why are we cutting trees down

Why Us Greenkeepers Cut Down Trees? You may have noticed we’ve been doing some tree and scrub removal on the 6th hole and a few other areas around the Course. Believe it or not, we don’t just do it so that we can have a fire on a cold day!!! Trees can be great assets on golf courses. They can provide • A strategic point of interest, for example a target at the back of a green • Definition of a hole • Screening between holes • Visual impact • Ecological value • Carbon sequestration (The process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide) Along with these positive values, they can also create major problems by • Restricting light and air flow to playing areas of turf, thus creating ideal environments for disease • Roots can spread towards playing areas which causes damage to very expensive machinery (a tree’s roots can spread one and a half times the size of its canopy) • Some trees are seen as weeds on golf courses such as Leylandii (Conifer) • Some trees have very short life spans such as the tall Poplars we have on the course. They mature from the inside out so disease cannot be seen. Trees can become diseased and dangerous • Brambles are a weed, not a screening plant. So clearance is needed to encourage grassed areas which attract ground nesting birds and insects • Trees within woodlands sometimes need to be removed to allow other trees to flourish (The Woodland Trust actually encourage this) Most dead or diseased trees that we remove, are then piled in areas such as behind the 9th to encourage wildlife habitats. We have several dead trees that need to be removed for Health and Safety reasons that will be attended to over the coming months. So please believe us, we’re not just doing it for the sake of it! Ben Deputy Course Manager

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