About two years ago, one of the two beautiful palms in the back yard (near the bulkhead) fell over dead and had to be removed. We decided to live with it until a few months ago when the remaining palm in back suddenly - but possibly with the aid of construction workers replacing the balcony rails - started leaning heavily towards the bay. We couldn't just leave it and the PCTH Association tends to be slower than Jerry at getting things done, so we reached out to Silvo, the landscaper, for a new plan.
He recommended planting a hardier version in front - it may be a Florida palm - and then replacing the back palm with something similar to a royal, but a variety that's less expensive and a bit more hardy in an environment where a high tide could leave it soaking in salt water for hours or days. After telling him we weren't in a hurry, we were pleasantly surprised to drive up on a Saturday evening and see this:
Our newly planted palm, supported and still bound at the top, with Silvo and his helper hard at work devising a plan to unload and plant the other one out back. One of his helpers had not shown up for work and so the two men rigged a way to move the 800 POUND tree off the trailer.
I cannot even begin to describe this process - and Jerry did try to help them for a while - but they had a system of using various tools combined with brute force to move the tree.
I offered them water, Cokes and Dr Peppers and they rested and fueled up on a little cold caffeine and went at it again. I told them they would be sore the next day and Silvo looked at me, smiled and said in his heavy accent "no, I work hard every day" ... and I believe he does!
Meanwhile, out back, this HUGE hole has been dug to accommodate the "root ball" of the big palm.
And indoors, the cats couldn't have cared less ...
They slowly, slowly rolled the huge tree around the end of the townhouses ...
They flattened the pile of dirt one side and rolled the thing sideways into the hole ... it landed with a thud, but it was finally in there!
Now Silvo and his assistant aren't engineers by a long-shot, but let me tell you they understand the use of leverage to accomplish a mission. All the poles used to make a "dolly" to wheel the palm to the back were then converted to a system of levers to upright the tree and make it fit perfectly in the hole.
Fascinating to watch and we camped out on the second floor balcony. A week or so earlier we had bought some new "all weather wood" furniture and a pretty new aloe vera plant to spruce the place up:
As we watched and enjoyed the sunset, an accident happened. They were using several 4x4s to work the 800 pound tree into the hole and at one point, as Silvo had pulled down with all his might, the 4x4 snapped, popped up and hit him in the head.
I don't think he was thrilled that I saw it - captured it on video even - and when I saw that the beam had creased his nose just below the eyes I was really concerned. He, of course, said he was fine. I sent Jerry downstairs with a baggie of ice and a couple of cool, damp towels and after first saying he didn't need them he held that ice on his face for a few minutes before continuing with the tree.
Frankly, I would have needed an ambulance and Demerol if I had taken a hit like that and we wondered what he looked like the next day. It couldn't have been pretty.
Hard work and determination prevailed and eventually the mighty palm was upright and sitting perfectly in it's new space.
Of course it looks better now that it's palms have been cut loose from the binding, but it was quite a process to observe. I was so glad that these tropical systems in the Gulf lately didn't raise the tides over the bulkhead - we need to give this palm a while to settle in before it gets soaked in ocean water!
We had a beautiful sunset that evening, followed by a beautiful, calm morning:
And the kitty breakfast was delicious ...
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