Grass Clippings
Weather watch
The weather pattern in the last two months has been contradictory to last winter. Record amounts of rain soaked the country twelve months ago, whereas this season we seem to have entered a mild, dry phase. The anomaly which causes both these systems of weather is similar and Meteorologists call it a blocking front which, in its current form, sits over the UK and Europe as a high-pressure front.
The Jet Stream has been vaulting over the top of this front and contours around the eastern edge fixing it in place like a break. High pressure rotates in a clockwise fashion, in the northern hemisphere, so warm air is being drawn up from the continent instead of the usual colder polar air we would receive at this time of the year. The knock-on effect is evident, with flowering plants such as mahonia that normally bloom in January, flowering now.
Around our grounds
Anyone who has played the golf course recently would have probably seen a member of staff mowing some area of the course. In a ‘typical year’ almost all cutting of grass would have ceased by now as it should be in a dormant state, with soil temperatures hovering in the low digits to below zero temperatures with morning frosts.
With the grass still growing, high air humidity and low light levels create their own challenging environment to growing grass this time of the year. Although it may be a blessing that the heating systems across the country are still not totally fired up, so keeping the winter fuel bills down, the effect on agriculture isn’t so pleasant. An old German proverb, ‘If the winter is warm, the farmer will be poor’ alludes to the fact that a false spring is detrimental to crops planted at the usual time in autumn. Harsh weather later, following a warm spell can cause havoc with cereals such as spring wheat leading to a poorer harvest in spring and the threat of price increases.
For our own plans for winter, pulling away from cutting and presenting the grounds and golf course isn’t an option at the moment and managing leaf collection is currently occupying much of the team’s time.
When the weather does change, it will be a case of switching tasks and getting on with winter work. In thirty years of greenkeeping, every winter has created a unique set of circumstances to deal with and no two have been the same. With the climate in flux, I believe this will make turf management even more thought provoking in the future.
Goodwood Art Foundation
Dan Pearson, the celebrated garden designer, has been appointed by the Duke of Richmond and Gordon to design the landscaping for a new destination housing contemporary art within the Goodwood Estate in Sussex. Through the support of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation, an extensive programme of landscape development has been planned for the new grounds at the Goodwood Art Foundation. Pearson’s naturalistic approach is recognised for its sensitivity to place, intuitive design and bold plantings, which will invigorate the wild aesthetic of the foundation’s landscape. A specific layer of twenty-four distinct seasonal moments have been designed to enliven the site, ranging from areas of intense spring colour to subtle autumn moments when the leaves begin to change.
Each annual season, from May – October, will have a headline exhibition. In the 2025 opening season this will be devoted to Rachel Whiteread. Other artists selected to be shown in the opening season, is a major outdoor installation by Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica (1937-1980) as well as London and New York based sculptor Veronica Ryan, winner of the 2022 Turner Prize.
Weather warning
Last week, buried below the predictions of the US election was yet another stark warning relating to our changing climate. There is an 80 percent likelihood that the annual average global temperature will temporarily exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for at least one of the next five years. This is according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). This is a reminder warning that we are getting ever closer to the goals set in the Paris Agreement on climate change, which refers to long-term temperature increases over decades. In the same week, the Woodland Trust ran a press release that the tree population of the UK is likely to change by the end of the century. Some of the species that we refer to as British natives will be lost or seriously depleted, as the fluctuations in the weather create pronounced conditions such as drought or excessive flooding making survival in specific areas more difficult.
Of the species most at risk, sorbus and birch were underlined as those at most in danger of being lost. We are already seeing this effect on the estate as even established trees of these species are finding it difficult to cope with the conditions that have presented themselves over the last few years. As mentioned previously, we are now replanting lost trees with species that are more inclined to tolerate extremes in conditions to come.
Former golf course nature reserve
In October, work commenced to create a new £7.3m National Trust wetland nature reserve in Lincolnshire. The Trust announced the commencement of landscape works to transform a former golf course into a wetland nature reserve which will be located at Sandilands, near Sutton-on-Sea. The National Trust’s 62-acre site will see open water and islands, grasslands and sand-dunes, as well as reedbeds and ponds, complete with walkways and boardwalks. A new visitor centre and café, designed by local practice Jonathan Hendry Architects, will help fund the conservation of the wetland when the project completes in spring 2026. Each year there is a small loss of golf courses in the UK, which has slowed since the pandemic but is still evident. The main reasoning for closures has been financial failure and rising costs of managing a facility, with a low customer or membership base in a specific remote location or overpopulated (with facilities) area with a number of courses outweighing golfers. The municipal sector is also an area where pressures on council budgets have led to the closing of facilities and the possible selling of land for redevelopment. There have been successes also, with new courses opening in specific regions of London and the St Andrew’s area but these locations have a specific gravitas for a customer base. Any loss of golf courses is bad news for the industry, specifically in getting new players into the sport and enjoying the merits of the game.