By Victoria Torley

There are times when our desire to own a particular plant, tree, or flower, overcomes our good senses. A recent incident comes to mind. A friend asked me why her palm tree was dying. The answer was easy.

Up north, we might have planted a tree against a white painted cement fence knowing that the fence would keep the plant nice and warm when winter came. We might also cover the base with landscaper’s cloth and put pebbles over it to block the weeds.

YIKES!

So, here was my friend’s poor tree, drenched in sunlight. The concrete holds heat so the poor thing can’t even cool off at night. Then there are the pebbles which are also great heat trappers. The pebbles are right smack dab on top of the roots, baking and dehydrating them at the same time.

What’s wrong? There was nothing right about this planting.

Please, folks, when you buy a plant or when one is given to you, learn how to take care of it. My friend just thought a tree would ‘look pretty’ next to the fence. And, it would have if we were in Pennsylvania. Here it doesn’t look nice, it looks like it has a terminal illness.

What to do? We dug it up. First, we pulled out all the pebbles and underlayment. We dug about two feet around the trunk and dug deeply trying not to kill any roots. We put the root ball in a wheelbarrow and gave it a drink. We clipped back the heavily damaged foliage and carefully transported the palm to a newly dug hole far away from the offending wall and pebbles. We put the tree in the hole carefully, gave it a little shade at noon. My friend watered it as it dried and watched for new growth. Prayer wouldn’t hurt.

Now, the next time you buy or are given a plant, ask questions. How much sun or shade? How much water? Can it stand the heat? How much heat? What kind of pests will attack this plant and how do you defend it? If you can’t get straight answers, do some research. Get on the internet, ask Google, shoot you can even ask a neighbor who has a successful garden.

Seriously, folks, there are easy garden basics for the tropics. Download a book on Kindle. We all make mistakes but they don’t have to be this serious or this harsh. In temperate climates, a wall and pebbles may be okay. Not here!

Last week I said “Forget Hawai’i” and other disparaging things. Here is a picture I took in one of their botanical gardens. Nothing in this picture isn’t available right here in Costa Rica. There was one other thing I forgot to mention and a reader who lived in Hawai’i for 20 years only to move to Costa Rica pointed it out.

The islands are at least five times as expensive to visit as Costa Rica is. Five times! I still say, “Forget Hawai’’.”


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For more information on this article of request for information about gardening, Ms. Victoria Torley, gardener columnist, can be reached at victoriatorley1@gmail.com 

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