A Hole In One

By Carole J. Beeson

American Nurseryman, August 1991

A Georgia designer and contractor team up to score a winning landscape in record time.

A bombed-out wasteland with tracked golf carts trundling through it this was Cla (pronounced "Clay") Allgood's humorous impression of the St. Ives Country Club when he began work there in spring 1990. Strewn with trucks, tools, piles of - but not a single - the site would have daunted any landscape contractor. But to top it off, the developer wanted this "wasteland" transformed into a world-class facility in time for the grand opening of the clubhouse - just three months after Allgood received the final plans.

The developer's intentions for the clubhouse were ambitious, to say the least. At 52,000 square feet, the $8 million structure was to be the centerpiece of the 2-year-old St. Ives golf course. 18-hole facility is located in Duluth, GA, an affluent, growing suburb northeast of Atlanta, GA.

Residents of the 700-home St. Ives "golf community," tucked into the rolling Appalachian foothills, would be able to gaze up at the clubhouse, which would be perched on the highest point in Fulton County.

Allgood, president of Allgood Outdoors, a design/build and landscape management company in Alpharetta, GA, already had the maintenance contract for the partially completed residential community when clubhouse construction began. "We actively tracked [its] progress," he says, and, when the opportunity arose, he put in a landscape contracting bid.

Land Plus Associates Ltd., an Atlanta land planning and landscape architecture company, had been working with the developer, North Fulton Land Equistand Ltd., since the inception of the project. Says Alec Michaelides, vice president of Land Plus, "We were recommended to the developer by the [clubhouse] architect. We began with the design of the frontage and main entrance, and the subdivision entry. As the project progressed, we got involved in site development.”

Fortunately, Allgood and Michaelides had worked together in the past and have always had a good relationship. Though deadline pressures and client demands might easily have strained that relationship, these collaborators say the project progressed smoothly.

This winning partnership led the Georgia Green Industry Association to honor the project with a 1991 Grand Award for commercial landscaping over $100,000.

Mutual understanding was the primary factor contributing to the job's success. Duane Marcus, Allgood's production manager, was the key supervisor at the site. Marcus, who has a master's degree in landscape architecture,worked well with Michaelides, who says, "He knows how a landscape architect thinks. That made things a lot easier for us.”

Allgood returns the compliment: [ Michaaelides] is very receptive.[He's] open to contractors' viewpoints, and [he] spends a lot of time trying to understand our concerns.”

Allgood and Michaelides faced their first challenge when the developer decided he wanted a water feature behind the clubhouse. He requested a brook, bordered with bright flowers, that would run beneath a golf cart path and spill through several waterfalls.

In front of the clubhouse, Michaelides had designed the landscape in an English country style, characterized by semiformal plantings, including massed plants and large, clipped hedges (photo,opposite). "The whole concept was to give [the clubhouse] a residential feel," explains Michaelides.

Clearly, the water feature, as described by the developer, was not harmonious with a formal landscape. However, Michaelides says, "We tried to blend it in. We considered it a fun feature - a little different from what people are used to seeing. But if we had done what [the developer] originally wanted, it would have looked like Disney World.

"He wanted too much variety of plant material. In the other areas, we had large masses of fewer varieties. So we had to tone it down. The transition is made fairly well, although, it I had to do it again, I’d probably simplify it even more.”

After Michaelides created the initial design, Allgood applied his experience in engineering and building water features to complete the job. And it was no simple task. “We had to work between [three existing Pinus taeda] and several elevations,” Allgood relates. “We built a scale model with contour changes to show how it would blend in.”

The 3,500-square-foot feature consists of four waterfalls; the first is carbed into the side of a raised, functioning tee box on the tenth hold.

“A retaining wall was installed, and then we piped the water through the wall. This is the source,” says Allgood. “Then it goes through a pond, under the golf cart path, [through a second waterfall] into another pool, over a shoal into a third pool and over a wall into the final level.” A 10-inch PVC equalizing pipe connects the pools.

“The [golf cart] path wrapped through all these elevations," Allgood continues. "We had to give the illusion that the last pool is below the level of the path - otherwise it wouldn't look natural - but it's actually several inches above." Michaelides and Allgood created this illusion simply by situating the pool as close as possible to the path.

An arching bridge faced with Tennesing stone carries the cart path over the water (photo, page 33).

The four levels have distinct personalities. "Each waterfall is different by design," explains Allgood. "We wanted to show the many actions of water." The first waterfall forms a smooth vertical sheet, the second skips down a staircase of boulders, the third is a free-running shoal, and the fourth tumbles over a tight architectural stair wall Allgood describes as less natural looking than the others (photo, page 33).

The result of Michaelides and Allgood's "blending" efforts is a somewhat rustic stream that manages to look at home on the well-manicured golf course. "We could have built a totally [water feature]," says Allgood, "but it wouldn't have looked right coming out of a tee.”

Allgood advises landscapers building water features to first find out whether the owners or developers want an outdoor aquarium or an outdoor pond. The difference, as he defines it, is that outdoor aquariums have perfectly clear water; outdoor ponds do not. Therefore, an outdoor aquarium requires more chemicals and more maintenance.

Since the St. Ives developer wanted an outdoor pond, Allgood simulated a creek bottom by leaving the cement base rough, giving it the appearance of aggregate. He also finished the banks to resemble eroded mud. Finally, he stained the cement with seven earth-tone colors, enhancing the water's ability to reflect the sky and surrounding plants.

To complete the scene, workers used a crane to position weathered boulders - weighing up to 3 tons - in the water. The mature Pinus taeda helped "age" the water feature as well.

Allgood soon found himself responsible for more than just the water feature. His company's bid for the landscaping had not been the lowest, he says, "but [the developer] had been pleased with our performance.”

Allgood won the contract and wasted no time getting to work. "When they told us the time frame, we recommended starting the digging process," says Allgood. "Every day was critical.”

With crews of up to 35 at a time. All 5,500 shrubs, 700 container trees and 138 large caliper trees specified in Michaelides' design. Access problems forced workers to use an 80-ton crane to lower in some of the large plants.

Since the clubhouse is located at the highest point in the county and is visible from a distance, the developer wanted to make sure the landscape was highly visible as well. In addition, he wanted the clubhouse to look as if it had been there for years, so Michaelides chose mostly large, mature specimen trees and shrubs.

"They didn't want to wait until the landscape came up to speed," says Michaelides, "but we did have a budget, so the larger materials were placed in areas where they would make the most impact. That way they'd get the most band for their buck.”

To make an impressive statement from the start, Michaelides placed the largest specimens - two 8- to 10-inch caliper Carpinus caroliniana (blue beech) - like sentinels on either side of the main entry walk.

"We wanted something unique," he says, “and [blue beeches] are seldom used in this area.”

Two 6-foot-diameter Buxus sempervirens, guarding either side of the porte cochere (covered driveway), were individually selected from old homesites in North and South Carolina.

Other large specimen plants include 15-foot-high Ilex X `Nellie R. Stevens', which were hand-dug from a remote area of north Georgia. At 12 feet across, these shrubs were used to fill expanses along the driveway and sides of the building (plan, page 34).

About 99 percent of the shrubs are evergreen, but "we also selected plants ,for seasonal interest," Michaelides points out. “We chose azaleas . . . and Viburnum X pragense, which has a white flower, for the spring, and Abelia X grandiflora for the summer. Fall color is provided by annuals. There's also a handful of maples, but most tree selections were made for form, shape and texture."

Shade trees chosen for the site were Quercus phellos, which is common in Georgia; Acer rubrum `Frank's Red' (Red Sunset maple); and specimen 8inch-caliper Quercus rubra.

Michaelides chose flowering trees with staggered blooming times: Pyrus callervana `Bradford', Prunus yedoensis, Lagerstroemia indica `Tuscarora', Malus `Indian Magic' and Magnolia grandiflora `Brown Beauty'.

Allgood also installed approximately 250,000 square feet of T-419 Bermuda sod, a warm-season grass used frequently in the Southeast. Bermuda sod is drought-tolerant and heals quickly, says Michaelides. The developer ruled out seeding because the fast-approaching deadline would not have allowed enough time for the seed to form a thick, luxurious lawn.

Another reason for using sod, says Allgood, is that the best Bermuda grasses are not available in seed form.

For extra bursts of color. Michaelides specified nearly 2,000 square feet of annuals - along the driveway, in front of the clubhouse, at intersections in the parking lot, beside the porte cochere and around the water feature.

The entire project began and ended with the water feature. In fact, says Allgood, “we were planting [around the water feature] up to the last minute before the grand opening." The plants in that area were chosen for color and interest. In addition to annuals, they include masses of Juniperus conferta `Blue Pacific', Prunus laurocerasus `Otto Luyken', Iris kaempferi, Acer japonicum, Miscanthus sinensis `Gracillimus', hybrid rhododendrons and variegated hostas (plan, page 32).

The altitude of the golf course and clubhouse makes the site susceptible to strong prevailing winds. To combat this problem and to block stray golf shots, the developer had a 1,400-foot-long "golf ball buffer'' planted along the north edge of the 10th fairway, leading up to the building. The trees used in the buffer were 18- to 20 foot native Pinus taeda that had been scattered throughout the area. Workers dug the trees with a 90-inch tree spade and transplanted 10 to 15 feet apart.

Michaelides also designed the hardscape around the clubhouse, including the sidewalks, patios and cart paths. "For cost reasons, we used mostly bufftone concrete," he says. "On the rear patios and the men's grill patio, we used green slate as an accent border. The front walkway had granite pavers." The clubhouse's architect selected all hardscape materials, and the general contractor did the installation.

While Allgood's crews were planting the large trees and shrubs, the general contractor was doing the rough grading. Soon, however, the grading began to fall behind schedule, and the developer hired Allgood to take over.

To protect the newly-planted trees from root damage during grading, Allgood put barbed wire fences around their bases. “We used [barbed wire] to show people we're serious that they need to stay away from the construction," says Allgood. Another reason, he says, is that barbed wire has better tension than the plastic mesh typically used on construction sites.

Allgood also picked up the contract for the berm work. "The berms were a challenge in that they had to be very carefully shaped," he says. In keeping with the formal style, the planting beds and berms have a precisely curvilinear, sculptured look.

Michaelides hired Ronco Irrigation, Marietta, to prepare the irrigation plans and install the sprinkler system. Allgood's crews began planting the shrubs and ground covers as soon as the sprinkler installation was nearly complete.

Another subcontractor, Moonlighting Landscape Illuminations Inc., Dunwoody, designed and installed the night lighting. Crews positioned lights to illuminate the buildings and large trees, and to accent the waterfalls and certain plants.

Working side by side with other contractors was a tricky situation at times. Even trickier, according to Allgood, was having to yield to golfers. "Whenever anyone was at the tee near the work site," he says, "[the workers] would slow down production to respect [the golfer's] shot. We had to keep debris off the paths, and, if someone approached the worksite, we'd pay attention."

Michaelides relates that the golfers displayed a great deal of interest in the project and would often come up to ask questions. For their safety, the construction areas were flagged off, says Allgood. It was also important to keep the noise levels down so that the golfers would not be needlessly disturbed.

With the exception of one parking lot, which served as the construction staging area, the project was successfully completed by the grand opening date. Allgood and Michaelides admit St. Ives was a bigger project than each was accustomed to the budget for the planting, water feature and sprinkler installation was $225,000; the water feature alone cost $50,000 - yet there have been few problems since the job was completed in June 1990.

One thing that has cropped up is typical in the Southeast, says Michaelides."Very often in this part of the country, there are drainage problems because of the heavy clay soils, and especially when there are several feet of clay used as fill,” he says.

In this situation, water will not percolate through the compacted soil, and the only solution is to put in an expensive French drain.

“When we can anticipate [drainage problems], we do," Michaelides explains. "[At St. Ives], there was poor drainage near the left front of the building where we had created berms. [Now] we have to go back and install French drains. We have to remove the shrubs that are there - azaleas - because we lost half of them.”

Other than the azaleas, Michaelides claims to have lost less than 1 percent of the plant material. Included was a group of rhododendrons that was "probably getting to much sun,” says Allgood.

St. Ives' own crews are presently doing the landscape maintenance. Allgood and Michaelides are concerned about how the recession may affect the country club's maintenance budget. They believe good maintenance is crucial for a landscape of this size.

The water feature, in particular, must be carefully maintained. "[The maintenance crew] should be skimming the water, making sure the automatic fill device is working, periodically cleaning the skimmer baskets and pump baskets, backwashing the filter, adding fresh water and sometimes adding algicides," says Allgood. Although the water feature is a "pond" and not an "aquarium," it still requires consistent care to keep from becoming murky.

Today, 14 months after finishing the job, Michaelides admits the project had its pros and cons. "It was both an enjoyable and frustrating project," he says. "We had a generous budget, and the developer appreciated the quality of our work, but the timetable was frustrating. Also, the developer liked to get personally involved in the project.”

Allgood is pleased with the results for his company: "We considered it a prestigious job in light of the quality of the design and the area," he says. "It was a very visible job; it's really added to our credibility.”

Apparently, the visibility has paid off. "We're working on our third golf club community now,” says Allgood.

And the perks are enough to make a golfer drool with envy. Says Michaelides, "Unfortunately, I'm not a golfer, but we can play all the free golf we want.”