The weather this week has been dry with chill mornings and sunny spells during the day and it has provided good conditions for us to cut and collect the environmental rough.We have very wide fairways and cut rough, to accommodate the standard of golfer playing a pay and play golf course.
The environmental rough though out of direct line of play except for the very wayward golf shot provides good definition  to the holes as well as providing a very valuable habitat for small mammals,insects and birds.Its in this rough you are likely to see the pheasants,hares and  other small animals.
It is important that this management programme is carried out annually,by cutting and collecting we are removing nutrients held in the grass leaves,and this will help reduce the vigour of the plant.
By annually cutting these areas we prevent the natural ingress of coarse weeds and scrub which would quickly colonise in these areas and reduce the grass land.This natural process can be seen in different areas around the course where we have allowed the natural change of grass to scrub land, and this will further progess in time from scrubland to woodland.An example can be seen between the 5th and 6th holes of the Hawk course which was at one time all grassland but this is now changing as we allow scrub to develop and seperated the view between the 2 holes .
As part of our management programme we use selective herbicides on those areas were course weeds start to dominant especially creeping thistle and bristle ox tongue to keep the enviro rough clean and  aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
We will be using a product in certain areas called Rescue which helps to control and remove certain coarse species of grass and this will help us to produce a finer grass sward.which will be less vigorous in growth and easier to find balls in. This is an on going year by year programme which is now showing signs of improvement in the environmental rough .

                                                    6th heron before cutting and collecting

                                                  6th heron after cutting and collecting

                                                      cut and collecting in front of the 5th tee

This week we have hollow cored all the greens with mini tines in a close pattern to remove thatch from the soil profile.This will aid water and nutrient intake, improve root growth, relieve compaction and stimulate the soil micro organisms.The conditions to undertake this work were ideal,with the soil moist  but the surface dry  allowing good core removal,with little turf disturbance and a dry surface making core collection easier.The operation took four staff,one driving the tractor and aercore machine,three core collecting into gators and then mowing the green  twice to put the green back into play

                                           All finished and greens in play after nearly 2 days

The greens were recently solid tined  and then we sprayed them with a wetting agent to aid water penetration into the root zone and seaweed  was added to aid root growth. This was followed by a good drop  of rain to wash it all in to the soil profile.A few days later we applied a growth control  mixed with some fertiliser to keep  the growth  even.The tees have also been sprayed with a similar cocktail of products.Weed control has been mainly carried out with our knapsack sprayer to spot treat isolated weed areas around the surrounds of greens and tees as well as fairways and roughs.
The sprayer is an essential part of our equipment  in managing the turf areas with a variety of products all year round.

                                                    solid tining the 8th green Hawk

We have been registered with Operation Pollinator since late 2012.After the first full growing season of 2013 very little was seen in the way of wildflowers in the sown area between the 5th and 6th of the Heron and I was disappointed with the results.I put this down to the cold winter of 2012 and the wet 2013.However 2014 has proved me wrong  with a much improved showing especially the wild carrot,red clover and vetch.These are native perennials which are all good for pollinating insects.
   

                                            wild carrot with the 6th tee heron in background

The wildflower areas with there annual mix of species continue to provide a talking point in the carpark and the same mix was used near the 9th green Heron

                                                                wildflowers 9th Heron
Recently Sean my Deputy was very concerned about the health of the fish in the pond by the clubhouse (as this is very much his passion and hobby) so with his contacts specialist anglers came to remove some of them to another lake.

Fishing the Pond

Following our weed control spraying programme this is followed up by spot treating areas missed or new weeds growing in.A blue dye is added to the mix to aid visibility so the operator can see where the chemical has been applied.This keeps the playing areas clean and well presented.

                                            spot weed treatment 2nd fairway Hawk

 Summer is now in full swing with plenty of sport to watch,world cup football in Brazil, tennis at wimbledon, or playing golf or football golf at South Essex.We started to copy wimbledon  on one of greens as it looked very much as if we had lined it out for tennis very badly but we were adding sand to smooth out the burnt hydraulic oil lines and aid the recovery of the green, the sand was then luted in to smooth out the surface and the green has now nearly all recovered.

We know we've had a busy weekend by how much litter is in the bins around the course .

bin 6th Vixen tee

Work has begun on the renovating the path that was washed out and uneven from the 7th green to the 8th green on the Hawk course, road planings were added and wacker plated in to create a more even surface for traffic.

The wildflower area on the carpark banking is now in full flower and providing colour as well as nectar to insects

The money donated by the senior section for a hive of bees in October has now been delivered and are on site  busy setting up there hive.

I always find it  exciting to see wildlife on the course especially something I don't see often, and  a week ago I saw a grass snake sliding across the 6th vixen fairway just after a group of golfers walked passed towards the green.

The sprayer has been out and about on the course in the last couple of weeks,catching up with our spraying programme.The greens have been treated with a wetting agent,this aids water penetration into the root zone profile breaking down the waxy coating  in the soil caused by fungi that can inhibit water movement.This is known as an hydrophobic soil in that water is repelled from the soil rather than absorbed and this makes it unavailable to the plant roots .Dry patch areas on the greens appear in high temperatures when the grass plant does not have enough water to maintain plant function and therefore signs of drought stress occur,even irrigation does not always directly help so using these wetters allow the soil to become re wetted and water is then available to the plant.We also use wetting agent pellets when hand watering specific areas on the greens.
A liquid feed mixed with a growth regulator was applied to maintain plant health without excessive growth .We have continued with our maintenance  of regular brushing and sarel rolling the greens this helps with uniformity of the surface as well as aiding water and air into the surface.

In the roughs a mix of three similar products of selective weed control were applied giving a broad control of a wide variety of weeds(plants that are growing where we don't want them to) this keeps these areas clean  and aids finding your ball.
More areas of the the environmental rough have been cutting down which reduces the time spent looking for "lost balls" there by speeding up play, and giving those golfers who play more wayward shots an easier round and a better feel good factor and perhaps a desire to come and play South Essex again.

            Ornamental Poppies with a view to the 9th green vixen from the road into the carpark

I have a link to YouTube to see a video  I have put together of the bluebells taken this spring at south essex golf club .http://youtu.be/_sHBRxNVAeI

June is for me the time when the course is reaching its most colourful,with the trees now in full leaf and the grasses in the roughs standing tall and growing there seed heads.The maintenance work is very much focused on mowing and presentation.The greens have received a low nitrogen granular feed and recently sarel rolled to keep the surface  open.We have strimmed the edges of the bunkers and sprayed around the inner edges with a total weed control this has a blue dye added so its easier to see when applying.

Craig working on the 5th Vixen bunker

The paths have also been weed sprayed to keep them clean and better presented

The shrub beds on the 4th and 9th vixen have had wood chip spread over them this helps to suppress weeds and acts as a mulch as well as giving a clean managed appearance and the material was provide free as well from tree surgeons working near by .

The pond on by the 5th tee on the vixen is hard to distinguish at the moment ,this is due to a small   invasive foreign pond plant  called azolla,which under the right conditions spreads rapidly to colonise the surface and covering it completely .This cuts out light and air entering the pond.We have suffered this before in other ponds on the course but natural occurring fauna in the pond has previously controlled it so we hope this will happen in this pond

Certain areas of rough around the course are being cut down to help reduce slow play and improve scoring.

The flower beds around the clubhouse are now coming into there own and looking very colourful 

 the new bed that we created and called Raymond's triangle is also looking colourful see photo below