|
i
<br /> complete. Maintenance and budget cuts are Scots, golf course architects brought in tradition.Eventually,with prices escalating
<br /> causing concern but there is plenty that can sheep fescue, heather, and Scotch broom very rapidly, we are going to have to go
<br /> he done with wildflowers. If we work with for that authentic look." Many mature and back to natural-look areas. But it isn't just
<br /> mother nature (our most important land- exclusive courses have always been more economics. In the past 10 years more peo-
<br /> scape architect and engineer). use her de- than wall-to-wall green. Newly-designed pie arc interested in the out-of-doors an
<br /> signs and materials, we won't have to use and remodeled courses are going back to going back to nature."
<br /> as much labor, water, or fertilizer," sums the traditional look. One of the most beautiful courses in the
<br /> up Craig Steffens of Texas. According to Allan MacCurrach, PGA country according to Mr. Cornish is the•
<br /> "Using wildflowers opens up alterna- tour agronomist, "Wall-to-wall grass started golf course at the Industry Hills Convention
<br /> fives, a whole new world for designers, after World War II when Florida started Center near Los Angeles. "It has wild-
<br /> planners, producers, and planters. Coop- booming. The easiest thing to do was to flowers in the roughs, including the grass
<br /> citation among people from different dis- plant grass. We have gone too tar to the
<br /> ciplincs is the key. We need artists in the park look and the trend is going back to Please turn the page
<br /> visual and line arts—such as Chapman
<br /> IKelly. Artists have vision." '
<br /> I As Adrian Clary of the Roadside Main-
<br /> tenancc Committee of the Transportation ENVIRONMENTAL
<br /> Research Board concludes, "The natural
<br /> roadside is coming. We can no longer
<br /> afford to maintain roadsides as parkways. STABILIZERS
<br /> With the judicious use of mowing and
<br /> •
<br /> chemicals the time has come to let nature "Safe natural products for every environmental need."
<br /> take its course. We can all use the money,
<br /> •
<br /> and there is no shortage of things we can ESI TAK
<br /> do with the time." is a non-toxic erosion control and
<br /> The roadside is not the only place where adhesive mulch stabilizer made from naturally occurring
<br /> the lawn-look is being challenged by wild- and biodegradable materials,used primarily in
<br /> flowers. hydroseeding.
<br /> •bonds seed,fertilizer slurry,and wood I
<br /> On the Coll Course cellulose fibers together and to the soil in one
<br /> "There has been a strong trend toward operation
<br /> using native grasses and wildflowers on •protects seed and soil on up to vertical slopes
<br /> against heavy rain and high winds
<br /> 40
<br /> golfcourses",says Paul Fulmer,Executive •wettable powder readily mixes into cold
<br /> Secretary of the American Society of Golf water solutions without balling up.
<br /> Course year (ASGCA).. This goes ESI-BONDESI
<br /> back two years ago to the Society's annual
<br /> meeting which was held in Scotland. What is a non-toxic.biodegradable.
<br /> made the tour especially memorable was non-petroleum based polymer resin blend which provides
<br /> the discovery that the Scots spend much a sale.transparent adhesive that can bond up to two and
<br /> three inch rocks in place on steep slopes
<br /> less money on mowing, fertilizing, and •provides a water resistant. long lived surface
<br /> maintenance." As Fulmer points out, "It's crusting which prevents erosion of dirt,
<br /> • not just the initial cost but the upkeep that gravel. and rock on hillsides
<br /> has to be considered. In live years (at •controls Washington State's Mt St Helens
<br /> •
<br /> $250,000 a year) a golf course can spend volcanic ash on tools,streets.and runways
<br /> •coats underground storage tanks and
<br /> as much on maintenance as it cost to put basement walls and provides a moisture
<br /> in the course in the first place($1,250,00))." barrier under buildings
<br /> One of the obvious means of reducing
<br /> the cost of maintenance and the cost of ESI ATOR
<br /> water is by reducing the number of acres is a non-toxic,bio-catalytic
<br /> that need special care. Studies quoted by ferment that is used to improve growth on hardpan, I
<br /> ' Richard M. Phelps, past president of the compacted and clay soils •
<br /> ASGCA, found that annual maintenance •provides better penetration and retention of
<br /> •
<br /> moisture,opens and aerates the soil,and
<br /> costs can be reduced as much as 35% by activates fertilizer
<br /> establishing new mowing patterns and •facilitates new growth.revitalizes older
<br /> heights and reducing the acreage mowed. vegetation,and improves soil environment
<br /> The approach must he professionally planned for the growth of beneficial micro-organisms
<br /> and integrated gradually with a lot of com- •conditions home lawns.parks.and golf
<br /> •• courses and helps control thatch
<br /> munication so everyone knows why changes
<br /> I are being made and how they relate to acs- _I ENVIRONMENTAL STABILIZERS ' ..
<br /> t (belies, playability, and lower costs. / INTERNATIONAL, INC. •
<br /> ! Geoffrey Cornish, golf historian, past ';•.••14$11.,-;
<br /> president of ASGCA, and author (with f 1313 E. 25th St. P.O. Box 1962 °
<br /> Ronald Whitten)of The Golf Course,says, Tacoma, WA 98402 206/383-4971
<br /> "Many golf course architects are thinking
<br /> Dealer inquiries invited
<br /> along the lines of a more natural look. Be-
<br /> fore World War I, when all the pros were
<br /> I NatureSen'pe September 1981 Circle #11 on Reader Service Card 11
<br /> ±f
<br />
|