More new trees

It is the time of year again when our annual tree planting takes place. We have been on a regular schedule of planting trees across the property for the last 10 years, and another 13 new trees were just added.

Our tree management program is extensive. We work throughout the season to keep our trees in shape. Over the winter we prune, clean, and remove trees. Especially over the last few years, we have worked hard to remove trees that are negatively impacting the Bermuda grass, and this has shown great results. We remove dead trees, and clean and prune others.

During the summer, we spend time almost daily, limbing up all the trees around the property. Sometimes branches break, or sag, and need to be removed to allow for proper air movement or allow a line of play for a golf shot. Other times branches are taken off to allow golf carts or mowers to more easily and safely fit underneath a particular tree.

But to balance the removals that we make, every spring we also plant many new trees. The keys to our program are proper species selection, but most importantly, proper location. Many of the trees that we must remove were improperly located at planting. It is difficult to imagine a tree 20, 30, or 40 years down the road and visualize how it will impact the turf. Not to mention that when a lot of the old trees were planted, the course looked very different, and those trees may not have affected the turf in the same way they do now. But moving forward, our goal is to always make sure that when we plant a tree, it will not need to be removed because it is in the wrong location.

 

This year we planted new trees on holes 5, 8, and 17. We planted 3 dogwoods and 1 red-horse chestnut on the right side of #5 fairway. We removed some trees very near the new planting location that were casting too much shade on the Bermuda grass. But these new trees are set much further back from the fairway, as well as being much smaller, and less shade producing species.

To the right of #8 fairway, we planted 5 dawn redwoods. At about the mid-point of 8 fairway, on the right side, 2 dawn redwoods were already in place, and the new trees fall right in line and create a great shape to the hole. In this case, these new trees were replacing dead or dying pines that were no longer useful.

On the left side of #17 fairway, we planted 4 new trees as well. 3 sweetbay magnolias and 1 ginkgo were added, starting just after the fairway bunker and working towards the green. In the last couple of years, a few trees have been removed from this location- 1 pine tree was dead, another pine tree broke in half and fell, leaving an unstable piece that needed to be removed, and a large silver maple that was shading the Bermuda grass. The new trees are suited to the location, and crucially, won’t negatively affect the Bermuda grass.

We are excited to plant new trees on the property- introducing new species to the grounds and picking just the right location is fun. The newest additions continue the commitment we have made to planting new trees at Bretton Woods.

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please leave bunker rakes inside the bunker once you are finished.

Also, as part of a Golf Committee initiative to improve course etiquette, we have included links to videos teaching proper on course etiquette. Please take a moment to watch:

Ball Marks - How to properly repair

Golf Cart tips

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org