3" of rain keeping us saturated
Three inches of rain came down pretty much the entire day on Tuesday. This oak was already leaning slightly on 5 Manakin but the rain softened up the soil enough so the heavy oak leaves and branches pulled it all the way down. The rain is great for the bermuda, especially the new sod, but it delayed us getting some more sod out on the remaining winter kill areas. Sodding will get back on track early next week. Also next week we will be implementing our annual solid tine aeration for the tees, fairways and approaches. This is really a non-invasive practice but it helps us loosen the soil up a bit for some healthier root growth. We will also being putting out compost in the rough next week so be prepared for the healthy scent!
We are fortunate to have the right tools to clean up a big tree like this. Doing tree work in house does wonders for the budget and having this mess cleaned up before golf play is often an overlooked benefit.
The BENTGRASS is just now breaking dormancy on the greens. We usually want about 4 quarts of clippings to come off the greens each morning but the rain has thrown us off a bit. The bermuda should not be too far behind with some more growth but next week looks cool again.
It was easy to see the final fate of a lot of golf tees on 4 Manakin last week before some sod went down. All of these tees were down in the thatch after the old sod was lifted. Just reinforcing the need to pick up your broken tees as they don't just magically disappear if we aren't able to grab them before a mower goes through.
A few mowers were able to get out Thursday afternoon but it will be a full on blitz Friday to get everything mowed out before Senior Member Member kicks off.
Shockingly the pile of silt on 16 Manakin is having a hard time drying out given the weather. We hope to have this area hydroseeding next week but that also depends on the rental hydroseeder showing up.
Most of the annual flowers are in and enjoying the rain. We will work our way into the pool area next week to finish things off. Lantana, coleus, angelonia, melampodium and petunia round out most of our drought, deer and rabbit resist material.
The bluebird houses are full this spring!
Enough with the ducks enjoying the weather, lets get the bermuda going!