Tree work is something that we do every winter to remove dead or dying trees. Not only are these trees unsightly, but they are also dangerous if left. For example, I've attached two pictures of one tree we removed yesterday that had a nine foot split down the trunk. It is a credit to the strength of a tree's wood that it was still standing, however it wouldn't have been too long before it fell on its own. To give you an idea of how deep the split was, I cut the tree about a foot off the ground and was only a few inches below where the split started. At a glance this tree had a very nice canopy and looked to be in great shape, but in reality it could have come down at any time, especially once the leaves filled in and caught wind (effectively acting like a sail).
A great majority of the trees removed this year are Ash. This is because of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) that was introduced in the U.S. in 2002 and has no natural predators, allowing it to spread unchecked through the country. EAB adults lay their eggs in the bark of the tree, and when the larvae hatches it starts eating and feeds on the phloem which disrupts the movement of nutrients through the tree, causing a decline in health culminating in the death of the tree. The bad news is that most of our ash trees have succumb to the EAB however, a majority of these were smaller trees and not large, specimen trees or ones named after former presidents. (Not that we have those, but did you guys know that the Eisenhower tree at Augusta was taken down after a recent ice storm?)
So far this year we have worked on the left side of number 7, right side of numbers 15 and 16 and still have a few other dead trees around the course. The removal of trees will mean that we can grow better grass, which will give you better lies to play out of (if you happen to have a bad shot that gets into the trees). Once the leaves fill-in on the trees, it will be hard to remember a time when there were dead trees mixed in with the healthy ones.
Thanks,
Ian
