Turtles and golf

When the Traver Creek Project was started, one of the most interesting parts was the turtle stipulation. In order to begin the creek renovation, a permit was submitted to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ.) To satisfy the MDEQ permit of the project, turtles and other herptofauna were relocated from the two inline detention basins (AKA ponds on holes #12 and #17) on Traver Creek to the pond on #8. There are at least four large snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) and numerous painted turtles(Chrysemys picta) in Traver Creek and there was concern over what would happen to these turtles during and after the project was completed. To help them after the project, four sand piles were created for the turtles to use as nesting areas. 

A mother laying her eggs.

The eggs in the nest.

The eggs are marked  so that the same side remains up in the new nest.

When there is a nest located where someone doesn't want it or in a place that this young will not have a good chance for survival, NAP staff will collect the eggs and bring them to one of the nesting mounds. These eggs were taken from the bunker on #6 at Huron Hills and transplanted to the pond near #12 at Leslie. A shallow hole was excavated and the eggs placed inside. After covering the eggs with soil, a predator exclusion box was placed over the nest. This will keep raccoons and other small animals from eating them until they hatch in September.

One of the turtle nesting mounds. There was also a nest that was found on the nesting mound that was covered.

The predator exclusion box, along with an explanation of what it is and a phone number for questions.

This is a favorite place for turtles to lay eggs, as this is the third year in a row that the same spot has been used as a nest.

The turtles go into a trance when laying eggs and do not respond. Please stay away from them during this process.

Dr. Leslie's Orchard (Revisited)

Note: This is an blog post I first published in 2012 and again in 2014. It has been updated, but I also feel like it is good information to keep putting out there.

Before Doctor Leslie donated the land for Leslie Park Golf Course, he and his wife had been running the land as a farm. On this farm, he planted wheat, corn and other annual crops, but a large portion of the land was devoted to orchards. They had cherries, pears and apples, as well as blueberries and raspberries.  The area where 5, 6, 7 and 8 are now located was predominately pears, apples and cherries. A small portion of this orchard was retained when the course was built. It was originally a 12 row by 12 row section, with a few trees outside of this square. That would have been 144 trees.

The Orchard looking toward #8 green from #6 fairway.

When I started with the City of Ann Arbor, there were less than 100 of these trees left. Through the previous 40 plus years, the trees naturally died out. Since the purpose of Leslie Park was to be a golf course and not an orchard, this was not a priority. The life expectancy of these trees is not overly long, and since they were planted around the time of World War II or before, it became clear to me that if nothing was done, we would lose the entire orchard. Since this was an integral part of the strategy for playing holes 6 and 8, as well as an homage to the former use of the land, we decided to start replanting the orchard.

Planting trees in 2012.

The first step was to decide what to plant. The "holes" in the orchard were filled in with a mixture of Bartlett pears, Comice pears, Honeycrisp apples and Red Delicious apples. The apples were added to bring about some of the historical feel to the orchard, even though this part did not have any apples. We started slowly on the 8 fairway side. This was to get a feel for how to proceed and give us some experience with the different trees. In 2010, we planted 16 apple and pear trees. We soon discovered that the deer love the apple trees but leave the pears pretty much alone. We started to experiment with deer deterrents and finally settled on cages. The following year, we planted another 18 pears and apples, along with 12 cherry trees.

The cherry trees are added to the northern section of the orchard, near #7 green. In 2009, there were 6 cherries here and stumps for 30 more. Over the past seven years, four of these old cherries have died. Unfortunately, the last two do not appear to have survived the harsh winter. Then, this spring, one of them fell over.

The two old cherry trees still do not have leaves.

Only one original cherry tree remains.

This pear has seen better days.

This is an apple tree we planted in 2014.

Since 2009, we have planted 48 apple and pear trees, as well as some cherry trees. Only 71 of the original pear trees are still alive. The gaps in the old  orchard are now almost filled. When that happens, we will only be replacing the old trees when they die.

As a golf course manager, you have to stay one step ahead. As an ancient Chinese proverb says, "The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is right now."

May 2016 Weather Summary

The high temperature for the month of May was 87.0 degrees, on May 28th, which was in the middle of a stretch of 9 straight days above 80 degrees.That stretch is likely to grow longer, since we are currently still experiencing those warm temperatures. The low temperature for the month was 35.5 degrees (16th.)  The average temperature for the month was 60.0 degrees.

The month of May had 8 days of rain that totaled 2.14 inches, with the highest daily total falling on the 12th.(0.86 inches) Five days saw precipitation of over a tenth of an inch. For the year, we have gotten 10.08 inches of rain. While the monthly total was a fair amount, the last appreciable rainfall was on the 14th. By the end of the month, areas without irrigation had started to go brown and dormant.

The average windspeed for the month was 2.4 mph. The highest sustained windspeed was 28 mph, on the 4th.