The Benefit of Clearing Trees

[Paul Richards]

For anyone wishing to see the true benefit of clearing trees, please check out the archives here and find the before  and after photos from Beverly.

It is amazing what some 'tree management' can do to the health of the turf and to the course as well.

Cheers!

[Patrick_Mucci]

James Bennett,

Intitially, we were burning the Pepper trees, but, they're a soft wood tree, almost a weed and difficult to burn.

In addition, the permitting process was such that we had to call the fire department each day to see if we would be allowed to burn that day.   Wind direction and velocity determines the daily granting of the permits.

Subsequently, the County terminated all burn permits and we had to seek other methods of disposal.

We rented a HUGE machine that would reduce the trees to smaller pieces.  Costs to truck the debris off property were significant, and you can't bury anything underground, hence the idea of putting the debris outside of the field of play and covering them with dirt, topped by grass came about.

The tree clearing that was forced upon us turned out to be a blessing in disquise.  We also had to extend irrigation lines and grass the opened up areas, but, the enhancement to the playing conditions, agronomic conditions and aesthetics was dramatic, despite comments from the peanut gallery.

Another benefit that resulted from clearing the unwanted trees was that beautiful specimen trees were exposed for the first time in decades.

Good luck with your project.

More pictures will be posted.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Patrick,

From Ran's write-up I saw this note regarding cypress trees

Florida law is such that little work can be done within 100 feet of the state protected cypress tree.

Does this restrict the ability to clear trees away from the vicinity of cypress, or does that more refer to hardscape changes?

[Patrick_Mucci]

Kevin,

From Ran's write-up I saw this note regarding cypress trees

Florida law is such that little work can be done within 100 feet of the state protected cypress tree.

Does this restrict the ability to clear trees away from the vicinity of cypress, or does that more refer to hardscape changes?

It creates a real dilema.
One one hand the law says that you must eradicate three species of trees on Florida's noxious plant list and on the other hand you have laws that state that you can't go near the cypress trees, yet, the noxious species are intermingled with the cypresses.

You have to have meetings with the representatives of agencies involved and try and mediate a method that will allow you to comply with the conflicting laws.

This is duck soup when compared with water issues where you have five seperate agencies involved.
1 Army Corps of Engineers
2 South Florida Water Management
3 Lake Worth Water Management
4 Palm Beach County Department of Environmental protection
5 Florida Department of Environmental protection.

It's not unusual to encounter a conflict between the guidelines or regulatory statutes amongst those five.
Resolving them isn't duck soup.

But, back to the tree clearing.

Vegatation clearing permits must be obtained from the proper agencies/authorities.

Cypresses tend to cluster in damper soils hence getting equipment in there is difficult and can damage the cypress trees and their intricate and unique root system.  
We used a track hoe with an extended boom to get at the bigger peppers.  The operator was like a surgeon, working his boom between the cypress trees to uproot the peppers, and drag them out where possible.  Specialty tree companies were used to chainsaw and remove smaller peppers, the debris from the bigger peppers and other noxious trees.

On one occassion, the boom operator barely skinned a cypress and the inspector on site at the time threatened to shut down the job.  I explained that the operator was highly skilled, doing the best that he could, and that we were trying to comply, as best we could, with the legal demand that we remove the pepper trees, which was the mandate that his agency placed upon us.  I asked him if he would help us and step into the cab to see if he could do a better job.  
He declined.

What made the project more difficult was that the mandate to clear the noxious species came well after the project was formulated and begun.  It was never budgeted for at the very begining and there were other complications.

Fortunately, a clause was inserted into the contract that the general contractor would be responsible for all required permitting, since he would be more familiar with the myriad of laws from the various agencies, as this was his specialty.

In addition to clearing trees, we also regrassed the ENTIRE golf course.  Formerly, it was planted with Ormond Bermuda and we planted 419 bermuda in the fairways and roughs with 328 Bermuda in the tees, greens and approaches.

Subsequently, we found that in shaded areas, other types of Bermuda were better suited for our tees.  I believe it was Cashmere Bermuda and there was another strain out of Texas A&M.  Later, the tees were planted with Mini-verde (sp ?)

The project involved rebuilding the bunkers as the old bunkers either had no drainage system or they were damaged and not functional.

There were many other aspects of the project as well.
Certain greens were expanded, new tees built.
A brand new set of forward ladies tees were created

It was a wonderful experience 95 % of the time.

It's one of the most terrific golf courses that noone knows about, and the superintendent, Robert Randquist does a spectacular job in every way.  It's a real treat, a genuine hidden gem.  Just ask the guys from GCA.com who have played there.
[/color]

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Hole #15
Before

After


Hole #16
Before


After

[Patrick_Mucci]

Nobody noticed the significant change in the 17th green which appears in the old and new pictures of # 16 ?

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Hole #17
Before

After


Hole #18
Before

After

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tommy Naccarato,

Thanks for posting these.

A quick review of the holes reveals a dramatic improvement in the golf course.

Playing corridors are opened up.
Turf conditions are improved.
Wind is more of a factor.
Visuals are improved
Aesthetics are improved.

Once the initial project has been completed an ongoing effort must be made to maintain the desired objectives.

TEPaul & Wayne Morrison,

Let me know when you'll be in Florida next.

[guesst]

Patrick, I'm sure you'll correct me if I'm wrong , but surely tree removal is not the only thing going on here . . . ?