Trees are what makes Findlay Country Club a great course, but they don't come free. About 40% of our labor between now and the end of March will go towards trees: leaf clean-up, picking up sticks, trimming trees over the winter, tree removal, tree planting and splitting firewood. We can also look at what trees cost us over the summer: string trimming around every tree at least once a month, stick clean-up every time there is a storm, blowing off tree debris daily on the playing surfaces, the inefficiency of rough mowers having to dodge trees and the damage that roots cause to mowers over time. The amount of our resources spent on trees is staggering. I am not advocating for a tree free FCC, just passing on information worth noting.
Today we spent 16 man hours on stick clean-up alone due to the high winds last night. This had to be done to allow us to clean-up more tree debris - leaves. We hope to get through the property one more time with a thorough leaf clean-up, but that job can't get done with thousands of damaging sticks in the way.
On to leaves tomorrow, course should be looking really clean by the end of the week. The great thing about turf that keeps growing and a course full of trees - job security!
