Caribbean/Tropical tree work!!!

Bermy

Acolyte of the short bar
Joined
May 3, 2008
Messages
8,606
Location
Tasmania
Hey, time to start a new thread.
Barbados, Bermuda, Florida, where else, Hawaii, some parts of Oz...let's talk our kinda trees!

Swing, on the casuarina, they are also some of out tallest trees, sprawling and I know what you mean about heavy wood! They blow over readily in hurricanes because they are so shallow rooted and don't respond to wind shear to keep their heigh down like the native trees, we do a lot of reductions and the hacker just chop 'em off where ver then wonder why they sprout like mad.

What you call Flamboyant...is that Poinciana?

Pic of casuarina climb...see the little yellow dot? That's me!
 

Attachments

  • 3 away up high.jpg
    3 away up high.jpg
    69.8 KB · Views: 37
Hey Bermie cool thread start. Yeah the Poinciana is what we call the flamboyant, guess this common name came from it's illustrious flowers in bloom ( red mostly, deep orange and yellow variety rarely ). Here is a previously topped monster by some hack that I had then had to remove. IMG01605-20120114-1043.jpg IMG01638-20120114-1244.jpg IMG01698-20120114-1500.jpg IMG01732-20120114-1510.jpg
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5
Yup, seen that, done that. What annoys me is that with our climates they regrow so quickly and the hacks think everything is ok..then when you have to do the removal, you're stuck with a wobbly snappy mess to get rid of.

Some Poincianas here are struggling a bit, the older more exposed ones, four years of spring drought now, and really windy winters and cold compared to you...some of the tropicals are begining to feel it as we are really only sub tropical.

This picture is one of my favourites, this Poiciana has been well taken care of over the years and I inherited it about three years ago
 

Attachments

  • Fi in Poinciana.jpg
    Fi in Poinciana.jpg
    95.5 KB · Views: 46
Hey Bermie cool thread start. Yeah the Poinciana is what we call the flamboyant, guess this common name came from it's illustrious flowers in bloom ( red mostly, deep orange and yellow variety rarely ). Here is a previously topped monster by some hack that I had then had to remove.

I've seen the yellow ones and they are spectacular in that they are rare. One was in Spanish Wells, Bahamas and one is actually on our island.
 
Fi, why haven't you put that in the "my favourite picture of myself climbing" ( or whatever it is called) thread?

It is a GREAT shot.

I'd love a chance to work on some of your tropical trees.

Maybe we could swap places next winter.

I go to Bermuda, you go to Denmark.

I get to work on some exotic stuff, you get to knock over a shitload of large hardwoods.

I get to swim in the warm ocean, you get to play in the snow ( and sleet and cold rain etc.)

Doesn't that sound enticing?

It does at my end:D
 
This is a variety of Plumeria (Frangipani) that I had not see before. I think it is beautiful.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0104.jpg
    IMG_0104.jpg
    77.2 KB · Views: 17
That's called Plumeria Rubra. We have all four varieties of Frangipani down here but we are having major problems with a giant catepillar which eats every one off the leaves off. It only attacks Frangipani.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #12
HA Swing, those huge catarpillars are so gross!! We get them from time to time but not a huge problem.
Yes Gigi those Yellow Poincianas are amazing, there are a few here too, very rare, one is at the Aquarium and I've done a bit on it...
Frangipanis, the commonest are the white/yellow and pink, those deep pinky yellow ones don't show very often. Such a lovely fragrance and so easy to grow!

Stig, man, that sounds like a deal...only problem is you'd melt in the heat and I'd freeze! :)

Gigi, have you ever come across a chap called Mr. Perry in Spanish Wells? He's a pastor in the bretheren church, he's my good friend's here's uncle, we went fishing with him when we passed through Spanish Wells in our boat back in...ummmm...'89!
There were a group of people who emigrated to Bermuda from England way back when, then didn't like it and moved on the Eleuthera, called the Eleutheran Adventurers...faintly religious I think...
 
Now back to treework. Here are the before shots of twin casaurina removals for tomorrow, IMG04066-20120618-1744.jpg IMG04067-20120618-1745.jpg IMG04068-20120618-1745.jpg IMG04069-20120618-1745.jpg which are dead and a little too close for comfort looming by the boardwalk where there is high traffic. Will post the work being done soon stay tuned. Oh yeah those are some horrid pandanas under the tree, razor sharp edges really nasty and they are not to be damaged if it can be helped.
 
Here are some of the photos removing those two very old Casaurinas. The Tree on the side of the beach and board walk had to be rigged on the first. They were completely dead, and those who think they have seen hardwood, no nothing of these trees when they are dead, believe me. I worked on the one side then I had to deal with an issue. Another climber did the other half and then the first tree was pulled with the skid steer about 30' up from the bottom. Photos are always a pain, everyone just wants the job done so these are what I got. The beginning is of me and the last couple are of Richard. These photo's don't do justice to what this job entailed. IMG_1175.jpg IMG_1177.jpg IMG_1182.jpg IMG_1183.jpg IMG_1186.jpg IMG_1191.jpg IMG_1194.jpg IMG_1196.jpg IMG_1198.jpg IMG_1199.jpg IMG_1203.jpg IMG_1205.jpg IMG_1214.jpg IMG_1215.jpg . Trying to tell a story is difficult for me, I came back and took the last photos. This is how we roll down here nothing fancy but we get shite done. Oh yeah no spurs yet invented can penetrate a dead Casaurina, it is like sticking them in cured concrete.
 
I have to be missing something, which isn't uncommon when we look at tree work via photos :)...but sure looks like a felling job to me. Why rig it all out?
 
Looking towards the sea the back tree was all the fuss. It had a heavy lean towards the boardwalk that we can't see. No equipment except a D9 could work in that dense sand. The skid steer was sinking every where. The first one was straight as a pin, but that was not the problem tree. One mistake pulling that back tree and it was going to be costly. Government job, funds scare so equipment rental is the problem here. Plus the edge of the property has all this foliage that the owner did not want damaged. Government agecy doing work on private land spells trouble dollar wise they were afraid of the trees falling and killing someone using the new boardwalk by the beach. Felling could have been done easily with the right equipment, but the $3000US would not be profitable bringing in that D9 and there was no money extra in the kitty, so not saying you are not correct however there were litigating circumstances. Those trees are easily 150-200 years old and for some reason just died off.
 
They just "died off", huh? Could it possibly have had anything to do with the boardwalk installed directly next to their root zone?
 
Well Brian the boardwalk is 5 years old about and that could be very well what happened. But all the others up and down have been thriving so I am not so sure, but this crap has been going on for years down here. Check this photo which is further down the boardwalk where they have made a concrete structure for events. Trees are not these dudes priorities. Also it seemed like folks that own a hotel nearby were parking the cutting and leaves brush etc and burning them under those two removed trees, the biggest ( number three ) failed in a storm two years ago. Possibility maybe? IMG04070-20120618-1746.jpg IMG04077-20120618-1755.jpg IMG04078-20120618-1755.jpg IMG04065-20120618-1743.jpg
 
You can't cure stupid. But who needs shade in Barbados, anyway?

:D

Swing, it great to have you join in here at the TreeHouse. I like your style, and it's fine to see front of the pack climbing techniques down island.
 
Well I always liked things the way it was when I was growing up and I am 45. It was more natural and I was kinda like a hippy growing up only more " dread mon ". Things have gotten so spoiled down here in the name of progress, many big trees are gone and the reefs in the sea are dying at a phenomenal rate. These are the things I grew up loving. Topping is still a big problem here too.
 
Back
Top