GARDENING PRACTICES IN PUERTO RICO

WHAT the hell is that, may the inquisitive, well read and traveled reader may ask.

Not much, says I. However, the idea came after some Blotanist, mentioned something, in a sirupy kind of way after one of my blogs was accepted in those Olympic heights.

THEM CULPRITS

Agronomists

Landscape Maintenance Companies

Individuals and Fly by Night

Landscape Architects

Engineers

Academicians in every field

Monitor Environmentalists 

I believe this is the order in which the perps commit their crimes against the environment and surroundings. 

Intelligent maintenance and installation and most important, aesthetics, absent.

There is no need for pictures since ALL my seven blogs depict every aspect of what is wrong with gardening installations down these concrete/asphalt prairies for the last four years.  Not only with the most complex and elementary concept: COMPOSITION.  It is not clear. That is why every thing looks as if thrown without any other purpose than  to fill the blank  hole or space.

THE CONTEXT

Hotels

Malls

Motels

Streets

Schools

Churches

Cemeteries 

Public/Commercial

Buildings

Residences

Public Parks 

Highway medians

Gas Stations

Botanical Gardens

Fast Food Joints

But lets save you the time and expense to travel down here to  confirm my accusation, check the botanical list of what is planted in ALL the contexts above mentioned, not only in my headquarters Santurce/San Juan Metro Area but in the WHOLE island. 

BOTANICAL INVENTORY 

FICUS 
In every mistakenly imaginable places
side walks and every other context
particularly as hedges, topiary, round, square and rectangles.

PALMS

All kinds, particularly those intolerant to salt breeze, right by the ocean side.

There are probably less than ten species used, remember in every context. The most aberrant is planting them palms 2/3/4 feet from walls, even

  Architects and Landscape Architects 

are guilty as charged. Their headquarters are an excellent token of dull plant selection/installation. Not to get into their "Zen" like interior garden pond, with a hedge!

TURF

THE REST OF THEM

Acaliphas

Chefferas

Ixoras

Rain Joe

Liriopes

Pothos

Arashis

Mussaendas

Almacigos

Eucaliptos

Ucares

Callistemon

Mangle Plateado 

This list is about one half or two thirds of the total I observe while driving or during my less frequent strolls. A total shame, ugly and unforgivable.  

I could blame the Florida Nurseries, but considering the amount of  companies in the yellow pages doing landscape business, over 200, not counting the fly by night one, lets speculate a ball park of 400, dominated by illegal invaders, like USA, where the stereotype gardener is Mexican.

This equals to five landscape companies/persons per town, rounded to 80 municipalities.  There is no justification for the crap delivered from ALL the culprits during  the last 60 years. In Puerto Rico there not one installation worthy of a grain of salt or a hogs fart if you prefer.

It is time to go. I changed me mind. I will place two photos from the  recently installed collection, by the Rio Piedras Botanical Garden entrance. The footer and first picture tell the story. Notice the compacted soil. The grass was placed on it, just like that, believe it or not. You be the judge.

Consider that in such institution there are botanists, biologists that one would expect would know what to plant and where, but let the pictures show the dominant imbecility of the perpetrators and intellectuals authors who hired them.

paga i vamonoh.