Pablo, the gardener at our condo, works hard. Here are three photos of him trimming pinuelas plants with a machete. Pinuelas plants are tough. They are a relative of the pineapple, but they have thick, pointed leaves with jagged thorns. They are used to separate the pool and back lawn area of our condo from the beach. They are well suited to be a barrier because people from the beach cannot walk through them to use the pool. They are like a living barbed wire fence.
So why does Pablo have to wade into these plants and whack the tops of the leaves with a machete? Because he is working to enhance the view of the residents and guests of the ground floor units. If the plants grow too high, the people downstairs from us, on the ground floor, will not be able to see the ocean very well from inside their condos.
In the third photo Pablo is pausing to sharpen the blade of his machete. I took these photos from the balcony of our condo. You can see how hard hard Pablo was working, just to improve the view of the people downstairs from us.
In contrast to my photos of Pablo hard at work, tomorrow I will show Pablo at his home doing something that he loves.
7 comments:
I wonder if it's golf...he has one heck of a swing.
You are so right, that is very hard work! I bet it helps to keep him in shape.
That is a lot of work. I know that in many parts of the world the machete is the preferred tool, but wouldn't a large mower of some type take this down easier and quicker? Is the noise the issue or perhaps the plant is protected in some way...like or sea oats and sea grass. (They can be trimmed but NOT removed.)
Frank,
I don't think the plant is protected, as it grows wild in lots of places. But the condo owners would not want the plants cut to the ground because they provide a barrier so people will not walk up from the beach to the pool or patio of the condo.
The plants take the place of a back fence. The plants are trimmed to be tall enough to keep people from walking through them, but not so tall to block the view of the ground floor residents and guests.
What a great idea for a fence. It is such a good looking plant with a duel purpose. Pablo has a job for life as long as the plant is growing.
He has a great swing! Keeps him fit, I would think.
a lot of action with a machete
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