Buffers Buffers Buffers

So check this out.  We've been working very hard to salvage as many plants as possible from the home site which is soon to be completely cleared for new construction.  Look at these two huge Japanese maples.

There's a lot of different places we could have re-planted these trees, but we decided it was most important to keep working on the buffer between the freeway and the golf course.  Specifically we planted them behind the green on #2 where we had a gap in the existing buffer and thus a clear view of the chemical storage building and freeway traffic. The next two pictures show how it looked before and now after the transplant.  

For the next several months we will be working on buffer plantings. You already know we're removing the trees behind #9 green and adding an evergreen buffer.  Likewise we're replacing those fir trees to the right of #8 green with a new planting to buffer the freeway. Today I want to inform you of our newest project which is to replace some more of the fir trees to the left of #4.

If you haven't already noticed there are 4 fir trees near the left fairway bunker that are marked for removal.  The next two pictures show the typical existing condition of that area.

There's two big problems here.  One is we have young fir trees which are planted very close to the fairway and are already causing shade problems.  We need to be very careful about the number of fir trees planted along the east property line.  Considering  the orientation of the golf course in relation to the path of the sun, it is imperative that we minimize the planting of anything that can grow several hundred feet high.  There are other tree species which can provide a good buffer while not growing so high that they cause shade problems on the golf course.  The other big problem with this area on #4 is the long grass or "native" area.  The grass here sometimes gets very long and people are loosing balls or spending an exorbitant amount of time looking for their ball.  The committee has decided to remove this "native" area and treat it similar to our primary rough.  In order to do this we need to completely renovate the area so that it is smooth enough to mow with our primary rough mowers.  The first step will be to remove the fir trees which we will do sometime after the first of the year.  After the stumps are ground out, we will then spray out the existing native grasses and then use a rototiller to prepare the soil for grading and new seed. Lastly we will plant new trees and or buffer plants which have been deemed suitable by our Tree Management Plan.  Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any comments or concerns regarding this project.