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CANOPY TOUR HIGHLIGHT OF TRIP TO VERDANT COSTA RICA
"Clink!" went the metal hook that connected my butt harness to the overhead 3/4-inch steel cable.
"Now don't forget, use your right hand for braking, and bend your knees as you approach the platform," said my guide, as I launched out into the canopy of the Costa Rican cloud forest.
My canopy tour qualifies as one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life -- flying through the treetops more than 100 feet in the air from one tiny wood platform to the next. Our group of 12 included two native "eco-guides" who failed to practice their own safety advice by hanging upside-down and spread-eagled as they zipped from one of the eight platforms to the next.
Canopy tours are just one of many venues for experiencing the Costa Rican rainforest. There are also guided walking tours, boardwalks through swamps, tree-house climbs, jeep treks and horseback rides.
Costa Rica is an easy country to visit. English is spoken most places, you can drink the water and eat the salads, and bugs aren't as troublesome as my back yard in June. From a gardening standpoint, Costa Rica serves up almost too much to describe.
We spent four days in the mountainous cloud forest at the base of Mount Arenal, an active volcano that we never got a good look at because the top of the mountain was constantly cloaked in clouds. We stayed at a bed and breakfast called Chalet Nicholas on a hilltop above beautiful Lake Arenal.
This B&B maintains walking trails on its forested 18 acres and through an adjacent old-growth rainforest. One morning, I hiked a two-mile trail in the rain. It was so dark on the forest floor that my camera registered a 1/4-second shutter speed. On a brighter day, I was able to photograph the massive buttress roots of a 100-ft. tall Nancite tree.
Roots of these giant trees are very shallow because of lack of nutrients in the soil. Most nutrients on the forest floor come from rotting leaves and branches. With few nutrients deeper in the soil, trees compensate by establishing large root systems that fan out rather than dig deep into the soil. These buttressed roots help add support and balance to fortify the tree.
In the rainforest, countless vines and other plants depend on the giant trees for their existence. This is another reason trees need the large buttress roots -- to support the weight of all the plants growing on them.
Thick, woody vines -- some more than a foot in diameter at the base -- rise all the way to the canopy in search of sunlight. Epiphytes, sometimes referred to as air plants, grow piggyback on the trees of the canopy where light is more plentiful. Examples of epiphytes include orchids, ferns, mosses and lichens. There are more than 20,000 varieties of orchids in the rainforest. Epiphytes use the tree for support and as a collector of rain water. Some epiphytes make their own food from sunlight and air. Many epiphytes produce beautiful, brightly colored flowers that we use as house plants. Bromeliads are epiphytes from the pineapple family.
I didn't even try to learn the names of plants and trees in Costa Rica because I quickly realized that to do so would take a lifetime. A typical forest in the United States contains from 5 to 12 different kinds of trees, while a typical rainforest may have over 300.
Trees that form the canopy layer of the rainforest stand 60 to 150 feet tall. Their branches create an umbrella that shades the forest floor. The trees in this layer grow so close together that, viewed from above, they appear to form a solid green floor of their own. During our canopy tour, our guide pointed out over the top of the canopy and asked "Can you spot the tree that we call 'the broccoli tree?'" It wasn't difficult -- the top of one giant tree clearly resembled the top of a head of fresh broccoli.
I am envious of how easy it is to propagate plants in the rainforest. I asked John, our B&B operator, about his beautiful gardenias, including a 6-ft. specimen in full bloom right outside the front door. "They're all from the same plant," he explained. "I just take cuttings and stick them in the ground and they root and grow very fast." The frequent (almost daily) rain, rich volcanic soil and abundant sunshine are the only ingredients needed to create the beautiful gardens at this B&B and in the yards and gardens throughout this part of Costa Rica.
Another fascinating example of effortless plant propagation is living fences.
Conventional split-timber fence posts have a life expectancy of less than five years due to attack by termites and fungi. The solution, discovered centuries ago, is living fences.
Ranchers typically build a conventional barb-wire fence using dry wood posts. A year or two later, they begin sticking stem cuttings from live trees in between the fence posts. These sticks take root within a month and begin to grow into trees. As the dry fence posts deteriorate, the wire is attached to the growing tree trunks, which quickly form calluses that envelop the wire. One research project documented more than 57 species of trees in Costa Rica that are suitable as living fences.
Living fences are common throughout Central and South America and in other parts of the tropics.
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PUTTING DOWN ROOTS:
A Delightful Blend of
Gardening Wisdom, Wit
and Whimsy
$10 + $2 for shipping
by Cliff Johnson |
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