viernes, 25 de diciembre de 2015

BIOCENTRIC GARDENING 2015 IN REVIEW

MOST meaningful gardens of the world,--lets take Kew Gardens-- in London, for example, is known anywhere for their installations, landscapes, research, green houses, beauty and else.

What you do not see, at least I do not, is the kind of biodiversity in the native flora/fauna benefitting from such a spectacular man made historical creation.

Sociedad Horticultural Bouret, decided to focus in a biocentric way considering climatic change with the consequences it brought to Puerto Rico, during 2015, the first ten months of mostly dry, over the average infernal hot temperatures with almost daily rain, intense and light, with a temperature drop of about 10 degrees Farenheit.

Some plants passed away unable to tolerate not the drought, most do, the constant hot temperatures over 90.  Now know those living are being used as forage mostly by snails, slugs with a few chewed by coleopterus.

2015 was remarkable for the amount of Spindalis nests, 3, and other sparrow like birds, 1, the amount of lizards went down, snails/slugs dissappeeared during the drought, making a solid comeback during November, December, their damage is mostly asthetic, no a big deal.

However the Barleria repens in the west side covering a significant area of the whole, suffered from a dk vascular disease that killed the stems from the bottom up.  Fortunately, it is recovering slowly, but presents a problem for the future.

If the disease was caused by the heat, then,
soon or later it will pass away. For that reason I started collecting agavaceas and other plants to maintain a variety to observe their tolerance of heat during the next year promising to be even hotter according to weather reports.

I have to mention the daily visits from a great bunch of bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. They all seem to have their favorite 'dish', except hummingbirds they check every available source of nectar.

Finally, I want to share some of the living creatures or traces of their living in our garden. Not many gardeners think about it, distracted by the 'beauty' of this or that flower, forgetting that their garden could help to improve life in the surrounding urban asphalt/concrete context in a significant, transcendental way, choosing vegetation in consideration of such.

miércoles, 9 de diciembre de 2015

FUNGI AGAVACEAS AND LICHENS

THANKS to some gardener friends who made an irritating superficial criticism on my opinion regarding mutilated bushes/trees: they should be pulled out...No discussion about it....

Any ways, I decided to share some photos of plants, vegetation, creatures making their debut
now...They are two areas for which I have a particular affection for the difficulty to keep them
healthy...

that is that

martes, 8 de diciembre de 2015

SOBRE LA PODA/MUTILACION DE ARBOLES EN LA PENINSULA

Hace unos dias en Arbolado Urbano alguna persona hablaba/escribia sobre 'incongruencias'/ 'incoherencias' cuando su servidor declaraba su posicion a cualquier arbol mutilado en el monte o entorno urbano. 

Yo afirmo arrancarlo de cuajo y seacabo. Como vera el lector iniciado en estos temas, la cita cubre toda la cancha, de manera irrefutable.

Un arbol mutilado es incapaz de cicatrizar, expuesto a todo tipo de enfermedades e insectos.

Como en Espanha existe un alto nivel de bilinguismo no veo problema alguno con el ingles aqui va el asunto tomado de:
Pirone's 
Tree Maintenance
Oxford University Press
2000
pagina 128.

"Trees may also be topped to remove potentially hazardous dead and diseased branches which may break off during ice storms or windstorms.  Unfortunately, topping removes healthy as well as unhealthy limbs. The hazardous limbs are bes removed by selective pruning instead of topping.

Large mature trees  are often topped to prevent interference with overhead utility wires. They are also topped  when they block views, interfere with buildings or other trees, or shade solar collectors or other areas where sunlight is wanted. In some of these situations, removing large limbs may be necessary, however, alternatives such as proper early training, selective thinning out of branches and limbs or whole tree removal should be considered and adopted where feasible.

Removing much of the tree canopy upsets the crown to root ratio and seriously affects the tree's food supply.  A 20 year-old tree has developed 20 worth of leaf surface area.  This leaf surface is needed to manufacture sufficient food to feed and support 20 years worth of branches, trunks, and roots. Topping not only cuts off a major portion of the tree's food making potential, it also severely depletes the tree's stored reserves. It is an open invitation for the tree's slow starvation.

Removing the tree's normal canopy suddenly exposes the newly injured cambium to the heat of the sun, drying it out and killing these regenerating tissues back further.

Topping removes all the existing buds that would ordinarily produce normal sturdy branches.

Large branch stubs left from topping seldom close or callus.  Nutrients are no longer transported to the large stubs and that part of the tree becomes unable to seal off the injury. This leaves the stubs and that part of the  tree becomes unable to seal off the injury. This leaves the stubs vulnerable to insect invasion and fungal decay. Once decay has begun in a branch stub, it may spread into
the main trunk, ultimately killing the tree. Fruiting bodies of decay fungi are often visible on the bark of decaying trees".

Sugerencia?  No hay que opinar superficialmente sobre nada sin saber, sospechar el peritaje del otro,
para evitar quedar retratado/a en la avenida. Cual es la incongruencia/incoherencia?  Las suyas?

Suerte y exito en sus proyectos



viernes, 13 de noviembre de 2015

CAMBIOS CARDINALES Y CONTENEDOR

Hacia un pocoton de tiempo no escribia sobre este asunto que ocupa gran parte de mi tiempo entre libros, enlaces o en el terreno/concreto del jardin.

Los protagonistas un limon y un Frangipani/Plumeria ambos mayores del lustro de edad, el primero estaba en el lado norte, habiendo dado hasta la fecha cuatro cosechas de jugoso fruto. 

El Frangipani, es hijo del que aparece en primer plano, un regalo de aniversario, propagado por semilla. Es el unico que mantiene las hojas/flores los doce meses.

Los tiestos vienen de un lugar en Villa Caparra, , un espacio realmente raro, poco usual, por la estetica en el despliegue/arreglo de la mercancia/vegetacion.

En fin, las fotos relatan la historia. La cubierta de tela es para evitar ramas partidas en el trayecto. La foto del cepellon/raices, para que cada quien vea lo pequenho, en comparacion con el tronco/ramas, lo cual permite calcular el tiempo que podra estar en el tiesto de ceramica esmaltado, que a su vez evita la evaporacion que con el cambio climatico seguira en aumento.

 

That is that
 
 

miércoles, 21 de octubre de 2015

Was inspired by Gardenista and thought of you!

Was inspired by Gardenista and thought of you!

JARDINES PARA EXTREMOS SECOS O MOJADOS

QUIENES  practican la horticultura comestible o la otra ya no dudaran del cambio climatico que en mi caso ha provocado la muerte o enfermedades  como el caso de la Barleria repens que muestra una profusion de hojas/ramas muertas inexplicablemente para mi o la web, no hay referencias por lo que comparto aqui algunas fotos.


El problema no es ese, lo son las constantes infernales temperaturas que repito, con irrigacion no se resuelve, pues crean niveles de estres en la vegetacion que no todo lo sembrado en el jardin, este a  la sombra o al sol o a media luz van a sobrellevar, de modo que vaya tomando nota.

El caso de la Barleria es ese o alguna enfermedad vascular que no encuentro en ninguna fuente. Por tal motivo quienes tengan setos vivos en su jardin, que no se propaguen por semilla/division como esta, tendran feos espacios disecados con frecuencia y sin remedio.


Decidi con las proyecciones climaticas que escucho resignarme, y a observar con mucho mas cuidado cada criatura verde.

Aparte de la infernal temperatura de los ultimos diez meses, siempre quedan algunos caracoles, coleopteros y gusanos que ciclicamente aparecen en mayor o menor grado.  Reitero que estos, cuyo danho por comer de la hoja, es menor en terminus de estetica y salud  vegetal que el causado por moscas blancas.  De no atacar con la formula secreta de limon, ajo, capsicum con frecuencia....lo que fuere moriria eventualmente.

En resumen, no importa donde usted habita, tendra que revisar el inventario de sus plantas rigurosamente, observar aquellas que sobrellevan el infierno o lo contrario el pocoton de lluvia que ira y vendra cada cierto tiempo.

Su tipo de suelo debe ser considerado en lo segundo, si fuere arcilla sabemos que se encharcara, yo tengo arena en 99 por ciento. Si su jardin tiene pendientes, el encharcamiento no sera de vida o muerte a menos que llueva como en Macondo.

Asi que lo peor lo llevaran los agricultores de lo comestible, los jardineros de lo estetico irracional con cesped y demas...y los de la jardineria del huerto....No se que decirles, sino desearles Buena suerte a todos...y a buscar especies que sobrelleven esta nueva sodoma y gomorra ambiental con lo del Arca de Moises de vez en vez.


Casi olvido a los bienaventurados del GOLF, a ellos no parece afectarles el cambio climatico. No he visto en medio alguno, nada sobre estos criminales del medio ambiente que algunos lugares riegan 17 veces al dia su lindo, esteril, inutil cesped. Fin.

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Vascular+Disease+of+Plants


  .

martes, 25 de agosto de 2015

CLIMATIC CHANGE DROUGHT AND GARDENING IN THE TROPICS

IF YOU practice any  form of gardening you have noticed that a percentage of your vegetation has passed slowly passed away or is in the process.  The reason is simple. Some plants with tender, thin leaves are intolerant of high temperatures, no matter if planted in the shade or not.  I could mention some but I will not, everyjuan should have noticed already, for stress signs helped by some irrigation, however let the record show, that with scarce, rationed water service it would be better to let those die, or give away since they will not tolerate the heat for a long period.

Some people thought climatic change what a hoax from some segments of the population, well is here to stay, in consequence those gardeners depending exclusively on nursery plants  will have to stretch the imagination collecting plants from the ecoregion, urban concrete/asphalt, flora and fauna, habitat, biiodviersity, context where they live.

In brief, from now on gardening will go beyond silly aesthetics demanding a biocentric focus/perspective to create useful patches of vegetation for all living creatures instead of sterile, useless turr/palm trees and similar species requiring extensive, noisy, dangerous, polluting maintenance practices.

Finally, lets hope GOLF will pass away and/or be limited to few places in the world. The irrigation, fertilizing, pesticides and fungicides required, gas and oil with mowing/blowing is definitely a crime without punishment, done anywhere with absolute impunity.

miércoles, 13 de mayo de 2015

CYSSUS HYPOGLAUCA BEST VINE FOR DENSE PRIVACY

I HAVE BEEN away for a long time..with the writing that is...The garden demands daily monitoring, particularly in the insect control, mostly two species, white flies the dominant.

Pruning/trimming after leaves sweeping/irrigation in that order the other activities taking most of the time..

Today was trimming the Cissus, a vine only seen in 4 other places in the San Juan Metro... A relative of Vitis vinifera, has no diseases after a year and a half, covering both sides of the fence in that time, growing constantly at a rather fast pace.

The aesthetic value from my view is the swaying with the wind...the vines coming down like stalactites...

If you are in great need of privacy, and detest people, in a misanthropic state of mind, Cissus hypoglauca is your vine....