Tree Removal

This is the time of year that we take care of bigger projects that we can't accomplish during the growing season.  One of those projects are Tree removal.  Before I go any further let me say this,"I do not enjoy cutting down trees.  I do not look for reasons to remove trees that I don't like.  Tree removal creates a lot of work for me and my staff.".  That being said there are reasons that we have to remove trees and they are as follows; The tree poses a threat to a person or a structure., There is a shade Issue that cannot be cured by limbing up the tree., The inability to grow quality turfgrass due to shade issues., The tree blocks a sight line that can create a dangerous position for golfers.  We have 4 holes that we are currently working on tree removal. #'s 9, 10, 12, and 16.  All of the work that we did on #9 was to better open up the hazard (Pond) in the dogleg of the hole.  We also have had a very hard time in the past growing grass on the pond bank due to the heavy canopies that were present.  I hope to have those areas grown in next year instead of bare ground.  The removal of the trees along the pond on #9 also allows the golfer to have a better view of the green from further back in the fairway.  This ensures that there are no golfers on the green when a golfer hits in to #9 green.
We are currently working on Hole #10.  We have removed 4 large Cedar trees.  the first was closest to the tees on the right side of the cart path and overhung the path.  I did not want to remove this tree but it had a lateral crack or split through the limb over the path and was getting ready to come down naturally.

The before picture from #10

  As we cut the tree down we discovered that the tree was rotten throughout the trunk.  The three trees that we removed were on the right side of the hole from 150-100 yards out.  The reason that they were removed was the inability to grow grass in the area.
  The heavy cedars were creating the most of the shade problem in the area.  There are still about 5 Oaks in the area and one Hackberry.  There are still obstacles that you need to avoid as a golfer on that side of the hole.  Hopefully next year there will also be rough there to hit from.

The after picture from #10

The next area that we have been working on is Hole #12 there is an old fence row tree line that runs from #11 Pond tp the backside of #13 Tees.  Some of the trees in this line have become overgrown with vines throughout the years,  We have been cleaning out the vines in the area. around the green.  There are some more trees that are overgrown on the fairway side of #12 also, and we will get to those later.  There is a tree that does pose a threat to #12 green that may have to be removed.  It lost the top of the tree about 18 months ago.  It fell directly on #12 green and did a lot of damage.  It will be evaluated during the process.

One of the last areas that we will be working on this winter will be #16 Tee Box.  That tee is closed in by large mature trees and only sees the sun for about 6 hours a day.  The tees on this hole have suffered greatly as a result of this.  My plan is to remove any trees in the natural area to the right of the blue tee and behind it on the riverbank. that block the suns path throughout the afternoon in the Summer.  The goal would be to get direct sun on the back two tees until 3PM in the Summer.  I believe that this will make all of the difference in the world as far as recuperative ability and quality of playing surface in this area.  There are a couple of other trees on the course that have some health issues that I am concerned about that will be evaluated this Winter.

On the the other hand some of the material that we have removed has been recycled into materials for the golf course.  We have made benches that will be used on the practice areas and the Par 3 Tee Boxes.