Trees and Shadows

Last fall and this past spring have motivated me to pay closer attention to tree's surrounding certain greens and the impact their shadows have on turf growth. The benefits of adequate sun in the fall include the typical increased air circulation and faster drying of tissue surfaces to help limit disease development. Another very important aspect of fall sun relates to the storing of carbohydrates (CHO) within the plant needed for overwintering and growth in the spring. As mentioned before, the growth habit of turf in the fall changes because of cooler temperatures and shorter days. These changes signal the plant to slow vertical growth and direct energy toward roots and the creation and storage of CHO's. The more light/energy available to a plant during the fall the more CHO's it can make and store which will help in winter survival and spring start up.
Good sun exposure in the early spring obviously helps in speeding the melt of snow and ice from the previous winter as well as warming up the soil quicker to increase plant and microbial activity.
The shade created by trees has many other physiological impacts on turf grass (low density, spindly and succulent growth, and poor root density) not to mention the direct competition trees pose to available resources for plant growth (light, water, and nutrients). Take a look and the following before and afters and see how selective tree removal can significantly increase available light and, hopefully, increase the health and, therefore, the playability of these surfaces.

8 Green Before

8 Green After

7 Green
Before and After

4 Green
Before and After

Removing trees is not the only maintenance practice we do to control their interference with growing turf. I've talked about root pruning before (November 3rd post in 2009) as it relates to cart paths. We also root prune around greens to limit root encroachment under greens. Kinda a boring picture but here it is.

Root Pruning Trench on 8G