Tree Root Pruning for Golf Courses

Trees affect golf courses in two main ways, shade and root competition.  While shade may make the golfer happy, the root competition can leave the greens and fairways looking awful.  The solution is annual tree root pruning.

Many of the older golf courses are lined with trees along fairways and around greens and tee boxes.  The newer golf courses typically do not have as many trees and the trees will generally be farther removed from fairway edges and greens surrounds, however, tree root pruning can still be effective on the newer courses to improve the primary and secondary rough and protect greens and tee boxes from tree root competition.

A common misconception about tree root competition is the belief that the tree root mass will mimic the crown of the tree, when in reality, tree roots can grow out from the base of tree a distance equal to two to three times the height of the tree.   In addition to the extent and mass of tree roots extending from the base of the tree, it is know that the majority of small fine feeder roots will be in the upper 8 to 12 inches of the soil profile, and this is the same rootzone as the turfgrass.

Approximately 10 % of the wood mass of trees is found underground in the form of roots, and the majority of this mass is very small fine feeder roots that can coalesce well into fine turf areas of fairways and greens and tee boxes.  Tree roots that extend into fine turf areas will rob the turfgrass of both water and much needed nutrients.

  It is estimated that a mature oak tree for example can use as much as 80 gallons of water per day, and at the same time rob the soil of nutrients that the turfgrass needs.

Whenever the battle exist between plants and trees over water and nutrients, the tree will always win, leaving the plants starving for moisture and nutrient uptake.

Tree Root Pruning : How Often?

It is recommended that tree roots be pruned on golf courses at least every other year.  In most cases, our clients choose annual tree root pruning because they see such a difference in the turf.

Tree roots extending into golf greens can be a major problem and will sometimes be misdiagnosed.  Often times we will see areas of greens that are weak, and off color and needing to be watered more frequently by hand.  Many times the weak areas of greens affected by tree root competition will never be as healthy as the rest of the green even with special attention.  When the turf is weakened by root competition it is more susceptible to disease, and algae is also a common problem in the thin or bare areas on golf greens.  Tree root pruning is the only solution when faced with this problem otherwise only the symptom will be treated, and without much lasting success.

When pruning around greens that have a know tree root problem it is suggested to make two passes around the green, the first pass will be at the collar of the green as close as possible without getting into the actual green, and the second pass will be down low at the base of the slope.  Tee box root pruning can be done the same way as greens for better results.

Tree Root Pruning Methods

Different methods of tree root pruning can be used ranging from actual trenching with ditch witch or similar, to vibratory plow or using the Imants tree root pruning machine.  Ditching around the golf course is very labor intensive and recovery is problematic and slow.  Sometimes a barrier will be used in the ditching process for a more permanent solution, but it is known that the roots can still go underneath and also over the top of barriers.

The vibratory plow can be used pretty effectively, however, the plow blade will pull up out of the ground many roots that are not actually cut off and hand labor will be required to clean this up.  The Imants root pruner seems to be the best option for speed and no clean up is required.  This is certainly the best choice for frequent root pruning that is essential for healthy turfgrass.