Monday, August 04, 2008

Refilling That Space

So just how did we refill the space gained from loosing the coconut palm? Why, by being green and planting another palm of course! But we were smart this time. We went out and bought the biggest Kerpis palm that we could find at our nursery. But before we could plant anything in this space, the stump had to be removed.














These two guys, from the nursery, spent a little over four hours getting enough of that stump out to be able to plant the new tree. I was amazed at how incredibly hard palm wood is.











I had to force them to take a break from this back-breaking, hot and hard work. By force, I mean I offered them a Coke on two different occasions!






Ready to be de-bagged and straighten.















Putting in the good dirt they brought with them.








Voila! Our new palm tree!








Of course, we are getting no shade from this tree yet but we feel good that replaced a bad tree with a good one. The best part was that the nursery guys went around to all of our plants afterwards. They inspected each one (most having been bought from them anyway!) and assessed their health, updated us on how to take care of them and which would now have to be moved to get out of the sun.



Total cost for palm tree, labor, Cokes and tip was around $130 USD. Sure beats having a coconut fall on your head!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks good .. wise decision. Now about the doggie house!! empty you say!!
Hope you are feeling up to par now. Meds have worked wonders??!! We need an update.
KW from Michigan

Brenda Maas said...

Looks very nice. I like those type of palm trees, we have them here also; but I never knew what they were called. They are all just palmtrees to me.
How is your hip doing?

Anonymous said...

Nice palm tree...but you realize that you missed an opportunity to put in the world's smallest plunge pool?

You could have just had the guys dig a little deeper and then fill that planter with water...

Loretta said...

Sweet. I love those palms (most people here use call them "Christmas Palms" -- maybe because Floridians love to dress up palms as Christmas trees.) Much better than a coconut to the noggin. You've been through enough lately. Speaking of that, like the others, I'm wondering how you're feeling. (Mike says hi.)

Islagringo said...

kw: that doghouse will have an occupant one day. We are all sure of it, just not now. Med update coming tuesday or wednesday. things have not been good.

brenda: LOL! I agree. they are all just palms until you realize you want to plant one and then it becomes important to know. Otherwise, who cares really?

rivergirl: i already have a plunge pool. It's called a toilet. Want to come over and try it out for size?? LOL!

Anonymous said...

How do they work out there in that God awful heat? I know they are used to it but man oh man that has got to be like an oven there in your courtyard.

Islagringo said...

loretta: the common name is Christmas palm. I think because of the red berries it produces.

jackie: not to worry. This work was actually done in June. I'm just now getting around to posting about it! It was only in the high 80's back then. Thus 2 Coke breaks for them!

Anonymous said...

Ah haaa... so thats what they're called. We have always referred to them as "Isla Street Palms" as they look like they are growing right out of the streets in centro.

Anonymous said...

What a cute little palm tree! I'm so glad you decided to replace the coconut tree with a "non-dangerous" palm. :)