Published on Saturday, March 14, 2026

Oh boy, oh boy, I have a new chipper!  I really need that chipper, even if it only chips the little stuff.

I had a Big Chipper in Georgia and it would take a 4-inch branch, so this little thing is hardly exciting, except it is exciting.

Let me explain. This is an electric chipper and will only take little branches and leaves, but it is the leaves that concern me most. We have some very odd leaves down here. In order to protect themselves from predation, they get a waxy coating as they mature.

When they finally fall from the tree, they take a long time to degrade. In their defense, they make a wonderful weed barrier, but so does dense mulch, which rots faster and mixes better with the soil.

 

I have mostly silty soil and clay. The silty stuff is very fine, almost like dust, and it compacts far too easily. The clay stuff is, well, clay. It is thick and sticky and far too heavy for good planting.

To turn either into something useful for plants is a difficult job. Silty stuff it needs some coarse sand, some clay (I have some of that handy) or burnt earth and mulch – a lot of mulch – leaf mulch. Clay, though . . . add sand to clay and you get brick. Clay needs to be chopped up with a hoe or a shovel (or an axe) and then thrown away. Then you can backfill with desirable soil.

Okay, kidding. A little clay can be useful. I like to get mine from visiting ant mounds where it has already been turned into fine particles as the ants built their nests. Clay is also full of nutrients.

Either way, fine soil or clay, you need an additive. An additive like chopped-up leaves. So far, chopping up leaves has been something done by grabbing some and crushing them with my hands. This is way too much work, hence the chipper.

Chippers come with rules, especially little electric ones. In addition to “do not put your fat fingers near the spinning blades” (they say it more nicely), you have to keep track of the time. Electric motors are wonderful things, but if you stress them, they can burn out. So it’s chip for 15 minutes, rest for 15 minutes – and repeat. For me, that’s 15 minutes of chipping and 15 minutes to get into some other kind of trouble.

Nice how that works out.

Plant of the week. Mexican hibiscus is a bit different from the average hibiscus we see in yards, but it likes full sun and grows well in our climate. The calyx or husk that covers the bud is edible and quite tasty. It can be seen to the right of the flower, both above and below the bloom. 

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Find more stories about gardening in Costa Rica in AM Costa Rica Garden Magazine. Questions about this article may be directed to Victoria Torley, the gardening columnist, at victoriatorley1@gmail.com. More information about Victoria is available at AuthorVlstuart.com.

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The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of A.M. Costa Rica. The newspaper assumes no responsibility for the content.
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