Stone in flower beds

Slowly, but surely, one comes to realize that Mother Nature always wins. This is especially true for the Grounds department. The weather impacts everything we do and influences all of the decisions we make. Year after year, heavy rainstorms wash mulch from where we want it, to where we do not. Recently, we have continued to remove mulch from some specific areas and replace it with stone to better break the wave of running water.

Stone in flower bed in front
of Proshop

Water takes the path of least resistance and flows in the same paths repeatedly. When the flow of water travels through one of our mulch beds, its force will carry the mulch right along with it, and deposit the mulch anywhere. Mulch ends up on cart paths, in fairways, and generally in other places where we don’t want it. Each time a storm passes through, we try and identify areas where the water flow is disrupting our mulch. We then have to spend time and labor to repair everywhere the mulch was washed away. To make matters worse, if the storm was severe, the mulch may be our last priority for repairs. We most certainly will have bunker repair work to do, and we may have tree debris cleanup to perform as well. Which means the cleanup of the mulch comes last and looks bad the longest.

Stone in flower bed near putting green

The easiest and most effective way for us to alleviate some of this labor is to replace the mulch with something that will not be carried away by the water. We use landscape stone that is inexpensive and attractive. We mark the areas that are most impacted by rushing water, remove the mulch, soil, and other debris and then replace it with stone. The rocks break the stream of water, slow it down, and resist being carried away by the flow. We use two different sizes of stones, placed amongst each other to form a sort of interlocking breaker. The smaller stones fit in between the larger stones and, combined, they hold each other in place and can stand against the water.

There is some labor in switching from mulch to stone because each stone must be placed by hand. However, savings come immediately after the first heavy rain because we do not have to repair the mulch, and savings continue to pile up after each storm.

Stone in flower bed near 18 green

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please do not walk around the lip of a bunker. This can cause the sod edge to slide into the sand. Instead walk through the bunker and rake your disturbance on your way back out.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org