Trees are down, time to grind the stumps

Our tree removal project is getting closer to being finished. Last month the trees were cut down, and now we are getting the stumps ground and the holes cleaned up and filled. The photo on the left shows Jack Carlson, our stump grinding contractor, working away on a stump behind #3 green. Jack is the best in his business and does most of the grinding work at golf courses  throughout the Greater Puget Sound area. He takes the extra time to grind the stumps at least 18" below grade. We fill the holes with a mixture of soil and sand which makes a good medium to grow new grass on.

Once Jack is done grinding, we scoop up the shavings with an excavator and haul them off to the dump on #3.

Once the stump shavings are removed, it's time to fill in the holes. The timing of this project is a benefit to us in that we need to make room for more compost. We are green waste generators and don't have adequate room to store it all. Below is a photo of the beginning of our compost process.

 Our compost feed stock is usually leaves, grass clippings, pieces of sod, aeration plugs, and other plant trimmings.We put all the small branches, sticks, rocks, and other unwanted materials out in the green waste dump above #3 fairway. We'll turn this pile at least one a week until it starts looking like compost, then move it to another bin for further decomposition.

 We turn this pile weekly until it looks like it's ready to use. Next it gets moved over to one of the big piles for storage until we can use it, or find someone willing to take it away for free. The final product is better than anything you can buy, and it costs us nothing.

These piles make up about one half of what we generate each year, around 250-300 yards. So far we've had enough projects to use the material we generate, but we may need to find a home for it soon since we're out of storage space.

 Some of the stump holes like this one on the left side of #8 take a lot of fill to restore the area. This hole took four yards of material to fill in.

Once the holes are filled in and smoothed out, we'll run an aerator around the entire area. Next fertilize and seed everything, and rope it off until the new turf is mature enough for traffic. This summer it will look like there were never any trees in the area, and the greens will get the required light they need to be healthy.