Grass Clippings
Around our grounds
June was a good month for all sports at the Club with sunshine and some particularly heavy showers helping to keep everything green. In the UK, the June temperatures didn’t just break all-time records, they smashed them for six. It was 0.9C hotter than the previous record, set in 1940, and in meteorological terms, this is a large margin.
It may not have felt as hot as previous summers but, as humans we base what occurs on a standard local level and most of the earth’s heat is stored in the oceans and seas which account for 71% of the surface total.
The North Atlantic, for example, is currently experiencing the highest surface water temperatures ever recorded. That marine heatwave has been particularly pronounced around the coasts of the UK, where some areas have experienced temperatures as much as 5C above what you would normally expect for this time of year.
The heavy cloud bursts that have punctuated this summer are a result of heat evaporation from the seas, forming dense storm clouds as they approach our coastline and then condensing to form torrential downpours as they hit the land. It has been a saving grace for most of our non-irrigated areas which include the rough and also the tree population on the estate. They have welcomed the top up of rain that is helping them to survive this key time of the year before they stress out too much.
In general, there hasn’t been too much disruption to lawn tennis. After a good soaking down, the courts have been back in play the following day without too much of an issue. If we can continue this way for the next two months, we shall be in a good position for the autumn.
As a reminder to Members, this week there has been a series of renovation procedures on the golf course. These works are essential to the health and playability of the course. Each year we test the golf greens to monitor the organic percentage in the surface layers of the profile which is important as a parameter to judge how hard or light we are able to work on the greens to keep the organic matter in check. Although we have used a larger core tine this season the greens are still playable, but at the end of the process core holes and sand on the surface will still be noticeable. With good growth conditions and an application of fertilizer, the greens will be back to normal in no time. Although these works are unfortunately disruptive for golfers they are essential to keep the greens in good health.
Creeping and climbing
Climbing plants on buildings are either your pride and joy or your bugbear when selling up and moving house. Climbers can soften the image of an unflattering architectural design and add to the charm of a building. They can, however, be a nuisance that require consistent maintenance and climb where you really do not want them. Climbers do an excellent job of cladding less-than-attractive features and buildings.
Trees and shrubs can play their part, but a climber will reach the heights a shrub simply cannot aspire to, and it will grow more swiftly than most trees, especially if well trained. In a time when climate change has to be considered as a factor, the cooling effect of foliage on buildings is now well documented and demands consideration in our hotter summers.
Add to this the huge benefits for wildlife, with climbers offering nesting opportunities, havens for insects and pollen for bees, butterflies, and moths. On the other hand, climbing plants require consistent and regular maintenance to keep them within bounds and to prevent them looking unkempt. Besides this, they can tend to scramble into spaces where they should not be, such as guttering, drain hoppers, under roofing tiles and felt, and even through cracks in window frames. Gardeners need to be on guard at all times and have a stepladder handy as well as long-reach pruners.
There are three main groups of climbing plants — self-clinging, scrambling, and containable. All have their benefits and drawbacks. Easiest to grow at a first glance are the self-clingers such as Hedera, Parthenocissus and Campsis because they do exactly that, attaching themselves to walls by means of sticky pads or aerial roots. The main drawback is that they are often vigorous growers, climbing beyond their bounds and needing enthusiastic pruning to keep them out of roofs and gutters. For example, a stone’s throw from the Club there is a tower block of apartments where an established ivy plant is now two thirds up the side of the twelve storeys.
Hedera has the tendency to suddenly peel off the building in sheets in high winds or due to age. Parthenocissus can cause problems with soft stone and mortar, which has been an issue with some of our limestone buildings as the adhesion proves stronger than the stone. The second group contains equally vigorous climbers, but these need support as they scramble and climb by means of strong and extensive extension growth. This group includes the vigorous rambling and climbing roses such as Rosa banksiae, R. filipes and named varieties such as ‘Wedding Day’, ‘Rambling Rector’ and ‘Paul’s Himalayan Musk’, as well as Actinidia, Schisandra and Solanum. Big and bold, these are not the tidiest of climbers, which makes them great for trailing romantically into trees and over old sheds, but less disposed towards an orderly show on a building.
Having said that, these varieties can look wonderful when well trained, although they require regular attention to keep them pruned into submission and a good framework of support. In fact, these climbers all need some means of structure to support them and the tidier you want them to be, the more important that structure is.
The third group is far more contained, growing by means of twining tendrils, leaf petioles and trailing stems. Although this group all require more training and support than the previous ones, they are by far the most manageable. These grow wonderfully when trained onto frames or structures and, although they require more pruning and management, they are probably the most rewarding, offering plenty of seasonal interest and good coverage without causing damage or running amok.
Peter Bradburn, Course and Grounds Director