the more I distance myself from the predominant gardening trends/currents.
Gardenstew, Gardenrant and Dave's garden were places where some comfort would/could be found. Yet, not the complacent type I discovered that everyjuan is in search of group acceptance and peer pressure. Screw all. I am just interested in learning, propagating, even if ruffling of the feathers offend some poor of spirit gardener.
ISABELAS' DUNE SAVIORS
The ones above is a group of bored people in need of some outdoor activity. In Puerto Rico with half the population idle, this is custom and use. When they made their splash debut in Facebook, I demanded immediately their botanical inventory.
Six months later, a serious response is still absent. I have had the answer since
1983 and would have offered it if the good will, dune saviors had bothered to ask, or if any of their activities promoted in that network had shown any interest in erosion control besides the superficial short term solution: installing of fences and taking pictures of themselves. I was not wrong.
DUNES RESTORATION IN PUERTO RICO
Department of 007 Natural Resources
Technical Report
page 16/17
by
Ramon F. Martinez
Luis Encarnacion
Luz M.Cruz
Sand fences or any other nonliving barriers are only temporary measures used to deposit and stabilize sand and must be supplemented by longer term protection. The stability of fence built dunes is usually short-lived, and without continued maintenance, fence deterioration will start to release sand within 1 to 2 years (Woodhouse 1978). Consequently, fence build dunes without existing vegetation should be planted as soon as possible in their development. Natural dune vegetation has been found to be the most permanent solution for final stabilization.
Vegetation traps loose windblown sand and spreads laterally forming a dense
cover of new plants. Lateral above ground growth by stolons and below-ground by rhizomes, effectively protects sand dunes from excessive wind and water erosion.
To be effective, selected plants must tolerate a variety of adverse conditions such as sand accumulation, salt spray, and salt water, sand blast, droughts, erosion, low nutrients and high ambient temperatures (Woodhouse 1974). Generally, natural dune vegetation is capable of tolerating such conditions.
Successful plantings have been obtained on fills made by sand fences, earth movers, and areas of low dunes in Florida (Davis 1975). Other plantings may be successful between widely scattered remman of the original growth in residual dunes.
Since vegetation may take time to colonize bare dune areas, the use of sand fences in conjunction with plantings is strongly recommended to begin a dune ridge and stop erosion as soon as possible.
What is the big deal?
Alberto Areces Mallea, Phd and Gabriela Ocampo his wife, destroyed, ordered the destruction of 12 acres of soil, Flora/Fauna, to create a park of endemics in Trujillo Alto during 2000-2004.
The Dunes Saviors are doing the same: trying to do something useful in their minds, or for money, 'prestige', without skills, experience or the most important:PREVIOUS RESEARCH.
Both, made mistakes that in the first case are irreversible, and in the second a waste of effort, money and time.
I could go on, but this will suffice.
My suggestion?
If you feel like digging holes for planting this or that, save/clean rivers,ponds, catarats, streams,sand with photos of people, not sand dunes, in Facebook, or the evening news, pretty please with sugar on top, educate yourself, research!
That way you will not destroy, accelerate the demise of our resources with classical feeble minded puertorriquenhadas, product of blind impulses. God bless you.
apaga que me voy....
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