Spring Burn 2024

The burning of our wetlands has been ongoing on dry days. 

This practice is helpful in mitigating the establishment of the non-native and 

invasive species of vegetation that compromise the habitat and 

storm-water management functionality of our wetlands. 

Entrance Sign Painting

 This winter we had a couple nice warm days in February for putting a fresh coat of paint on our Almond Road  entrance sign. Good job Bernardo!

Wood Chipping Winter 2024

 In December and January 2024 we spent six weeks outside everyday on hole 1-9 with chain saws, removing invasive brush in our native areas. We also trimmed up the low hanging branches of the golf course trees. In the last two weeks of February we worked all day every day with a chipper, grinding up the branches and logs. Here you can see that the pro-shop staff helped us out. Special thanks to Aiden, Joe, Evan and Lance!

The chips were dumped on our parking lot. Here you get some sense for the mass volume of trimming that we accomplished. Next year we will do the same process on holes 10-18. 

First Mowing 2024

March 6 of 2024 was our first mowing of putting greens.

This might be the earliest we have mowed greens.

 

Indoor Winter Work

During the off-season we complete many projects that the golfers may not be aware of.

When the conditions are not favorable for working efficiently outdoors, we turn attention to projects that can be effectively completed indoors.

Painting the superintendents office.

Painting the shop interior

Organizing and painting of the parts room.

Painting of the golf course accessories.

 

Controlled Burn Fall of 2023

The fall of 2023 was ideal for a controlled burn of the woodland areas at Bittersweet. The wetland areas were too green to get a good controlled burn, but we will attempt to burn these areas again in the spring of 2024. The controlled burn is helpful for control of invasive vegetation. We appreciate the cooperation of home owners when we generate the smoke from the burn. 

The area below was cleared of buck-thorn by hand in 2012. It has subsequently been burned every three years or so. 

The photos which follow this photo were taken in this woodland area last spring, showing that it is now filled with native 

wild flowers and ground cover. 

Native Geraniums are in bloom throughout the month of June. 

All this clearing and burning work in our native woodland areas is making Bittersweet golf course an abundant source of nectar for the bees and native pollinators.

Buttercups

Dog-tooth Lilies

May-apples on hole number 1.

Red Trillium

Solomon's Seal on hole 11.

Winter Forestry 2023/24

This winter is beginning with perfect weather for forestry work in-house. Here you can see that Bernardo, Caesar and Noe have cleared all of the invasive brush in the natural area behind 4 green. The clearing of the invasive brush will allow the grasses to grow in these areas. The grasses will allow for us to get a better controlled burn cycle of these areas for the control of invasive plants that compromise water quality and wildlife habitat. 

We are going hole by hole and trimming up low hanging branches 

that interfere with a full back-swing.

We are removing the brush that is growing in our naturalized pond embankments and perimeters. This allows for a clearer shot to the greens. It is also an important environmental practice that mitigates silt deposits.  When brush is allowed to overgrow water edges, the shade that is cast from the brush reduces the grasses that are integral in holding the soils in place from erosion.

This is the natural area left of 1 green. By removing the invasive brush we will allow more sunlight to reach the forest floor so that grasses and wildflowers can grow. This will will provide a more beautiful and natural habitat for wild life. It also allows golfers to find 

their ball with greater ease. And the denser ground cover 

growth will help with controlling silt. 

Here you can see we have cut down a dead Austrian Pine tree behind 1 green. The pines that were planted at Bittersweet are not native and therefore we will be reallocating the resources that were consumed by the non-native pines for improving the dozens of native plant and wildlife habitat areas which are spread throughout the entire property. 

Here we have removed a grove of invasive buck-thorn and honeysuckle brush that will gradually restore itself to its original native prairie grass design. 

Another dead pine tree has been removed here.

A lot of wood is on the ground and ready to be run through 

the chipper as soon as we get some frozen ground to 

run the truck and chipper over.