Mulch colorants keep high visibility areas vibrant without over-working & over-mulching
Tim Cameron, golf course and landscape superintendent of
Heritage Palms Golf & Country Club in Fort Myers shares his experience using
Endurant mulch colorants in this brief Q&A with
Geoponics Corp.
[caption id="attachment_766" align="alignleft" width="728"]
Tim Cameron, golf & landscape manager at Heritage Palms Golf & Country Club in Fort Myers, shares why he chooses
Endurant mulch colorants for high visibility areas & how he saves labor & tons of mulch.[/caption]
About Heritage Palms:
Located in Fort Myers, Florida, Heritage Palms is a gorgeous golf course community on more than 800 acres with two 18-hole golf courses surrounded by approximately 1,600 homes and a clubhouse with a centrally located 37-acre fresh water lake.
Geoponics: This place is off the hook when it comes to the landscaping. I know you use the
Endurant pigments and colorants, tell us today about the
mulch colorants. Which Endurant mulch colorants have you used?
Cameron: Yes. I’m amping up the grass with the Endurant pigment (
Endurant TE) and really making it pop with the mulch colorant. We are using the Endurant brown mulch colorant on our pinestraw, pinebark and organic mulch.
Geoponics: Yes. You can really amp it up here like you want to go to the Super Bowl, which had Endurant on it this year. Or the Masters, also had Endurant on it this year. You get it juiced up the greater the contrast. Speaking of contrast, did you consider using the other available colors of Endurant mulch colorant, which include Pinestraw, Brown, Black and Cypress Red? The Endurant pinestraw was initially made for Pinehurst.
Cameron: Yes. Black might look really good on the dark mulch. I could take some black and add it the brown to get even greater contrast. The brown I’m using works really well for all of these though too—my pinestraw, pinebark and dark organic mulch.
Geoponics: When did you install the mulch and when did you use the colorant?
Cameron: We installed new mulch in October. In February, we applied the Enudrant mulch colorant.
Geoponics: Have you seen biodegradation of the mulch? Will you need to remulch soon?
Cameron: No. I don’t see pine bark nuggets deteriorating that rapidly. I don’t see the need for us to remulch next year. It’s still thick. Some areas are thinner from blowing. We may do touch up stuff with more mulch.
Geoponics: How is the richness of the color holding up in the Florida sun?
Cameron: Much better with the Endurant. I bet with your stuff, with Endurant, I can go another year without more mulch. I can paint it right now and it will look brand new. This brown Endurant colorant was put on in late February and I’m about ready to do it again. Three months to me is perfect.
Geoponics: How much mulch did you use in October and will you be doing this again soon?
Cameron: I used 56 pallets of pine bark and 45 pallets of organic mulch this October. I have reason to purchase that much next season. I’d be surprised if I’d need one-third of that. The colorant can keep the look maintained without over-mulching.
Geoponics: Have you experienced problems from over-mulching?
Cameron: We had a big problem with these Royal Palms. The Endurant mulch colorant really helped on these. Every year they would keep mulching and mulching and mulching and mulching. Palm tree roots the way they grow, the more soil or debris or mulch you keep piling on its roots, the more the top roosts will keep growing and getting bigger and bigger. We had an excavator come in. The roots were very visible. We threw the pine bark on it. We painted the roots to blend in because the roots are really white. That’s the only time I saw so many above ground roots. You could see nothing but white roots everywhere.
Geoponics: How did you apply the mulch colorant?
Cameron: I chose to buy 8 oz bottles of Endurant because they are so easy to handle and used a one-gallon garden sprayer.
Geoponics: Has there been a response from members from the contrast they see?
Cameron: We got an immediate response. They loved the color. The initial cost to spruce up the mulch means I won’t be buying 100 pallets of mulch, including about 50 pallets of pine bark alone. Some saw me spraying. Some asked if we got new mulch. I said we were cheating and saving a lot of money. They said: ‘we like that!’
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