable to tackle now.  Below are photos of the project from start to finish.  When the cleanup and sodding is done this spring we will post a few more pictures.  

Step 1: 12 inches of ice was broken up to be able to reach the pond edge!

Step 2: Line approximately 4 feet of the pond bottom and all of the pond edge with geotextile fabric.  This stabilizes the pond edge from erosion and also prepares it for the crushed stone base.  Metal stakes hold the fabric in place while the crushed stone is added.

Step 3: Adding the crushed stone base.  A laser transit was used to ensure the proper depth of crushed stone was added for a base as it was under water and not visible.

Step 4: Begin setting base blocks

Blocks are chained and lowered into place with an excavator while another crew member makes sure it's perfectly leveled before the next block goes in.

Doing the project in the winter was very important because the ground was frozen and the use of heavy equipment didn't cause any damage. In this photo, the excavator is sitting on the front of 4 North green above 12 inches of packed snow! 

Step 5: Once the blocks are in place, crushed stone is added behind the blocks and compacted for drainage and stability.

Construction of the wall is complete. Detail work (Step 6) remains to be done in the spring with the ground thaws. 

Turning Old Into New!

Granite is a very porous material and stains easily.  Over time, our tee markers have aged and become stained on every side that wasn't seal coated originally.We attempted to clean the granite with many different

Yellowed granite is easily cleaned using a sand blaster

chemical products but nothing worked.  The solution came from sand blasting using a very fine grit sand. Each tee markers can be sand blasted to look like new in under 3 minutes!  After sand blasting, the granite surface is sealed to better withstand weather, use, and natural aging.  For the relatively small investment of $200 to purchase a sand blasting cabinet, all of the tee markers will look brand at the start of the season in 2014 and match beautifully with the new hole markers!

2014 Preparations

It’s no secret to anyone living in Michigan that this winter has been incredibly snowy and cold.  According to USA Today, Detroit has received 48.6 inches of snow to date this year when the normal average for an entire winter here is 42.7 inches.  Hopefully everyone has a great snow blower because we still have two more months of winter left!  I think I can comfortably say that everyone’s ready for some sunshine, warm weather, and golf!

All of our staff remains busy even beyond snow clearing by continuing to trim low hanging tree branches across the property.  The North course is complete and we’re now busy tackling the West course.

BEFORE

AFTER

In the shop, Hector has been very busy servicing all our equipment and preparing for the 2014 season.  Part of preparing for this coming season was eliminating inefficiencies from 2013, by building custom trailers for hauling push mowers, weed whips, and backpack blowers.  The need for this trailer was due to the difficulty of loading and hauling these tools in the bed of our John Deere Gators as well as safety for employees.  Last summer we noticed that a lot of time was lost by loading and unloading these tools from the bed of a cart because they didn’t fit well and the mowers were awkward and heavy to lift.  Hector built the first of two custom trailers last week and it turned out great.  The small equipment can now be safely loaded, unloaded, and hauled across the property.

Winter Weather Delays

The Redi-Rock wall continues to be delayed due to mother nature.  The highs this week are in single digits with wind chills below zero.  Materials and equipment are on site now and the project is ready to begin.  When the weather cooperates, the project is slated to on take 4 to 5 days to complete.  Stay tuned for updates, and stay warm!

4 North Redi-Rock Wall Project: Day 1

Day 1: Material staging on site.  46 blocks delivered today. Each block weighs 1 ton!

Snow Blowing Greens

Clearing 5 West Green

Snow cover is considered a good thing on northern golf courses during the winter as it acts as a natural blanket for turf, insulating it from harsh desiccating winds while still allowing the needed exchange of gases. While the majority of the time this is true, there are situations dictated  by weather in which clearing the snow from key playing surfaces, such as greens, is a good idea.  

The weather this weekend is supposed to rise above freezing for a period of time but then quickly drops down again to below freezing temperatures.  The situation turf managers are trying to avoid by removing snow from greens is ice build up.  The ground below the snow is still frozen and will not allow melting snow to drain through the profile. As the snow melts it can collect in low lying areas with poor surface drainage and form sheets of ice. Through years of research it has been found that Poa annua can survive up to 30 days under ice while bentgrass can survive up to 90 days under ice.  Our greens are predominantly Poa annua so this is of special concern to us.  Today our staff tackled clearing snow on a few key areas of the course prior to the warmer weather moving in this weekend in hopes of limiting any large ice formation which could injure/kill turf this winter.  With that said, it's always a gamble whether or not these efforts will actually pay off as winter damage can occur even after the best efforts to ensure turf health have been taken.

Winter Wonderland

Freezing cold temperatures and snow are the story so far this winter.  With 6 - 10 more inches of snow expected this weekend, the 4 North pond wall installation is currently on hold for better weather.  With that said, the grounds crew continues to tackle tree trimming around the entire property despite the snow cover and bitter cold temps.  The North course is now half done and we will be tackling the West course soon.

Redi-Rock pond wall to begin in January 2014

One of the golf course enhancements that was recently passed by the Board of Directors was the installation of a seawall along the pond on 4 North.  The reasons for this installation are both for aesthetics and erosion control.  The boulders that previously outlined this area did a poor job of holding the pond edge in place and also provided a poor visual appearance when the water level went down.

To solve both of these problems we have chosen to remove the boulders and install a 180' Ledgestone "Redi-Rock" retaining wall along the pond edge. The Ledgetone Redi-Rock looks almost identical to the new bridge that was built on the South course last season which helps provide a consistent look across the property. Redi-Rock retaining walls are built out of 1 ton precast concrete blocks that are stacked on top of each other and lock in place.  The walls that are created are not only very visually pleasing, but are extremely strong and useful in many different applications.  Feel free to click on the "Redi-Rock" link above to explore where Redi-Rock has been used, and to get a great idea of how beautiful 4 North will look this spring!

Example: Ledgestone Redi-Rock being installed in Brighton, MI