Pinehurst Tree Update

Tree care is abundant at Pinehurst. With over 1300 trees on the property and more than 45 varieties, there’s more to it than just cleaning up debris in the fall.

Most of the trees at the club are not native to Denver or even Colorado. The native plants are Rocky Mountain Junipers, Willows, Cottonwoods and Scrub Oak. They are hardy plants that can deal with the terrors of the Colorado climate. But let’s face it, those trees aren’t all that appealing, especially in a residential and golf course setting.

Denver is not kind to trees. It’s hot, dry, cold, snowy, windy, close to the sun and the soils are terrible. Clay and rock is not a great life for most plants. Yet, when population grows the desire for newer and diverse landscapes increase.

This leads way to the Maples, Ash, Oak, Locusts, Lindens, Pines, Spruce and of course the fruit trees. Oh there’s more too, like the Hackberry, Coffee, Catalpa, Raintree and Elms.

The average lifespan for a tree in Denver is under three years! Why? We have so many large trees at the club. Think of how many trees have been planted on the property over the years that didn’t make it? In a golf course setting our average lifespan is going to be greater due to the expansive irrigation system recharging the soils and the fact a management grounds team has been caring for all plants for 60+ years.

Plants have an amazing way of adapting to nature and the climate. Not all plants do. The non-native plants can really struggle.

However most trees take time to react to stress. Much longer than people or certainly turfgrass. But the climate is changing. Certainly when we introduce new plants to our native environment.

Think for a minute how connected the world is today. We’ve learned how fast can a virus can spread throughout the globe. This is not much different in landscape management. Insects, disease, seeds, weeds, algae and other threats can be transported around the world so easily and most times without much knowledge of it happening. In some cases, these are threats in one part of the world and part of the natural ecosystem in their native land. 

We have a number of Austrian and Scotch Pines having a tough go of it lately. I’m sure most of you forget the dry and hot summer of 2020. Followed by an extremely dry fall and early winter of 2021. The winter of 2022/23 came calling. We experienced three rounds of sub-zero temperatures this past winter. Many of our trees are now showing signs of drought and cold temperature stress.

Freeze burn on pines are quite common throughout town. Drought stress is plentiful all over, especially those in xeriscape settings. Though, most trees can recover from these stresses with a healthy summer, however now we are seeing a rise in tree insect populations around town. The Ips Beetle, Pine Beetle, Emerald Ash Borer and the Pine Sawyer Beetle which carries nematodes that are lethal to pines.

Ips beetle damage has been noticed in the neighborhood of the club. EAB is coming. The Pine Beetle is always here. The Pine Sawyer is setting up shop in town now. The tricky part here is the lack of good testing to really find out if that has been the cause of some trees.

I’m not here to scare you or say that we are turning back the clock to 1960 with our tree landscape. However, this is the first time in the life of 6255 W. Quincy Avenue that we have had trees this old. Ever.

Older trees are more susceptible to stress, insects and disease. The old locust trees at the pool patio did not come out because of a pool renovation. They succumbed to canker and no longer had a useful life.

This is also not a cry that we need to keep planting at will either. Trees take up a lot of water and certainly outcompete turf for sunlight and nutrients. A careful tree management plan is critical and something we constantly fall back on when managing trees.

The turf always comes first when managing a golf course. But tree care is a close second  

Over the next couple of weeks we will be spraying and spending some extra care on trees to help protect them from insect pressure. We contract this work out by reputable applicators and take advantage of some downtime on the golf courses.

Proper tree care continues to make our property unique. Some trees we’ll just have to do without. Sticking with our plan will help guide us into the future for generations at the club.