Grass Clippings
Around our grounds
We are now at the start of our renovation period and grass court renovations have started well with the scalping of the playing surface from this year’s surface and levelling the courts ready for the fresh top dressing and seeding. The top block of grass tennis courts has already begun to germinate under its protective cover and the lower block (25-28) is not far behind.
On the golf course, aeration of the major surfaces has been effectively completed and top dressing has been applied to greens and brushed into the surface. Fairways and roughs have had over seeding applied to bulk up the sward and in two weeks’ time the fairways will receive their usual sand application. All the above activities are geared towards creating the surfaces for the coming year. Preparing ahead is all part of the annual strategy for the grounds department and setting up courts and lawns for the coming year is our current priority. While we have the opportunity to do as much as we can ahead of the temperature drop and ‘bad’ weather we will continue to think and plan ahead for the coming year.
Concerning climate consequences
The unseasonably mild temperatures now are having some noticeable consequences for the plant life in our region. Plants that usually begin to reduce activity and general growth patterns are now flowering again. Trees, which, by now would have received a first frost and start to dispose of leaves are also looking very green and healthy. It’s concerning as last year we also had a false spring in late September which saw trees such as the chestnuts on site start to flower again after the blisteringly hot summer. The results were that many plants instead of storing energy for the winter have depleted reserves which had the effect of them not being prepared for the harsh winter that followed. Sadly, we lost a number of trees such as birch, chestnut, sorbus and cherry due to the intense summer and bleak winter that followed. I conducted a poll among course managers in our area and the feedback was similar, with roughly the same varieties of tree suffering damage by spring this year.
‘The number of tree species that can be planted is reducing because of pests and diseases’ – comment recently made by one of the country’s leading nurserymen from Hilliers of Hampshire. Tree nursery manager Phil Hall has warned. ‘We’re trying to pick trees that are very strong and healthy to balance out those we’re losing,’ Hilliers are promoting the use of trees such as the common maple (Acer campestre), Rown (Sorbus aucuparia), Lime (Tilia cordata, Tilia) and Seabuckthorn (Hippophae salicifolia). ‘You wouldn’t usually plant an Acer in the street, but it has great characteristics, great autumn colour and leaf shape, and it’s extremely hardy, so it was worth developing.’ Hillier has partnered with specialist breeders in the USA and Europe to develop a disease-resistant elm species that could be the future of British trees. Not only is it resistant to Dutch elm disease, Hall says it is ‘bombproof’ — able to withstand floods, sub-zero temperature, inner-city pollution, drought, coastal locations and central reservations. Hillier is also looking to develop a climate change tree range and is reaching out to industry leaders and scientists to figure out species that are resistant. The company is already starting to observe some that can cope with a wide spectrum of extreme conditions. Alongside Ulmus ‘New Horizon’, ‘Rebona’ and ‘Fiorente’, Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Worplesdon’ is good on a broad range of sites and is very reliable, she says.
Sycamore sadness
A lot of airtime and column inches have been written regarding the cutting down of the Sycamore Gap tree at Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland. It’s been the most emotive subject in the media probably because it was a mindless act carried out by a local, whose justification was thoughtless and effects the many who adored the tree in question. Or is it the setting of the tree which people adored? Naturally the landowner, the National Trust is ‘shocked and saddened’ by the felling of the tree, which was voted English tree of the year in 2016 in Woodland Trust awards. Comments and thoughts regarding the future of the tree was touted by the knowledgeable and celebrity gardeners alike. Someone even planted a sycamore in the vicinity of the new stump of the old tree, which has hastily been rehoused by the Trust. It’s sad to have to remove trees from the landscape for any justification, because with age, there is a reverence for their seniority in our world. There are yew trees in the UK that are reported to be thousands of years’ old and so we as humans with our merger life spans of a hundred or so years, we will only be witnesses to these alders for a brief moment in their time. We rejoiced in Sycamore Gap because it was such a unique setting for a tree and one of age. Would a replacement have the impact that we as humans would find emotionally fulfilling, that is to be decided by the powers that be.
Perfect pumpkins
If you’re planning to celebrate on All Saints Eve – 31st October, you will be pleased to know that your pumpkins will be bigger this year due to this summer 2023. We saw 11% more rainfall than average for the UK with the hottest June since 1884, July was the sixth wettest, and rainfall in August around the long-term mean average, which all boded well for pumpkin growth. This combination created the perfect growing conditions for raising pumpkins according to purveyors of pumpkins, squash, and gourds. Interestingly, pumpkins are fruit, according to the dictionary definition ‘fruit, is the usually edible reproductive body of a seed plant.’ Pumpkins are edible, and if you’ve ever cut one open, you know it’s full of seeds, so the pumpkin is the fruit of the pumpkin vine. The Met Office said September was provisionally the UK’s joint warmest on record. September’s provisional average was 15.2C (59.4F), the joint warmest in a series that goes back to 1884, and the same as 2006. October started well with 24.1C (75.4F) recorded at Wisley in Surrey on 1st October. Better sharpen up the carving skills!
Peter Bradburn
Course and Grounds Director
peter.bradburn@roehamptonclub.co.uk