Below is an article published by the USGA Green Section:
When Trees
And Grass Compete, Trees Win
DECEMBER 15,
2017
By USGA
Green Section
When
trees compete with turf for resources, playing conditions often decline.
|
Every golf
course has a finite amount of space, sunlight, nutrients and water to support
plant life. Unfortunately, trees and turfgrass often compete for these
resources, and they don’t always like to coexist. Remember, it is unusual to
find trees in grassland prairies and we don’t often find turfgrass under forest
canopies.
While trees
can enhance a golf course, they also require continual management to prevent
them from causing turf issues. Trees near putting greens require special
attention because they can cause serious problems on these important playing
surfaces. Consistent tree management helps limit competition between trees and
turf for sunlight, water and nutrients.
Trees have
an obvious height advantage over turf when it comes to capturing sunlight.
Putting green turf is also at a major disadvantage in terms of leaf area
available to capture sunlight. To compensate for limited leaf area, most high
quality putting greens require full sun conditions throughout the day.
Trees also
block air movement, negatively affecting the turfgrass growing environment.
Insufficient air movement contributes to wet, soft playing surfaces that are
slow to dry. Disease and turf loss are more common in areas that remain wet for
extended periods. As such, it should come as no surprise that the most
problematic putting greens on a golf course usually are the ones surrounded by
trees. When problem trees are removed, these same putting greens often perform
better.
Competition
from tree roots is another issue. The majority of tree roots are quite shallow,
often occupying the same space as turfgrass roots. This results in competition
for water and nutrients, a battle that trees will usually win. Tree roots also
frequently grow into putting greens, damaging drainage systems and in some
cases even disrupting ball roll. For these reasons, root pruning is
periodically needed around trees growing in close proximity to fine turf areas.
Furthermore,
tree debris causes playability issues and can damage the blades of expensive
mowers. Many valuable labor hours are required to remove tree debris from
putting greens each year; labor hours that could have been allocated to other
tasks. There are also some trees – such as hackberry, juniper, oak, sycamore
and black walnut – that produce natural chemicals that can be toxic to other
plants, including turfgrass.
Trees can be
lovely to behold, but their location on a golf course must be carefully
considered to avoid difficult and costly turf problems. Successful tree
management requires routine monitoring, mapping and, when necessary, selective
pruning and removal to maintain healthy turf.