Chainsawing my palms

[bgl]

I guess you could say today was a historic day, of sorts: for the first time I deliberately cut down a healthy palm with my chainsaw! The neighbor has a fruiting A. alexandrae and for years I have had volunteer seedlings pop up all over the place. My preference is to dig them up when they are small (less than 2 ft tall) and relocate them to an area just outside of our property. Sometimes I just don't get around to it though, and these Alexandra palms then get up to such a size that digging them just is not an option. We had very strong winds here yesterday, and an 80 ft tall (dead) Ohi'a tree fell, right smack in amongst a grove of good sized Dypsis sp. bejofa. Broke off a couple of fronds, and actually landed right on top of one, but the new spike survived just fine, so the palm will definitely be OK. Amazing!

Anyway, was on my way to cut up this Ohi'a into smaller pieces and happened to be passing by this A. alexandrae which has been on my "remove list" for a while. Chainsaw in hand, spurr of the moment decision, and 20 seconds later this is what the palm looked like!

[bgl]

Different angle

[bgl]

It even had a nice bronze colored new frond. Oh, well.... Overall height of the palm was about 14-15 ft, BTW.

(Debris on the ground in the background is from all the strong winds yesterday. Time for cleanup today!)

[tomspalmsdotcalm]

Bo,

Heart o' palm salad for dinner on Friday evening?

aloha

[Mike4284m]

Looks like a murder scene! Where's the chalk outline?

[Kathy]

Oh my goodness, think I'm having a "palm heart attack".....

But I'm certain if I lived in Hawaii I'd eventually be doing the same thing.  Oh, to actually have too many gorgeous and trunking in-ground palms!

So are you going to plant anything in its place?

[MattyB]

The horror......the horror!

[Zac in NC]

Eh, It doesn't faze me a bit. It's like seeing that Washingtonia thread Dave made( but not as bad as that other thread Dave made- that one was malicious)

Zac

[bgl]

Kathy,

the problem with volunteer seedlings/palms is that they tend to pop up in locations that are not good, from a long term point of view. I've had quite a few Verschaffeltia splendida volunteer seedlings pop up, but those are all from my own plants, and they are all in the "Seychelles" area. As a rule, I pull them out while they are still small and put them in 1G pots, but I've left one or two that happened to germinate in locations that were actually OK. I have landscaped our property in such a way that certain areas are somewhat open, to make it possible to enjoy the palms there. Other areas are more like a jungle scene and one or two more palms makes little, if any, difference. The Alexandra palm that I cut down this morning was right smack in front of a huge Raphia farinifera. It certainly didn't block the view, at least not at this time, but eventually it would have been "in the way". I want a clear view of the Raphia, without any other (tall) palms in front of it. If I plant anything, it'll be something small. Since this is the "Madagascar/Africa" area, I may end up planting some smaller Dypsis palms down the road, but no replacement is planned for right now! The Alexandra volunteers are different from all my other seedlings, because they tend to show up in various places throughout the property, presumably because the seeds are dropped there by birds. (Edit: The volunteer seedlings from my own plants tend to ONLY show up right below the palm from where the seed actually dropped).

Bo-Göran

[Morabeza]

Good on ya Bo-Göran!

I think dose of fearless judiciousness is essential in every good garden, especially in one that has been compared to a Mondrian.    (one of my favourite artists)

What will you do with that fabulous `ohi`a wood?

[JakeK]

Atta-boy Bo! Send a message to all those other volunteer seedlings that if they want to continue growing they'll meet certain death by chainsaw.

[Shon]

To bad you couldn't ship it to Cali I need a few replacements especially ones with size.

                                 Shon

[tikitiki]

one man's weed is another man's treasure. I would be the happiest man around if that happend to me. On the other had my L. decora has about 15 spathes about to open and they will be ripped up if they germinate. So the moral is I'm torn.

[bgl]

Thanks guys, for the comments.

Shon, no shipping - personal pickup only! And you dig!

Jacob,

the Ohi'a wood is recycled on our property as a barrier between the red cinder paths and the grassy areas (or black cinder areas). Here's the work in progress, only a few hours after the Ohi'a log was chainsawed into manageable pieces. The path still needs a bit of cleanup and a fresh load of red cinder. The two logs on the far left corner of the "intersection" are both fresh logs, and so is the one in the lower left that's not in place yet. We're digging out some older, smaller & partly decomposed Ohi'a logs that needed to be replaced anyway!

Bo-Göran

[bgl]

Forgot to mention in the previous post that three of the Dypsis sp. bejofa that were involved in this mishap are visible in the upper left part of the photo. They lost a few fronds, and considering that this heavy Ohi'a tree actually fell right on top of one of them, the outcome was pretty amazing.

Here's another, much smaller, A. alexandrae volunteer seedling. This one is growing halfway up a little lava formation, and there's a BIG Ohi'a tree on top of this lava structure (trunk partly visible in the upper righthand corner). I would never have planted a palm in this location anyway, and the Alexandra palm, if left where it is, will grow straight up into the Ohi'a tree so I'm inclined to leave it. Just to see what will happen... ???

[amazondk]

Bo,

Chain saws are an important element of life in the tropics.  And, the Sweeds make the best.   I am not really that good with one, but I try from time to time.  Here are some logs from my neck of the woods.  The guys that run the Huskavarnas or the Stilhs around here know what they are doing.  These are Masaranduba, Manilkara huberi.   Or otherwise known as Brazilian redwood.  It is a beautiful red colored wood.  I took these pictures earlier today.

dk

[bgl]

Don,

Wow, lots of potential there!! I have a couple of Stiehl chainsaws, and I'm very happy with them. Would like to try a Huskvarna, but as far as I know there's no local agent here. I had a funny conversation with the guy who delivers cinder & cinder-soil. He told me that his best chainsaw ever was a Huskvarna, but it was the way he pronounced the name that intrigued me. It was something like "Husk-varna", splitting it up like that. And I guess since he had never been to Sweden, that was understandable. It's actually the name of a city in southern Sweden, and the main industry in that city took the same name, which comes from "Hus", meaning "house" or "building" and ''kvarna" which derives from "kvarn" meaning "mill". In other words, a building with a mill. So, the correct pronounciation is "Hus-kvarna". Not sure how to write that phonetically, though!

Bo-Göran

[Zac in NC]

Bo- You mean its not Husk- Varna? LOL Thats what all the folks around these here parts say it.

Zac

[Morabeza]

Interesting use of the logs Bo-Göran.  If I were there I might have tried to convince you to let me take a log to mount some of my orchids on, as they make wonderful mounts.

[bgl]

Zac,

I guess people just have a hard time with the 'k' and the 'v' together, and how to pronounce that. I get comments every now and then about my last name (Lundkvist), "how do you pronounce 'ndkv'?". And my response is twofold; 1) you break up the name in two parts, "Lund" and "kvist", and 2) why would this be so strange when there are many similar words (with 4 consonants in a row) in the English language? I have never questioned anyone's ability to pronounce, for instance, the letters 'rthw' (as in Northwest)!!

Bo-Göran

[bgl]

Jacob,

Just saw your response. And actually, in those cases when we cut down Ohi'a trees, we've left a good sized stump (6-8 ft tall) just for that purpose. And we have plenty more Ohi'a trees here, some of which need to come down because they are dead, or dying. I just don't know how you're going to get it back to O'ahu!?  ??? This is HEAVY wood!

Bo-Göran

[Zac in NC]

Bo- I have never thought anything other than how you said to say your last name. Why would they have trouble with it?

Zac

[Kris]

Dear Bo Goran  

I have a doubt,why was this palm not nipped in the bud.

if it did not suite the location.why was it allowed to grow

go big in the first place ?

In my tools i have one thing missing,its the chainsaw.is

your's a power mains operated one or its gasoline powered

and which is best of the two & as don said are the swedeish

chainsaw the best.and is it marketed internationally ?

Love,

Kris  

[bgl]

Kris,

You are absolutely correct - I should have removed the Alexandra palm when it was small, and I wouldn't have had to use the chainsaw. My problem is that every day there's 100 different things to do here, and I have only time to do 10 of them...

As far as chainsaws, the ones I have run on gasoline, and I have no experience with anything else. Maybe someone else can add their experience?

I know Huskvarna has top quality products, but havn't tried them myself. They do indeed market them worldwide, and it would surprise me if they are not available in India. There are a number of Swedish companies that have been very active in marketing their products in India. How Huskvarna measures up against, for instance Stiehl, I don't know. Shindaiwa, I believe is also very good (I have some Shindaiwa products, but no chainsaw).

And Zac,

I think some people just get fixated on those 4 letters ("ndkv") in the middle of my last name, typically when I or my wife spell it during a phone conversation.

Bo-Göran

[Kris]

(bgl @ Jan. 31 2007,02:08)

QUOTE

Kris,

My problem is that every day there's 100 different things to do here, and I have only time to do 10 of them...

Bo-Göran

Dear Bo Goran  

Iam very glad that you keep yourself that busy.

As i have pointed some of the forum members

here are indeed my inspiration.since its hot here

throught the year and sultry & dry(though we are

in coastal area)_preety wiered climate.

make me feel dull & just stand under a water shawer,

lock inside a A/C cabin.And do nothing.

But seeing your daily routine,it has prompted a lazy guy

like me to move my ar..e to work enthustically.

And Don also seems to be very active & energetic_hey

you guys are my driving force.i love active people_period !

Thanks/Love,

Kris(India).

[amazondk]

Around here the Huskavarna has the reputation for being the most durable chain saw.  Both the Husqvarna and Stilh are good products and they have factories in Brazil.   I would say they would both be available in India.  Mine is a Stilh 038 which is a lightweight model.  But, it still can cut through most anything.  I had an electric one in the States, but I don't think they have the performance of a gas one.

Bo, did you use the palm hearts?

dk

[ariscott]

Bo,

A bit like me and Carpentaria..... I can understand why you can't keep up with them, as I could never keep up with carpies seedlings from bird droppings. I swore I would not have one on the block, but I think we would end up with them one way or another.

Regards, Ari

[bgl]

We've had VERY windy weather here for the last 3 days, which is most unusual. This is what caused the big Ohi'a tree to fall down Monday (day before yesterday - see above). This morning I had to make a quick trip to Hilo (30 mins each way). It was very windy when I left home with some extremely heavy showers. In Hilo it was sunny, hardly any wind, and the summit of Mauna Kea was visible. An absolutely beautiful day! Coming back to Leilani Estates, the weather changed, and it was still windy & wet here! Not only that, but a major surprise awaited me. This is what our driveway NORMALLY looks like (you make a righthand turn at the end to get to the house).

[bgl]

But this morning when I pulled in from the street, this is what it looked like! ANOTHER big Ohi'a tree had fallen down! It MAY have wiped out one or two small Calyptrocalyx. I don't know yet because the cleanup hasn't been completed yet. Fortunately, we have two entrances to our property and a network of driveways, so at a very minimum TWO Ohi'a trees would have to fall more or less at the same time, and in exactly the right (or wrong?) places in order to block access to our house.

And Don,

I have a Stihl 021 16 inch and a Stihl MS290 20 inch chainsaw. Never had any problems with either one. And I've had the smaller one for at least 8-9 years.

Bo-Göran

[The Germinator]

bgl, How do you sleep at night. That poor tree never had a chance.

Wait for the sequel, revenge of Las Palmas.  sweet dreams

[Wai`anae Steve]

Poor Bo,

  How was your rain?  We got just under 2 inches yesteday.  Today dry.  More expected tomorrow.

  No wind damage here.  Wonder how Dypsis Dean and Al in Kona made out?

[bgl]

Steve,

The rain was no big deal. Probably about an inch or so over the last 24 hours. (Will check in the morning). But the wind we've had off and on for 3 days now is outrageous. Probably the worst I've experienced in my 11 years here. And two big Ohi'a trees down in the span of 3 days!! And the top of another (dead) Ohi'a tree fell down and broke in 100 pieces on impact in one of my Dypsis areas. But no damage to any of the palms there. Pretty amazing.

Bo-Göran

(Edit: and Ed, it's 11 p.m. now, so I'm going to bed. Expect to sleep great!!).

[DoomsDave]

Bo!

As we say in this country (as I'm certain you know)

Chain saws have their uses.  In perspective with beauty ...

EGAD

Kimchee with palm heart rocks, especially with a hot chick to share it with . ..

dave

[bgl]

Don and Dave,

Just realized I forgot to answer your question, Don: no, didn't use the heart of palm. With everything else going on that wasn't on my mind. And probably too late to retrieve it now. I'm sure the bugs are having a great time enjoying it!

Bo-Göran

[Zac in NC]

Wow, thats amazing that you lost two Ohi'a trees in a few days. At least you can line the paths again.

Zac

[bgl]

Zac,

we can do better than that!!  How about 3 trees in 4 days? Today is the fourth day with VERY strong winds, and we had ANOTHER Ohi'a tree down. Fortunately not on our property but in the nursery area back in the forest. But still. And this one is a monster, probably 120-125 ft tall. This is the rootball.

Bo-Göran

[bgl]

And here I've climbed up on top the trunk with the rootball behind me. The group of Clinostigma samoense in 5G pots is at least 125 ft away and the top of the Ohi'a wiped out a bunch of them, maybe 6 to 10.

[Wai`anae Steve]

Bo,

  Did you build a fireplace into the house?

  Ohia makes good firewood, carving, and posts depending on size and condition.

[Surf Guy]

Hey Bo, I am surprised to hear you are growing A. alexandrae on the island. Doesn't the Clinostigmas replace these there? I guess these palms are so common here in So Cal that I just don't get it. I do enjoy photos of your property. I always turn green with envy when I see your photos. I also was lucky enough to get a copy of Hana Hou magazine and saw the article with you and Jeff Marcus and others. Great article. It's nice to put a face with the name. Please continue to post. Mike in So Cal

[Scott]

Bo, Like everyone else, I can only imagine having the problem you described above!

I just visited your web site. It's beautifully executed. very nice.

Scott