Surprise on 13
This year was a different year for our native wildflower species coming in around the golf course! We normally see a domination of purple Lupine and some Oxeye Daisy surrounding some of our ponds, like 12 and 13. We flail mow all open areas surrounding homes, pond edges and fescue on the course starting in the spring and continuing through to the fall.
This year, the biggest surprise was north of #13 pond! This was one area we stayed away from as an incredible show was put on with multiple varieties of wildflowers and beneficial insects dominated the area. It was teaming with butterflies, honeybees, grasshoppers, dragon flies thanks to the diverse selection of native wildflowers. We decided to protect this area by not mowing around the pond until the wildflowers had finished their season and had gone to seed for next year.
This resembles a picture right out of the prairies, a type of meadow grassland that provides all sorts of life for our beneficial insects. In the future, we hope to encourage more areas like this around the golf course for humans and beneficials to enjoy.
Check out the show next year when passing, sometimes things like this go unnoticed.
Alan Ayres
Superintendent
