Leaves

[Thomas Dai]

The deciduous leaves are falling in the Northern Hemisphere.
Ever done an approximate calculation of how many leaves fall on your golf course?
Try number of acres covered by deciduous trees X number of deciduous trees per acre X number of leaves per deciduous tree  - should give an approximate figure, probably a big number too (calculation norms available on the web although vary by location/usual tree type).
And someone likely has to pick them all up, cart them off and dump them!
One of the joys of inland Autumn golf.
atb

[Buck Wolter]

Are leaves counted as Carbon Capture? After raking my lawn this weekend I was reminded how heavy they are.

[JLahrman]

Are leaves counted as Carbon Capture? After raking my lawn this weekend I was reminded how heavy they are.

I broke a rake making a leafpile for the neighborhood kids.


I always chop them up afterwards, good compost for the lawn.

[Thomas Dai]

Hard and time consuming work clearing leaves from a lawn or a backyard especially if the leaves have made their way into ditches etc.
Big task on a course even with the help of ride-on machines. Costly too when you add up the related costs of machinery, labour, fuel etc etc.
Cheaper in the long run to cut some of the more leaf prone trees down?
Or better still not plant them in the first place and/or not let any self-seeders grow more than couple of inches high before they are cropped-off by a routinely passing mower (or eaten by a grazing animal)?
Atb

[David_Tepper]

"Why experts say you shouldn't bag your leaves"

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/25/1131114849/leaves-fall-autumn-compost-mulch-grass-lawn-nutrients?utm_source=pocket-newtab
 

[Niall C]

Are leaves counted as Carbon Capture? After raking my lawn this weekend I was reminded how heavy they are.

I broke a rake making a leafpile for the neighborhood kids.


I always chop them up afterwards, good compost for the lawn.

That's a bit harsh on the kids, is it not !


Niall

[Kalen Braley]

Are leaves counted as Carbon Capture? After raking my lawn this weekend I was reminded how heavy they are.

I broke a rake making a leafpile for the neighborhood kids.

I always chop them up afterwards, good compost for the lawn.

That's a bit harsh on the kids, is it not !

Niall

Niall,


I had read that the same and had a good chuckle.  Given the world is up to 8 billion now, a few less kids won't hurt nothing right? 

[Bob Montle]

Some of you will cringe,ButMy senior group has "Leaf Rule"A ball lost IN THE FAIRWAY because of leavesmay be replaced with no penalty at the approximate spot where it was lost.
It speeds up play and keeps us all happy.

[Niall C]

Kalen


I'm just glad someone appreciates my sense of humour.


Niall

[JLahrman]

Kalen

I'm just glad someone appreciates my sense of humour.

Niall

You know, I'm pretty good at intentionally making dumb dad jokes. But that's the best accidental one I ever made!


I want to be clear that I only chop up my own kids, my neighbors have to chop up their kids themselves.

[Sean_A]

Kalen

I'm just glad someone appreciates my sense of humour.

Niall

You know, I'm pretty good at intentionally making dumb dad jokes. But that's the best accidental one I ever made!


I want to be clear that I only chop up my own kids, my neighbors have to chop up their kids themselves.

Do your neighbours have to?

Ciao

[JLahrman]

Sean, who am I to parent other people's kids for them? I've got enough on my hands. Plus my lawnmower is an old self-propelled walk behind. Maybe if I had a rider I would be able to chop up more children, but I don't have the budget for an upgrade.

[James Boon]

Some of you will cringe,ButMy senior group has "Leaf Rule"A ball lost IN THE FAIRWAY because of leavesmay be replaced with no penalty at the approximate spot where it was lost.
It speeds up play and keeps us all happy.

Several years ago I was playing in the final of our County Interclub Foursomes and our opponents drive went under some trees between 2 fairways, generally cut to semi rough height, so we all expected them to find it. 5 minutes of kicking leaves later and the ball had to be declared lost. It felt a very strange way to win a hole, made all the stranger by the fact that there werent many other leaves on the course, just under this one bunch of trees (I dont recall the species). I suspect a few days later the wind will have blown the leaves away and someone will have wondered why there was a nice new ProV1 sitting under the trees?


As per David's article, when I had a larger garden I always preferred leaving the leaves were they were and letting nature take its course, rather than the modern obsession with tidying up nature. And dont get me started on leaf blowers!


However at Hollinwell (Notts GC) we have plenty of broad leaf trees that drop their leaves into the heather beds which the heather really doesnt like, but its certainly not easy to clear leaves from within the heather. As the broad leaf trees in question arent natural to the heathland we are going through the process of removing some of them, but you can really see the heather beds near these trees suffering in comparison to the ones out in the open.


Cheers,


James

[Sean_A]

Sean, who am I to parent other people's kids for them? I've got enough on my hands. Plus my lawnmower is an old self-propelled walk behind. Maybe if I had a rider I would be able to chop up more children, but I don't have the budget for an upgrade.

If you insist...Remind me, where do you live? 😎

Ciao

[JLahrman]

If you insist...Remind me, where do you live? 😎

Ciao

I live in Grand Rapids Michigan. Just look for the house with the blood-stained front yard and vultures circling overhead. Believe me, you can't miss it.

[astavrides]

Are leaves counted as Carbon Capture? After raking my lawn this weekend I was reminded how heavy they are.

I broke a rake making a leafpile for the neighborhood kids.


I always chop them up afterwards, good compost for the lawn.

Good. It's only carbon capture if the leaves stay underground. Otherwise, they release CO2 as they decompose. Of course, if the tree produces new leaves next year, in doing so it takes up the CO2 that last year's leaves released when they decomposed.
And, as David Tepper's link states, the decomposing leaves can give off methane if they decompose anaerobically, which is worse in the short term (better in the very long term) for climate change.

[Tony_Muldoon]

"Why experts say you shouldn't bag your leaves"

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/25/1131114849/leaves-fall-autumn-compost-mulch-grass-lawn-nutrients?utm_source=pocket-newtab

I think the article has a very poor title?  If they mean don't collect leaves and send them to landfill, that's what it needs to say.


It is common practice in the UK to use bags to make leaf mulch where you don't have a compost bin.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/soil_makeleafmould1.shtml#:~:text=Saving%20leaves%20in%20bags,-Take%20a%20black&text=Rake%20up%20leaves%20weekly%20and,around%20the%20base%20of%20plants.


Hate looking for balls in leaves. Yellow or Orange ones are most easily lost just at the time of year when they start to come into their own

[Mike Bodo]

I love fall golf but hate dealing with leaves when looking for a ball in the rough. Why can't they just stay on the branches after they change color? It would make life easier for everyone. LOL!

[Tom_Doak]

When we worked on the redesign of Medinah #1, we found out that they had planted so many trees that they couldn't deal with all the leaves.  They would blow them off the fairways and over in between the holes, and there were so many leaves that it would completely smother any grass there and leave them with a lot of dirt between the holes.

[Rich Thomas]

The group my dad plays with back home, a couple of them bought battery powered leaf blowers. They use it to find their balls in the fairway and rough, and then to clear the line on the green. It's kinda necessary when you play a course called Gibson Woods.

Some of you will cringe,ButMy senior group has "Leaf Rule"A ball lost IN THE FAIRWAY because of leavesmay be replaced with no penalty at the approximate spot where it was lost.
It speeds up play and keeps us all happy.

[Mike Bodo]

I was tempted to by a leaf blower a couple weeks ago until I learned last Saturday that Sylvania CC, where I play, has four available you can throw in your cart and use as needed. I thought that was hilarious, as I've never played a course or been a member at a club that had leaf blowers available for the asking.

[Sean_A]

If you insist...Remind me, where do you live?

Ciao

I live in Grand Rapids Michigan. Just look for the house with the blood-stained front yard and vultures circling overhead. Believe me, you can't miss it.

Other than the high murder rate, is GR an ok town?

Ciao

[Thomas Dai]

Personal leaf blower …. “outside influence”?
Atb

[Bruce Katona]

I just finished a round on a beautiful November day here "In the Swamps of Jersey".  The change in time back to EST, the low sun angle, & falling leaves made locating well struck (and a few not-well-struck) shots difficult and leaves did deflect a putt or two; but who can complain when you're out playing golf in shorts in November above the Mason Dixon line.


It was a great walk about.

[Chris_Blakely]

I was tempted to by a leaf blower a couple weeks ago until I learned last Saturday that Sylvania CC, where I play, has four available you can throw in your cart and use as needed. I thought that was hilarious, as I've never played a course or been a member at a club that had leaf blowers available for the asking.

Crazy, I didn't know there was someone else on the site from the Sylvania, OH area.