Project Management Study

Golf Course Assessments for the Price of $4950

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William Baker & Associates LLC is offering golf course assessments for the price of a fertilizer application for a limited time only. This includes a comprehensive review and detailed report of all agronomic and operational activities related to golf course management. Categories of inspection include staffing levels, training, operational efficiency, course conditioning, budget comparisons and value received, licensing and regulatory compliance, record keeping and reporting, along with several other related areas of course maintenance. Contact us for a quote, or to arrange a no-obligation meeting at your facility.

Golf Course Assessment Program Includes:

  • Staff size and qualifications
  • Productivity
  • Compensation and benefits
  • Training and employee safety
  • Budgeting
  • Record-keeping
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Current agronomic program,
  • Course conditioning
  • Equipment maintenance
  • Capital purchases
  • Projected capital improvements

Attraction of roses has long pedigree

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This is the third and final article in a series on roses.

The first article reviewed the groups of commercial roses that are available today and the major characteristics of each group.

The second article covered site selection, bed preparation, planting procedures, as well as good cultural practices for growing roses.

This article addresses the history of the rose.

The rose has long been called “The Queen of Flowers.” Paintings honoring the rose can be traced back as far as 1500 BC to the isle of Crete.

Many famous writers, philosophers, poets, and historians of the ancient world have written about the rose. Homer, the poet who lived almost three thousand years ago, mentioned roses in the “Iliad” and “Odyssey.”

The historian Herodotus, who lived 2500 years ago, remarked on King Midas’ elegant rose garden.

The Chinese philosopher Confucius stated in fifth century BC that there were over 600 books on roses in the emperor’s library.

No other flower, with the possible exception of the lily, has been so connected with history, love, and lore as has the rose.

The rose’s connection with the past civilizations, cultures, and world events all add to its prominence.

The rose’s image has been struck on coins of various nations, and at least one famous war was name after roses.

In 1455 a bitter struggle for the throne of England began between the house of York and the House of Lancaster. The war lasted through the reign of three English Kings. The name “War of the Roses” came from the symbols employed by each side. The House of York symbol was a white rose, and The House of Lancaster symbol was a red rose.

Interestingly, when the two families were later joined in marriage, the two roses were also crossed to produce the white and red Tudor Rose.

There are people of great historical significance who are closely associated with the rose.

The rose garden of the empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon, was so famous that warring English ships were directed to let pass French ships carrying roses for her garden. She sent expeditions to distant places to collect previously unknown species of roses. In this regard Josephine did much to promote the notoriety and evolution of roses. After Josephine’s death, the artist Pierre-Joseph Redoute published three volumes of paintings of her roses entitled “Les Roses.”

The ancient Greeks were likely the first to seriously grow and promote roses. In fact, the “Queen of Flowers” designation can be traced to the Greek poet Sappho, who lived in the sixth century BC.

After Alexander conquered Egypt, the populace quickly adopted roses for both ceremonial events and private fashion. Because of the favorable climate, roses soon became a mayor Egyptian export.

But although it was the Greeks who exported the roses to other Mediterranean lands, it is the Romans with whom we most closely associate early roses.

Roman passion for roses exceeded anything we can imagine today. At one point the Roman obsession with roses nearly ruined their economy. People who had previously grown food in their gardens began growing only roses. There are stories of rose petals piled so deep at Roma parties that on occasion guests died of suffocation. Besides festivities and ceremonies, the Romans used roses to make wines, perfumes, puddings, honey, and jellies.

The fascinating stories of the rose are an added bonus for the avid gardener who also appreciates history. Roses with a particular claim to fame can still be found and purchased.

Walking through your garden and retelling the story of a special rose you have planted is just another avenue of enjoyment for those of us who love roses.

Growing roses can bring satisfaction to homeowners

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For the homeowner who enjoys gardening, an immense amount of satisfaction can come from growing roses.
Regardless of individual preferences, roses offer something for everyone.
They can be found in every color, shape and size imaginable.

Roses can be used in landscape designs ranging from casual to extremely formal.
Enjoyment of roses does not end in the garden, either.
Cut rose arrangements from one’s own garden can spice up a room’s décor and impress visitors to the home.

Contrary to widely held beliefs, it is not necessary to be an expert to grow impressive roses.

Admittedly, more elegant roses like the hybrid teas take extra care, but they too can be grown successfully by anyone who has an interest in them.

Fortunately, although the degree of maintenance varies with the species selected, general rules for rose care apply across the different groups.

Some research on the correct planting and care of roses prior to purchasing will be immensely helpful to the home gardener’s long-term success.

In our last blog, we reviewed the attributes of roses in most of the major groups of modern roses.
Don’t worry if you missed it, you can find it here.

Several good web articles, rose books and reference manuals are available that detail the qualities and disadvantages of each group, along with pictures of numerous individual varieties. Keep in mind, however that rose selection is only the first step to successful rose growing.

Choosing the proper location, and correctly preparing the planting bed, will have a great impact on the future success of the roses.

Practically all roses like full sun. Select a location that has at least morning to mid-day sun. Roses need good air movement, too.

It is best not to box them in between buildings, walls, hills, or trees and shrubs. In the latter example, these other landscape plants can compete with the roses for both water and nutrients.

Roses like to be well watered, but the planting bed must drain well for roses to thrive. Building a raised bed or planting in a high location is the best way to insure good drainage.

If this is not feasible, putting a drain line blanketed in gravel is an option. In many areas, of course, the native soil drains sufficiently well that there is no problem.

If there is any doubt, fill the hole with water before planting to see how well it drains. Most of the water should be gone in a few hours. If it is not, then something additional needs to be done regarding drainage.

For the novice rose grower, it is recommended that container roses be selected instead of bare-root roses. It is easier to see what you are getting, and they are easier to establish after planting as well. Still, extreme care should be taken when moving the plant from the container to the planting hole. If the roots are not mature enough to hold the root ball tightly together, be prepared to cut the bottom from the container. Then, after setting the can in the hole, cut away the sides. Avoid planting the heat of the day. Late afternoons or mornings are best. When purchasing new roses, check with the nursery on the best· amendments for your particular soil.

Composts or peat moss are good choices. They help adjust the soil pH to a more acidic level, which is better for rose growth. In cases where the soil is highly alkaline, agricultural Sulphur can also be used to acidify the soil and lower the pH.

After planting roses, adding mulch to the soil surface is a good idea. It is both beneficial and attractive. The mulches referred to here are organic materials. Mulches can also be in­organic materials, such as crushed stone and black plastic, but they are not recommended for rose beds. Good mulch choices are small bark chips or composts from plant materials. They retain the moisture, keep weeds down and add some color and nutrient value to the soil. These materials generally have a pleasing aroma and make walking through the bed a pleasure.

Once roses are planted, they need to be fertilized periodically. Again, the higher maintenance hybrid teas and the floribundas, which are the showcase roses, need more fertility than the older rose species. Most nurseries and landscape supply companies will offer special formulations for roses. Dry fertilizers are usually a better buy and easier to apply. Agricultural and horticultural fertilizer formulations can be substituted for the special rose blends. Ask for a balanced fertilizer that is not excessively high in nitrogen. The material should also contain all the secondary and trace elements. In regards to pests. on roses, healthy plants are the best defense against problems. Fortunately, the arid and semi-arid climates of the Southwest spare us from the more severe problems with bacterial and fungal diseases. Many of the insect pests can be controlled with systemic materials, where the chemical is applied to the soil and subsequently absorbed into the plant. If a problem persists, take a leaf sample to a Cooperative Extension agent, a pest control advisor, or a local nursery.

Pruning is probably the most intimidating part of growing roses for the novice. Fortunately for the beginner, roses are forgiving plants in regards to pruning. Mistakes are seldom serious and almost never fatal. The majority of rose pruning is done before the plant breaks dormancy. In the Southwest that generally means January or February. In extreme cold climates, heavy pruning may be done as late as April. Such winter pruning means reducing the plant to a few canes that are cut down to six inches to a foot or so in height. Cuts are made at a forty-five degree angle one-quarter inch above an out facing bud.

Skills in pruning and other cultural practices will be fine-tuned over time. As one learns more about roses through experience, observation, reading, and asking questions, a confidence level will build. Growing roses can be successful and personally rewarding from the beginning.

 

Roses Can Be Versatile And Beautiful

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Roses add a touch of elegance to the home garden or landscape. Roses are very versatile and there is a tremendous selection from which to choose. They can be used for almost all landscape purposes, with the exception of providing shade. In fact, a rose exists for practically every landscape design feature that requires the use of ornamental plants. And contrary to popular belief, roses do not necessarily require large amount of time or talent to be grown successfully.

Modern-day roses can be separated into five general categories.

Beginning with the most prevalent, the group includes hybrid tea roses, floribunda roses, climber and rambler roses, shrub roses, and miniature roses. While this method of grouping hardly tells the whole rose story, it does help the homeowner narrow the search to the class of group of roses that has the desired characteristics.

The Hybrid Tea is the most popular of all the roses. We think of the hybrid tea as the classic rose bloom – it is the one we purchase be the dozen from the florist. Knowing their popularity, it is somewhat surprising to learn that hybrid tea roses were not developed until the year 1867.

Rose breeding had been going on long before, but it was the introduction of Chinese roses the Western World that allowed breeders to make a giant leap in the development of new rose varieties. The first hybrid tea rose was cross between a Chinese tea rose and a hybrid perpetual.

If you are planning on taking cuttings for flower arrangements or if you are looking for a formal look, then the hybrid tea rose is certainty the way to go.

At my own home, I have 20 “Mister Lincoln” hybrid tea roses planted in perfect rows in a raised bed. With the rapid development of new hybrids, “Mister Lincoln” has now become a somewhat older variety. But I love the deep red color of the blooms and the long stems. Of course, hybrid teas can be planted in less formal arrangements and in a wide variety of colors.

On the down side, hybrid teas bloom less frequently and less prolifically than the next group we will discuss, the floribundas. As a precaution when choosing hybrid tea roses, whose claim to fame are their blooms, make your selection from live plants if possible, not photographs of the flowers. While the individual flowers may be magnificent, the blooms can sometimes be disappointing in number and short-lived. Also, it is important that you like the actual plant and that it fits well into the available planting space. For example, the variety I chose, “Mister Lincoln”, is too tall and open for a small planting bed.

The floribundas are the next group. They are a 20thcentury addition to the family of roses. They came into popularity in the 1950s, although they were developed decades earlier. The fact that a hybrid tea rose was one of the floribunda parents demonstrates the continuing evolution of commercial roses.

As the name floribunda implies, they produce abundance of beautiful flowers. They generally produce several more flowers per bush than hybrid teas and the blooms last considerably longer. Additionally, the floribundas are hardier and require less maintenance than the hybrid teas. The downside is that the floribundas lack the classic beauty and floral fragrance of hybrid teas. However, newer floribunda varieties are starting to overcome these drawbacks. No doubt we will continue to see breakthroughs in rose development.

While Hybrid teas and floribundas are relative newcomers, climbers and ramblers have been around for a long time. Climbers have been used for centuries to cover houses, walls, fences, and other vertical structures. Ramblers became popular in the Victorian era and were probably in common usage much earlier. Ramblers can be used as climbers but their stems are smaller and less rigid than the roses that are designated as climbers. Although in both cases the stems must be tied to the structure or otherwise supported.

Climbers are usually a better choice than ramblers. They are hardier and have larger and more prolific blooms. The thicker stems make them better adapted to vertical growth. Some hybrid tea varieties have been converted to climbers but the same precautions apply, consider the plant as well as the flower. There may be fewer blooms on hybrid tea climbers than you would like to see.

Shrub roses are sometimes referred to as “old-fashioned” roses. Although they have also been improved for garden through hybridization, much of their parent history is from ancient or wild rose species. As a general rule, expect this group to be extremely hardy and need little care. Certain varieties can even be used as ground-cover.

Miniature roses also disappeared from the scene in the early 1900s but since have had a popular resurgence. They can be grown in window boxes, serve as the border of flower beds or used in numerous other specialized applications.

Although more common now than in the past, there are still novel enough to draw attention and conversation.

Tree roses are also popular, but they are not a separate group. They can be trained from hybrid teas and floribundas in particular, as well as from some other groups.

Other subgroups and specific use roses can easily be researched and obtained by the interested gardener or homeowner.

The popularity of roses has led to an infinite amount of information that is readily available.

In preparation to writing this article, I discover I had six books in my home library dedicated entirely to roses, as well as chapters and sections on roses in other gardening books.

In the next blog we will talk about the proper planting and subsequent care of roses.