Trees, Flowers and Brick Pavers

 

A couple of weeks ago, we planted 8 trees to start replacing the ash trees that are infected with Emerald Ash Borer.  I plan on buying 8 more next week.  This is possible with member donations.  A variety of trees have been chosen including oak, pear, and maple.

 

Over the last week, the crew was busy finishing up flower beds.  We are trying Vinca this year in many of the beds.

 

On Monday, we gave the greens a light topdressing.  The sand was dragged in.  That night we got an inch of rain and we were able to mow in the morning.

 

Our golf pro/manager has been working on a brick paver walkway.  Our grounds department did most of the digging, moving of gravel and sand while Scott did the tamping and installation of the brick pavers.  After he finishes up the brick pavers, we will clean up, add sod and some shrubbery.  We hope to get more weddings when finished.

Time for Irrigation

With an above average April for rain, I finally turned the irrigation on last week.  In 2012, it was done at the end of March.

 

 

Before we can start turning on sprinklers, there are a few things to be done first.  The intake pipe was attached several weeks ago.  Several gauges and tubes were then reattached in the pump house.  The intake pipe must be primed.  This involves using a small sump pump to fill the intake line.  We then turn on the jockey pump and slowly fill the miles of pipe.  Jose runs around with quick coupler keys and lets air out of the lines as they fill with water.  When the pipes are full and pressurized, I can start checking each heads.  This process takes several hours.

 

This year went great.  No broken heads or pipes.  This means we had a successful blow out.  If we don't get all the water out, broken pipes will result.  We had a few heads stick on.  Jose usually flushes out valves and they are ready to go.

New flower bed at # 8 tee.

 

Our old red and blue flags were replace with donations by a couple of members.  We also got new flag sticks for the front nine.  With a limited budget, these donations have helped immensely.