The Creation of My New Palm Garden

[bgl]

First a brief background: two months ago, for personal reasons, I moved out of our house and the off the Lundkvist Palm Garden property with its 5,000 palms. I’m still in Leilani Estates, and I’m now in the process of planning and creating a new palm garden. A few days ago I bought two acres on Pomaikai Street here. These are the typical “Leilani acres”, long and skinny. Having two side-by-side lots means I have a property that’s 200 ft wide and 436 ft deep. The first 150 ft or so coming in from the street consists primarily of weedtrees and bushes, such as Strawberry guava, Miconia and a few others plus the occasional very small and skinny ohi’a tree. This will all be replaced by Clinostigmas and other sunloving palms. Further in on the property there are many ohi’a trees of good size and I am planning on keeping as many of those as possible. There are also quite a few very tall (60-70 ft) weed trees, and they will promptly be disposed of. Will be fun to see them “disappear”!

I have reached an agreement with a guy named Kyle, who happens to live on Pomaikai Street, and he will spend a few days with his bulldozer for the initial clearing. He actually has two bulldozers, one D-8 and one D-9. The D-9 is heavier, more powerful and with a 15 ft wide blade, it’s ideal if you want to get rid of as much vegetation and as many tall trees as possible in the shortest time possible. But it will also really mess up the land and obliterate many of the finer details in the terrain. I want to maintain as much as possible of the natural contours so we will be using Kyle’s somewhat smaller D-8, which is still a huge machine. It has a 13 ft wide blade. The D-8 was dropped off yesterday (Thursday) at 13:15. But before we get to that, here are a few photos of what the property looked like before any work was done. The property is between the two poles and that's exactly 200 ft. This type of vegetation is very common for Leilani Estates.

[bgl]

So, yesterday afternoon, December 9th, and Kyle and his bulldozer arrives in the early afternoon. He has already spent the entire morning working at another location so all he really wants to do is to drop off the machine and come back in the morning. So, here's Kyle backing off the flatbed truck with his D-8.

[bgl]

Disappearing off into the forest never to be seen again...OK, not quite! But the second photo shows what Kyle was able to do in about ten minutes. He only worked his D-8 for 17 minutes yesterday but was able to clear an impressive area in that short timespan. And in the last photo, I'm just happy to have the bulldozer here!

[bgl]

So the plan today, Friday Dec. 10th, was for Kyle to put in six hours and open up as much as possible. One major headache is what to do with all the debris. When you take down 70-80 ft tall trees it's good to have a plan, and it's obvious that Kyle has a plan because he is able to very efficiently push them to the side here and there. To be dealt with later on! Interestingly, there's quite a bit of soil here, which is unusual for Leilani Estates. In the first photo, Kyle is disposing of an annoying ohi'a branch that got stuck in his D-8. And in the third photo he is pushing a good amount of really rich soil in front of him.

[bgl]

I met my new neighbor, Paul, last week, and he is a great guy who is taking quite a bit of interest in what we're doing. Not surprisingly. I'm about to REALLY mess up the view from his house, even though I have promised him to keep a large group of ohi'a trees intact. This group is on my property but right in front of his house. So, Paul is obviously happy! The second photo shows Miconia and the way Miconia should always be seen - cut off at the knees, or preferably even further down! This is plant that has devastated Tahiti and there are large stands here in Leilani Estates. A few years ago we even had a special "Miconia Team" that was sent out with one mission only: find and destroy! Miconias that is!

[bgl]

Kyle will push down large trees with the blade and then he will hook them and pull them out and put them in a central location. Later on, he'll be driving over that pile, numerous times, to crush everything as much as possible. That'll be in a few more days. In the third photo he is about to disappear down into a fairly deep crack that surprised even him. The D-8 was leaning almost 45 degrees and for a moment I was concerned it might tip over. I found later when talking with Kyle, that so was he!

[bgl]

The terrain here in Leilani Estates is full of surprises and even though I knew about some of the features of these two acres, after having walked in a few times (NOT an easy thing to do!) we still discovered quite a few features in the terrain that really add interest. In the first photo, Kyle and the D-8 is all the way at the bottom of a wide crack that runs across the property. It's anywhere from 15 to 30 ft wide and up to 15 ft deep. And in the second photo, just one of many large trees that we took down this morning. It's a difficult decision to take down some of these trees, and many of them WILL remain, but inevitably many of them will have to be removed.

[bgl]

Me and Kyle on his D-8.

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Terrain and vegetation here is almost impossible to describe. It has to be experienced! In the third photo, Kyle has made his way about 400 ft in from Pomaikai Street. That means we are only about 30-35 ft away from the back property line.

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Unfortunately, this is not a good location to have a mechanical breakdown but that's exactly what happens. A hydraulic line breaks and Kyle is concerned about fire so Paul runs out to Kyle's truck in the street, 400 ft away, to get a fire extinguisher. Fortunately, it's not needed, but we're done for todayl. Kyle is heading in to Hilo to get some parts and repair the D-8.

[bgl]

Talk about a deadend! This is it! But once Kyle has his D-8 up and running we're going to clear out this entire area. I may end up building a house here if there's enough room. In the second photo - probably need to level out some of this soil before I can begin planting palms! And talking about palms, here's the token palm in this thread: a volunteer Archontophoenix alexandrae in the forest.

[Rusty on Pine Is.]

Wow, what a project!!!

But further, KUDOS(!!!!) to you for taking you neighbors concerns into consideration...there are lesser folks that would toss their wishes to the wind.....

..many of us would feel fortunate to have neighbors as considerate as you!

Rusty

[Mats]

Very cool Bo! Thanks for the photos.

I bet you're excited to have that great soil to work with.

[Tassie_Troy1971]

Whoa Bo thats a heavy area to clear out . The soil looks very rich and inviting - for palms !

What are the Treeferns called that i can see in the background ?

[calyptrocalyx&licuala freck]

Well Done Bo, Sad ya left everything behind

but all good you'll make another deadly place

Best Wishes, Mikey..

[paulgila]

well-said,mikey.

i think

[calyptrocalyx&licuala freck]

well-said,mikey.

i think

Yeah, now I'm doubting wot i said now ...No Bo's

moving on so good on ya Bo,

...Mikey...

[Justin]

I may need Kyle's services in about a month. I'm hoping to purchase the empty lot next to my new place. Hopefully I'll have some "soil" as well.

[Dypsisdean]

Looking good Bo. But I thought gardening in Hawaii was so easy you just put the seeds and seedlings in the ground and walked away.

[Perito]

How exciting to be starting from scratch! Well, scratch except all your experience in Lelani estates up till now. This will be great to see how your work progresses Bo!

[bgl]

Rusty, Mats, Mikey, Paul, Justin and Perry,

Thanks a lot for all your comments!

Troy, the most common Hawaiian tree fern is only referred to as "hapu'u" here, so I actually had to look it up, and I believe the botanical name is Cibotium menziesii. There are quite a few of those on the property. Some of them quite impressive. Will leave as many as I can.

Dean, for some reason "gardening" is not a word I think of when the bulldozer is ripping out 70 ft tall trees and almost tipping into deep ravines!

Bo-Göran

[aussiearoids]

All I can say is " GO BO "

I bet you have a vision of the perfect palm garden , and we will all see it happen .

[edric]

Wow Bo! Thanks for the update, that's great news, hopefully more rare Dypsis, Ed

[Mark Heath]

congratulations Bo,

That soil looks fantastic! That A.Alexander looks good, you allready have a jump on your new garden.

[bgl]

Michael, Ed and Mark, thanks for your comments!

Ed, funny you should mention that (about Dypsis). My vision for this garden is a very different one. Relatively few species (but in groups, or maybe even spread out in a large area), and definitely heavily leaning towards Madagascar palms, with the majority obviously being Dypsis.

Mark, that A. alexandrae is actually on the vacant lot next to mine, even though it's only a couple of feet away from the property line. We did take out a few Alexandra palms with the D-8 yesterday. Simply because they happened to be right in the path.

Bo-Göran

[BS Man about Palms]

Open palette, what a way to start!!

Looking forward to it. Though it will pass all our gardens in 5 years time...

BO knows Palms!

[bgl]

Bill,

Thanks a lot! I hope to see you here one of these days! You must be one of the few who have not yet been here!

Bo-Göran

[www.dadluvsu.com]

That's a whole heap of work Bo! Are you taking the shadehouse and nursery workings with you to the new place? What's in mind for a home on the new parcel? Going to build things differently? Saw a Tundra in the photos, is this your new truck?! I'm thinking it will feel weird to use your old collection as a source for seed collecting!

[KPL]

Bo,

You forgot to say that your Palm Garden and new house will be coming up behind Kim and Steve property here in Leilani Estates.

Your soon to be x-wife

kpl

Karolyn

[bgl]

Bill,

Work? Not familiar with that concept! This is all for fun! And I'm afraid the nursery and its inventory will have to be liquidated over the next several months. And I have had the Tundra since June 2007. Great truck - love driving it!

Karolyn,

No, I did not forget to mention that. As a matter of fact, assuming the D-8 gets repaired between now and Monday morning I expect that we will be able to clear out the entire back property line with my next door neighbors Dave and Greg, and of course Kim and Steve have their property immediately next to theirs so I will be posting photos showing the proximity of the properties. I have a common 100 ft border with Dave and Greg, but no common border with Kim and Steve. But the northwestern corner of their lot meets up with the southeastern corner of my two acres.

Bo-Göran

[monkeyranch]

I would consider my life a great success if I had created just one garden as amazing as your first. A second Lundkvist garden will surely impress the universe. And with your influence on other residents Leilani Estates seems destined to become one of the premier palm spots in the world. Big surprise you are planting more Clinostigmas. Some strange part of me likes seeing pictures of the Big Island trying to swallow up D8s, D9s, and other heavy machinery. It could digest that steel without even a burp. Thanks again for your hospitality and the tour you hosted for my father and I last Xmas when we stayed at Stephanie and Stevo's place. Let my know it any of those Dypsis decipiens are headed for the wood chipper. :lol: I wish the best for both your old and new gardens. Good luck, Martin.

Edited December 11, 2010 by monkeyranch

[Wai`anae Steve]

Bo, BIG JOB coming up.

Can't the Ohia be used for building something? Shame to waste a good hard wood. Fence posts?

Have you looked into Bamboo homes? My friend here had one built about a year ago. Looks good. They are built in Vietnam to your plans, then taken apart and shipped here to be put back together.

[MattyB]

Good luck with the project Bo. What have you learned from your experience at the other place. Did you plant too densley in places? Have heavy canopy falling on understory? What will you do different?

[Gileno Machado]

Bo, being a top experienced palm grower and having a great taste for beautiful species and fine landscape, I`m sure this next garden will soon be one of the most extraordinary palm collections the Big Island will ever see. I wish you good luck and will look forward to detailed photos of the progress, so we may all learn from your great knowledge and opinions about the project. Best regards, Gileno

[Walter John]

sorry to hear about one aspect, more Clinostigma madness expected, and why bloody not I say.

[bgl]

(Thanks for all the comments - will address them after I post a few more photos)

Spent an hour on the two acres this morning trying to figure out where to put a driveway. Not an easy thing with 15 ft deep ravines here and there! In the process of exploring the two acres I ended up on all sorts of fascinating little adventures. In these three photos I am standing on a large ohi'a log that is a good 7-8 ft above the ground in most places (difficult to see in these photos). My shoes can be seen at the very bottom in the first photo. Most of the vegetation seen here will be removed. Most of it is invasive stuff like Strawberry guava and this monster Miconia (photo #3). Walking on, and balancing on, logs here is a deadly serious activity. Logs are almost always very wet and slippery because of all the rain, but it's not necessarily obvious. They can appear to be dry and that can is very deceptive. Extreme caution is always a good idea. Especially when you carry an expensive camera! Oh, this lone ohi'a (Metrosideros polymorpha) is only about 70-80 ft or so in from the street, but it's growing in a little ravine, so I intend to clear out all the weed trees but leave the ohi'a.

[bgl]

First photo shows an incredible ohi'a grove that I will keep and I intend for the driveway to snake its way in between these tall trees. Get rid of lots of invasive bushes in between the trees and replace them with Licualas and Kerriodoxas.

Second photo shows regrowth of a Miconia. The Leilani Miconia team must have been on this property some time ago. NOT an easy mission because this plant is more than 300 ft in from the street, and this is in terrain and vegetation that makes it impossible to take more than one step at a time. For each step you take you end up getting all tangled in hanging vines and branches and twigs that are growing horizontally, making forward progress VERY slow and cumbersome. Anyway, so the Miconia Team must have decapitated lots of large Miconias and now they are growing back. But not for long!

Third photo shows some of the devastation caused by the D-8 yesterday. Some of the taller logs I will leave where they are and incorporate them in the general landscaping. Others will be cut up in 6 ft lengths and used to line various footpaths. And the smaller logs will just have to be disposed of.

Fourth photo shows an enormous ohi'a tree. Probably the most impressive on the entire two acres. Not too many of these very large ohi'a trees here.

Oh, should mention that I had serious difficulties with the lens fogging up numerous times. Humidity was at maximum! It can be seen in #2 and #3. I tried to wait for the lens to clear up, but it was a constant battle.

[bgl]

Martin, thank you very much for the kind words, and it was great to have you and your father come by for a garden tour! And there are no Dypsis decipiens heading for the woodchipper! But I may plant a few here!

Steve, ohi'a wood is great wood and I certainly hope to use some of it. Kyle is actually removing some of the trees that he's taking down. There's quite the demand for ohi'a logs. I am hoping to use some in the construction of the house. I know that there are some bamoboo houses here but will probably not go that route.

Matt, well I did learn a number of things. For one thing I'm not going to be planting any tiny palms. Casualty rate is just much too high. Small licualas tend do to OK, but thin pinnate palms do not. There are a number of things I will do different this time around. Not because I regret what I did the first time around. I don't. I just want to try something different. I visualize a large number of Clinostigmas on the first 150 ft or so coming in from the street. But VERY spread out so that they will give an open and airy feeling and so that I can plant lots of other small and medium sized palms in between them. They will need to be spaced out about 35-40 ft, center to center, to accomplish that look. Most of the Clinostigmas in LPG #1 (Lundkvist Palm Garden) are about 12-18 ft center to center with a heavy overlap of the fronds. Which is a great look in my opinion. But, like I said, this will be a very different look. My plan is to use a fairly small number of species, but in large groups. In some cases fairly spread out (like the Clinostigmas) while in other cases I intend to create very dense clusters. For instance many Pinangas (P. maculata and P. speciosa to name two) look fantastic when planted in close proximity. A group of 30-40 will be a spectacular sight. Generally speaking I want to maintain as much as possible of the natural terrain and some of the native plants (like the hapu'u tree ferns) and add suitable palms in those areas. The little ravine that runs clear across the property is an amazing feature which I intend to fully utilize for visual effects.

Gileno, thank you very much for the kind words! Once the bulldozer is done I intend to start planting palms. Too risky while Kyle is still driving around with 30 tons of heavy equipment! And there are plenty of places where I can begin to plant. That will be in Chapter 2!

Wal, well, as you know by now, get ready for more Clinostigmas! There are already about 500 Clinostigmas spread out on numerous properties here in Leilani Estates. And we are far from done!

Bo-Göran

[John in Andalucia]

Bo, presumably the bulldozer uproots even the deepest vegetation, and it all just mulches into the soil. Having seen uprooted weeds grow back under a heavy rainfall, what is to stop your "blank canvas" from turning green again? My guess would be that the bulldozer tracks destroy any chance of the weeds recovering! Good to see you forging ahead, and I hope the palm joy is equal if not greater than ever before.

[bgl]

John,

The palm joy is definitely greater than ever! Have no doubt about that! And about the weeds - I wish! This is a constant battle and you never win. It's just ongoing, and there's no simple solution. I use a variety of methods - handpulling larger ones, spraying the smaller ones and in other areas I simply weedwhack the heck out of them! Over and over again!

Bo-Göran