Conservation & Ecology “
Greenkeepers have commented they are paid to manage a golf course and not a nature reserve, but I believe that, by making the tiniest of changes to the way we work, it would result in one huge difference to the environment
greenkeepers I’ve talked to have mentioned that they are paid to manage a golf course and not a nature reserve, but I believe that, by making the tiniest of changes to the way we work, it would result in one huge difference to the environment and the way that we are often perceived by the public - a waste of land and water springs to mind for that one! Unfortunately, this section of the public
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have already made up their minds that golf courses are environmentally poor where nothing good comes from them. Not unlike that small group of members at most courses have who have made up their minds that your golf course is managed badly, and that is that! So, with this in mind, the aim of this article is to introduce you to a minor project. One that can result in a significant change to the amount of wildlife you have on your golf course.
How do you make an eco-p pile?
First of all you need wood. Ideally, a fallen tree or limb will suffice, but please don’t go around chopping trees down to make an eco-pile because that really does defeat the objective, doesn't it? What do you then do with the wood? Simply cut it into manageable sizes and then stack it neatly in an out-of-play area; behind a tee or even deep in the woodland will do. Ideally though, it should be seen by golfers and visitors to your facility where it will then raise the question “why do you stack the wood like that?”, which is where you come in with the answers that are provided in this article. Before I proceed any further, however,
there’s still the question of what to do with the rest of the branches that are associated with a fallen tree. Chipping on site is a possibility. The woodchip can be recycled,
e, as sportsturf managers, are probably all aware, by now, that the majority of the UK’s invertebrates are in decline. A number of
along with your grass clippings and leaf material to make compost. Burning, as previously mentioned, is an option, but your burning site may be many metres away from the fallen tree, so this then requires a tractor, trailer and countless man hours. Stacking as a hibernacula for hedgehogs is also an option, but you then have to take into account that there is now a fire risk during the summer months when the stacked twigs and branches start to dry out - careful thought is required for that one! So, back to the eco-piles. There really is no set way of stacking them, other than making them as stable and neat as possible. I have added two photographs of examples of the type of eco-piles we have here at Fairhaven. In the main image (left), wood has simply been stacked carefully so as to appear neat and tidy. The image below shows vertical timber. Why stack timber vertically I hear you ask? Female stag beetles lay their eggs in the openings of vertical decaying timber and, as we all know, stag beetles are in trouble with a lack of places to live. Also, vertically stacked timber acts as a
brace for the taller horizontal piles, so everyone's a winner! The fact that stag beetles are almost non-existent north of Dudley doesn’t concern me at this point, because we are having this global warming affair drummed into us on a daily basis, and I guess it won’t be long before we start seeing them ‘up north’.
What is going to live in an eco-p pile?
The list really is endless, you know. Numerous types of ground nesting birds (vertebrates) have been recorded raising their families in an eco-pile, including robin, wren and blackbird. The decomposing gaps are home to some of the UK’s larger rare invertebrates, such as the ant beetle, and may become an overwintering site for bees. Plants, lichens, micro-organisms and fungi, including the amusingly shaped Judas’s Ear (Auricularia
Mike Lees, points out cracks appearing in the decomposing upright timber
Fairhaven’s deputy head greenkeeper,
PC APRIL/MAY 2014 I 97
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