Giving plants a voice!

Listen to this people: water your plants! They'll tell you when! Really cool link.

Einstein says...

Cool tree

Leaf blowers

Who knew that a single leaf blower operated for an hour could have as much impact as 80 cars!

READ IT!

Lightning

Lightning kills, even when there are clear skies.

This landscaper died and there was no rain.

The conflict between labor and efficiency

Look at this:
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/06/robo_picker

Robots may soon be picking oranges! Just think!

I think that most people are in favor of such time-saving devices. Still we should take time to ask what will happen to the people who make their living picking fruit. As a society we should at least think about retraining.

Many reasons why you should not drink bottled water

In a word: wasteful.

Read here for a better explanation.

Real?

Look at this beautiful tree.

The future

Watch Al Gore's film. Plant a tree. Or two. Or a forest.

It's the future.

Controlling tree height?

Imagine if nurseries could control how tall trees were?

Check this out!

Amazing. Powerful!

Tropical Flowering Tree Society

Wow! This looks like a great association. Check it out if you are interested in flowering trees.

Who isn't interested in flowering trees?

Environmental positions

The rainy-season is upon us and we are all thankful in South Florida. Even the weathermen and weatherwomen (funny how the spell-checker doesn't recognize that word) are appreciative of the rain.

South Florida has gotten extremely crowded. Imagine how SoFla has been transformed in 100 years! Amazing.

I'm hearing good things about Gov. Crist's appointments. Let's hope we can keep the environment on our minds, not merely development.

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In my personal landscaping plan, I'm taking down two invasive trees on the side of my home. Unfortunately the county has given me no direction. The typical joke: one department gave me the number of the department which just gave me that number. It's an endless loop.

Except I think the loop should be ended by THEM. They should pay for the trees to be taken down!

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I've got a new design for www.plantsfromparadise.com

I'm thinking of some off-line advertising. The only other advertising off-line so far has been the "Flyer". That wasn't very good. I'll have to be creative.

Excited about my new forum

Everyone...Let's Talk About Plants!

Planting for the long haul

Nurseries aren't a get rich quick scheme. You plant in anticipation of getting a return on your money in months or years.

Landscapers have to think in similar terms. Many trees I plant will outlive me. This is a fact I realize but now that I'm planting oaks in my own yard I am faced with the reality on a tangible level. I'll watch these oaks get bigger and if they are planted in the wrong spot, I'll have to deal with them down the road.

I saw a gigantic oak in my neighborhood tonight and I wondered if it pre-dated the subdivision. It was beautiful and when the oaks I planted are that big they'll be too big for where they are planted! Perhaps the oak is 104 years old though.

Should I have moved the oak in anticipation of something so far off?

No, because I can always trim it to keep it smaller. If I keep it trimmed correctly, I am not scared of an oak falling on anyone's home.

I love Live Oaks.

Oaks to help reduce energy costs.

Florida ranks fifth in municipal energy use per capita due to the continuous use of air conditioning and pool pumps. It is estimated that only 1% of energy in the state is generated through renewable resources.

--From Wikipedia's entry on the state of Florida.

This is sorry folks and we can do better. I'm planting oak trees around my home for protection from storms and for shade. With more shade I'll have to use less air conditioning!

Oaks are extremely strong in hurricanes if pruned properly!

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Broke a pipe on a plant installation today. Mistakes happen but we made it right for the customer. My employees and I aren't perfect but we'll never leave the job unfinished.

Lots of exciting projects...

I've got lots of great ideas!

• First of all, I started up www.letstalkaboutplants.com and I'm inviting all my readers to post questions about plants! It should be lots of fun!
• I'm creating www.miamiplantdelivery.com for strictly plant deliveries. It's interesting to think of the categories. It's fun.
• Plantsfromparadise.com is back up and running. Looking good! This will be a site for people to examine different landscaping looks. I will post pictures of landscaping jobs and references of customers.

I will invite my former customers to participate but instead of writing a mass email, I should just write brief introductions.

Coral Gables: Update on Whole Foods

Coral Gables: Update on Whole Foods

healthy food coming to the Gables!

A new forum about plants...

Hello Readers!

I created a forum at www.letstalkaboutplants.com to discuss plants and trees! Create a login and password and start discussing plants and trees!

David

Leaves are returning to the gumbos

The gumbo limbos in my front and backyard are starting to grow their leaves back. It's a beautiful sight! Nature's rebirth after the long hard 70 degree winter.

Ahhh, winter in Miami.

Growing potatoe in a pot

Food you grow yourself does taste better!