Leave the grasses alone

Zone B, view looking west

Swathes of grass cover are important in many respects.  At the park, its is an integral part of the design philosophy.  Firstly, the low mass of thick green cover are an important hideout and safe passage for the Samba deers that visit the park during the night.  The grasses produce seeds that are an important source of food to birds e.g. the pipits.  The dried grass blades and stems are used by birds to build their nests.  The swampy areas where grasses thrive and remain uncut are nesting grounds for such lovely birds like the White-breasted water hen.  In terms of cultural practice management, the presence of grass reserves tremendously save time and resources in keeping them untouched rather than the costly practice of grasscutting them weekly or monthly or even killing them with weedicide.  The grass blades and stems provide perches for small insects like dragonflies and butterflies.  Finally in landscaping aesthetics, the bold wash of light greenery provides soft buffer or  transition to the ground floor.  This helps soften the eye view and enhance compositional perspectives as the eye moves from a richly textured column of leaves above to the even and finely cut lawn at the ground level, thus making the watching experience pleasurable.

Zone B, view looking south

Zone B, view looking south

(Re-post from my blog "The Kambatik Park, Bintulu" - https://kambatikpark.blogspot.com/2013/12/leave-grasses-alone.html

Epiphytic aroid suitable as shade plant

 Scindapsus perakensis

Family : Araceae - Aroid family

There are many old tall jungle trees at the park, mostly located at the Botanic Islands.  In their natural habitat the Scindapsus perakensis will climb tall trees to become lovely epiphytes that can be transplanted and made into house or shade plants.  Its spadix is creamish.  Among the Bidayuh people in Sarawak, a paste of the fresh leaves is used as poultice to treat swollen joints that are associated with rheumatism.  I have been collecting and transplanting many of them to be used as landscaping plants, especially for areas under heavy shade.

Reman Pasok (Bidayuh) - Scindapsus perakensis

Location : Botanic Island Two

Note the the epiphytic nature of this climbing aroid

( Re-post fro my blog "The Kambatik Park, Bintulu" - https://kambatikpark.blogspot.com/2014/06/epiphytic-aroid-suitable-as-shade-plant.html )

Uprooting a beauty

t the  base of the clump into a root ball

Close up of Sandak or chisel

How do you uproot a beautiful palm and find home for it elsewhere, successfully?  At the park it done by simple manual method of trenching and  making the base of the palm like a ball.  By this method the root system is intact and the clump can be transplanted to its new home.  The main tool is the 'sandak' or chisel used for cutting the base of oil palm branches.  When the root ball is free it is a little effort to wedge it out of the trench.  The Sealing Wax Palm has been previously known as Cyrtostachys lakka but now it is called  Cyrtostachys renda.  It is native to Borneo, thus Sarawak, thus Bintulu.  The one that I removed today will be made as instant planting material for the Provinsi Lakka.  Today I saved RM 500, being the price of the palm this size at the current market value.

At this height , the palm will fetch RM 500 at any local nursery in Bintulu.

( Re-post from my blog "The Kambatik Park, Bintulu" - https://kambatikpark.blogspot.com/2014/06/uprooting-beauty.html )