Tree Species

[Norbert P]

 What is your favorite tree species for a golf course and what features and benefits do they give to the surroundings. Do they tolerate irrigation. Easy maintenance, stubborn leaf or seed removal, etc. Which tree species are not apropriate.  

Obviously, this is the world wide web so there's a wide range of climates that we live in and many trees wouldn't be appropriate for other places, but I'm curious as to what people like.

 I like palm trees but there are only a few that grow in my climate zone (USGA 7) and they'd take a long time to get tree-like.  Also, it would be strange to see Palm Springs in Oregon.

 I love madrones - evergreen with flowers, berries and a striking exfoliating bark.

 Sequoias are staunch, thick sentinels that make impenetrable sky bunkers. They defoliate but generally drop near the tree.

Alaskan Yellow Cedars are graceful - like trees with togas.

Of course there's the windswept Monterey Cypress and the "Goldcrest" is fetching.  (Although it's rampaging through Australia. The species (Cupressus macrocarpa) was quite isolated for 1000s of years in Monterey.) There is a beauty of a "Goldcrest" specimen at Monterey Peninsula GC.

This is a general question of species but if you know the genus/species/cultivar, please include it.



 

[Craig Sweet]

Slag...I'm a big fan of the Quercus....Oaks....especially like the Burr Oak...Quercus macrocarpa...interesting bark, dark green leaves, and drought tolerant...slow growing here in the west...also like Northern Red Oak...Quercus rubra...great color, nice habit.

I HATE...HATE...any and all Poplars....that would be cottonwoods, aspens, Lombardy's (tall, skinny poplars) and of course Chinese elm...oh, and most fir and spruce make terrible gold course trees...bad for air circulation, cones are a mess, shallow rooted, and need way too much maintenance...

[wsmorrison]

Here's the nicest tree I've ever seen on a golf course, well it's on a private estate with its own golf course.  I guess it is an oak of some sort.  What do you think of it, Craig?  I am told it is over 300 years old.  It is huge and interestingly, wider than it is tall.  Unfortunately, a tornado knocked down a very big limb since this photo was taken:

[wsmorrison]

Here is a photo of the same tree from under the canopy:

[A.G._Crockett]

I'd go with maples; not only beautiful, full trees at maturity, but you are guaranteed several weeks per year of just the most beautiful leaf turn there is.

Torn about live oaks; they are so complex and unique, often including Spanish Moss, but a golf ball will NOT go through the leaves even on the little ones.  Everything goes straight to the ground.  An unfortunate trade-off.

[Craig Sweet]

AG...maples are nice, but unless you plant a seedless variety they can be troublesome...

[Norbert P]

 

I also have a specific question of whether anybody has seen on golf courses.  These first three are deciduous conifers.

 Bald Cypress  (Taxodium distichum)  
 Dawn Redwood  (Metasequioa glyptostroboides)
 Golden Larch    (Pseudolarix amabilis)

  Post Oak       (Quercus stellata)
  Hungarian Oak   ( Q. frainetto)  
  Serbian Spruce  (Picea omorika)  


Of the trees I'd probably never suggest are Black Locust, Tree of Heaven, Sweetgum, Monkey Puzzle and, as earlier noted, Lombardy Poplar, though they are spectacular when in Fall colors.  Pin Oaks are dependable trees but they hold their leaves, though brown, oftentimes through the winter. Leaf cleanup on these last for a long time.  

[RT]

Smooth Sumac Rhus glabra nice small accent tree with alot of character

Have seen Bald Cypress on some courses

[Norbert P]

Here's a very good website for plant identification and plant info, with loads of pictures, from Oregon State University (National Champions in NCAA Baseball 2006 + 2007.)

  http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/2plants.htm#oshe

[Marty Bonnar]

Slaggers,
we have a Metasequoia glyptostroboides NEAR the 18th green (i.e. not in play) at BPGC. Gorgeous tree! Great history too...

Luckily for us, the golf course is set in the grounds of an old country estate with a LOT of specimen trees and a FABULOUS rhododendron collection.

Call me an old arboriphiliac, but I LIKE TREES! "My name is Martin and I am a treeoholic..."

FBD.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Favourite would have to be Silver Birch – grows in the light sandy soils of the heath.  Not tall or dense canopied, but with that striking bark - our eye notices it.
It’s relatively short lived, 25-30 years, but very free with it’s self seeding so it’s influence on a golf course changes over time.


Well unless you have a really majestic tree at the apex of a hole. What could be better as a vertical hazard than the mighty Oak?  Needs a wealth of fertile soil to develop into full maturity over the centuries.  A strong bold tree to incorporate into your design.




Least favourite.  In the heavy clay of Essex where I play most of my golf the Poplar thrives.   From a distance tall and elegant it is usually lumped in lines to separate fairways.  But what I hate most about it is the sound the leaves make when the wind runs across it.  Like the sound of a thousand leather soles clattering on a pavement. Not what I want to see and hear when I escape with my clubs.  
At least they are deciduous.

[Tony_Muldoon]

...

Luckily for us, the golf course is set in the grounds of an old country estate with a LOT of specimen trees and a FABULOUS rhododendron collection.


FBD.

FBD if you hit a ball into a lake you might find about 5% by the edge where you can rescue it.  But ihit a ball in to a Rhododendron and it's gone, gone, gone.

[Marty Bonnar]

Tony,
should have said the Park is BIIIIG enough for a Rhoddie collection AND a Golf course to stand independently of one another

However, somehow, I do often manage to find myself among the trees which do impinge upon the golfing experience...

FBD.

Colt....................?

[Tony_Muldoon]

Colt....................?

Tommy................?

[Chris Cupit]

 

I also have a specific question of whether anybody has seen on golf courses.  These first three are deciduous conifers.

 Bald Cypress  (Taxodium distichum)  
 Dawn Redwood  (Metasequioa glyptostroboides)
 Golden Larch    (Pseudolarix amabilis)

  Post Oak       (Quercus stellata)
  Hungarian Oak   ( Q. frainetto)  
  Serbian Spruce  (Picea omorika)  


Of the trees I'd probably never suggest are Black Locust, Tree of Heaven, Sweetgum, Monkey Puzzle and, as earlier noted, Lombardy Poplar, though they are spectacular when in Fall colors.  Pin Oaks are dependable trees but they hold their leaves, though brown, oftentimes through the winter. Leaf cleanup on these last for a long time.  

SG,

An old super decided to plant a dawn redwood as a 150 tree on our course 25 years ago  I love the tree for its mottled bark and fern like leaves and even planted a couple in my pasture at home BUT as 150 "bushes" they are idiotic!

In our 2006 renovation we chainsawed every one of them. I actually think the saleman snuck in a couple of bald cypress on that unsuspecting super 25 years ago so we had a couple of those as well.

I could see where the dawn redwood would be fine in out of play areas--they get huge so you have to plan on that of course but it is a pretty tree. (if you must have trees on a golf course)

[Michael Dugger]

Great Thread Slag!

Cypress are fabulous



I like the blue gum Eucalyptus found at Olympic Club



"Weaping Willows"



The old growth Juniper is awfully hot in Central Oregon right about now.



Monterey Pine



and of course the Ghost Tree

[David Stamm]

Great Thread Slag!

Cypress are fabulous

Michael picked the one I was thinking when I read the title of this thread. I love these trees. I've spent many hours walking around groves of these throughout the Monterey Peninsula and just looking and listening. They have such distinct beauty to them, looking both rugged and elegant at the same time. There are few things I can think of as beautiful as looking back from the Cypress Point park (it borders the club to the immediate south) and looking south.

[Bruce Katona]

Red oaks and Sugar maples are my two favorites.....good fall coler and high branching allow for escape under the limbs from a waywardly struck shot.

[Garland Bayley]

...
 Dawn Redwood  (Metasequioa glyptostroboides)
...

Hi Slagbert,

There are a few Dawn Redwoods around Portland. Don't remember if any of them were on golf courses. Saw an old newspaper article about the Dawn Redwoods in Portland a few years ago.

[RDecker]

Oaks are good in the New England region as are Beech, Maples can be good also but stay away from Norways.  My course is the proud possesor of a 100+ yr. old American Elm that avoided the disease and thrives today.  They have new disease resistant elms ( valley forge, and trenton are a few of the names but there are others) that are very popular.  Just stay away from conifers.  Try to avoid any varieties that drop alot of debris, I've found the birch and poplar and willows do tend to be dirty and brittle too.

[Norbert P]

Gracias amigos.  It's good to read - and see - that we don't ALL hate trees on a golf course.  

Wayne, methinks your oak is a Red Oak - large leaves with pointy lobes. A beaut.

Garland, Royal Oaks in Vancouver has a Dawn Redwood but I saw it in winter.  I was told that many years ago someone thought it was dead and they were gonna cut it down but clearer heads prevailed.  They look odd when they are denuded - like a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, but in my eyes this is what makes them so interesting with the cycling of bare to chartreuse to green to its coppery fall drop. There's a cultivar called "Gold Rush" that grows golden, duh. Grows slower but is stunning.  
  Also, theres a row of about ten between the baseball Fields at Delta Park.

Tony, nice groving of the birches. I'm partial to that style of planting placement.

Michael, nice gallery of trees. You may know that blue gums are considered a noxious weed in California.  They are magnificent trees but they have run rampant and naturalized themselves to the detriment of the natives.
 That ghost tree is aptly named.   Reminded me, oddly, (yin yang?) of the blackened Shore Pine (Pinus contorta) in the rough on #4 at Pacific Dunes, though I think it has fallen further to the earth to not be as prevalent a focal point, if there at all.  
  There are some very cool Sierra Junipers on the putting course at Eagle Crest Resort in Central Oregon. The scale with the course makes them look like Giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) (Wellingtons)
 
 RT, saw some Sumac turning red just yesterday - brilliant.

 RD, As you probably know, a bunch of elms were recently replanted at the White House, sort of a nice symbol that they are coming back.  And George's way of saying that he cares about global warming, if it were to exist, but it doesn't cuz he said it doesn't, and he's the President so he must be right.  

Seems to be we like oaks and maples - Sugar's color is fire in the fall.  Norway's are about the most dependable tree in our area but they are just so common.

There is the Silk Tree (Albizia julibrissin) that is the closest thing we have ('growable' in the PacNorthwest) to the very exotic BottleBrushes (Callistemun genus) of Australia.  Aus has tons of trees I wish I could grow here.  (I do have several Tasmanian shrubs and vines and one Huon Pine)
   The Silk Tree is a great tree for looking down upon from above as the puffy flowers are above the foliage. The tree spreads more in width than it does in height, and does leave a downy mess, so should be kept away from golfable turf.
 
 Thanks again. Slag

 

Par 3, 11th Hole at Montery Penisula CC

I used to have this, but a larger image, on my computer desktop.  If anyone has it bigger, I'd love to have it again.



 

[Brent Hutto]

Par 3, 11th Hole at Montery Penisula CC

I used to have this, but a larger image, on my computer desktop.  If anyone has it bigger, I'd love to have it again.

See if this will do for your purposes:

http://brenthutto.com/DSCF0122.JPG

[tlavin]

Logs and sawdust, promptly removed.

[Norbert P]

 Brent, A thousand thank yous.  Slag

 When I was driving down 17 Mile Drive I saw this hole (methinks) with its gleaming gold Cypress, the one directly behind the flagstick in the picture, and I about drove into the salty spray of the Pacific.  

[paul cowley]

Slag.....I am impressed with your interest in trees of all types and their regions....they have been a lifetime of study and commerce for me.