After the winter of 2020/2021, many courses in the Lake Tahoe region experienced turf decline and lost turf due to ice cover, primarily in areas with limited sunlight exposure. Reflecting on the past winter has superintendents thinking about ways to avoid similar damage in future years – with tree removal at the top of the list.
While removing trees within 80 to 100 feet from putting green perimeters or other primary playing areas may help to reduce root competition and may improve sun penetration, experience has shown that it is most effective to remove trees in “windows” or “corridors” beyond that radius to effectively increase sunlight exposure for more of the year. This may mean removing five, 10, or up to 40 trees or more in some cases. In the image above you can see how numerous trees were removed in two strategic corridors located southeast and south of this green. In this case, sunlight was increased by 2 1/2 to 3 hours from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the late fall, winter and early spring months when sun angles are relatively low. Fortunately, this work was completed prior to ice formation this past winter and this green performed much better than it had historically.
When planning tree removal efforts, focus on opening sunlight windows in strategic areas. Typically, that means removing groups of trees to the southeast and south of primary playing areas. Tree removal can be a contentious subject and USGA agronomists are here to help you navigate those sensitive situations.
West Region Agronomists:
Brian Whitlark, senior consulting agronomist – bwhitlark@usga.org
Cory Isom, agronomist – cisom@usga.org