1/19/2024 0 Comments Gumbo limbo tree plant care![]() I applied rooting hormone to 2 of the 3 branches (I forget which one I forgot!), but I’m not sure it’s required, given this tree’s reputation. The large tree is about 6 feet tall, with 4 largish branches the medium tree is about 4 feet tall, with only the one branch, and the small tree is about 2 feet tall. As any photographer will tell you, if you’re not sure which is the correct exposure, it’s a good idea to “bracket” your shots, exposing one “too little,” one “just enough,” and one “too much.” I decided to apply that wisdom to my gumbo-limbo experiment, planting one little branch, one medium branch, and one large branch. I’m not sure what kind of tree my neighbor’s was, but it certainly seemed to be trying to emulate the oak rather than the gumbo-limbo, but the “mere” 50-mph winds showed that it didn’t really have the genetic material to do so…Īnyway, back to my backyard. The problem with that strategy of course, is that there’s always a wind that’s bigger and stronger than your wood. ![]() This is the opposite strategy of the mighty oak, which evolved incredible strength to try to resist the wind. In my Florida Master Naturalist classes, this local lore was even elevated to an evolutionary strategy: the idea is, because the tree evolved in an environment with frequent hurricanes, it “chose” to be breakable under pressure of strong winds, but the broken parts, because they’re able to regrow, will allow the plant’s genes to survive. The problem is, the tree was not only growing very tall and slender-at least 20 feet-it was also growing in the wrong place: straight up into our phone and power lines. With Friday’s storm fresh in my mind, I decided it was time to take care of the situation, and at the same time test the truth of that local wisdom. According to the local wisdom here in south Florida, this tree is so easy to grow, you can just break off a branch, set it in the ground, and the branch will grow into a tree. One of the natives is actually quite a desirable tree: a Gumbo-Limbo ( Bursera simaruba). And that gap is being colonized with some plants, both native and non-native. We each have a backyard fence, and there’s about an 8-inch no-man’s land in between the fences. Like most people, our house backs up onto another house’s back yard.
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