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Creating a Tropical Sinkhole Garden

Bob meets with landscape architect Juan Capote to discuss planting a feature garden. Several of the larger plants have been brought in and a tropical sink hole has been created to mimic the native Florida landscape.
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Creating a Tropical Sinkhole Garden

  computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" And you're creating a feature garden here what are our what we did in this area we had planned before you put in the travelers on three weeks ago and it's doing quite well you can say. And it's not going into shock these big green it childers well. This is a very good area to what we've done in here also is we wanted to create tropical sinkhole. Garden make everything look really flush plenty of color. You've got very different types of tropical plants and you're here I thought of the tropical garden at Bedanova sinkhole. That type of of a tropics effect in this small area itself so this is. Indicative what would be called cinco and then what is that a coral rock that is made -- rock -- rock. And what we've done here. Tom is we've created again this thing called where everything will -- the plants will go all around it if it meant to be full of water yes well this is their idea of -- we go ahead and we put rock underneath the whole -- we fill it with -- about two inches of rock. Then go ahead and do a trench. In which kept we'll look at the product record. What purpose when you -- gotta be bilingual outline no doubt about that but we'll certainly have ethical it's. So we do it the first thing you're doing is the line line -- it's -- perforated plastic that we use aligning the -- Almost sympathize with -- ethical and -- all refereed it was many many holes in here the idea is. Since we get these south Florida and showers in the afternoon and they come really fast down we get -- We want to go ahead and try to bring that much water from the sink cause we can't. So we built the trench. We line it with plastic with a perforated plastic if this plastic can be purchased at any garden shop and it perforated so that any water they gets in there eventually works through."

" We go ahead and that. Some rivers -- and these river stones should be anywhere between an inch. An inch and a half. That thickness we want to be able to have the wanted to load without any clogging let me ask you have been what you did in this part of south Florida. We are down about a book and it kind of -- you black -- what's beneath that limestone. So it's not -- are likely see up -- know right now what foreigners more porous Dakota political life you know. Yeah that's their -- what we do it some of -- that's. Going to -- and we go ahead and we thought it up with a layer of rock should be and an inch of it followed that up as well because you're gonna in case the whole -- The PVC -- this is the PVC pipe we used. And this has the slots in it so that if there's so the water just blows right out of it. And at the very end of the trench here we created like. Like a hole like a little -- here it's more like a holding compartments -- more water and float. Without any other problem. OK so -- it's got nothing better -- stone right next to grotto. The next step we do is we grabbed the same plastic that is perforated and we wrap around the PVC pipe -- that. Well we don't want to get we don't want to get any of the holes. On the pipeline yet and that there itself examined we'll get a clogged up immediately so we go ahead we'll wrap it around again. You overlap and we overlap -- we place it inside. The church itself. And then you're adding -- of the entire area with -- again. Putting in more rock into the says that this is the complete with the -- in this -- right over here. It's the area where most of the water's going to be the drip dripping into this."

" What we're gonna place all the a little bit of dirty in here then do this simple little bit more to sound like you've invented the system there I can't. Well after trying for us. But a couple times you kind of like. Get your ideas -- what's going on you try different methods. There's -- working pretty well all right so let's talk about the plant material that's gonna -- in here what was up until. What we have we discussed from the very beginning we have Friday and the knife tropical plants. But in the evening when it's all lit up with life. You still see caller -- and again the tropics are filled with different types of plants with color and and green so we brought in here. We brought in a variety of different tropical plants. Here we've got insurance plan. Shrimp plant in this in this climate will not grow. As -- as other climates because my house plan that it truth about it now than it does get to talk to don't think it's at all on. It also comes in a red color that this is variety beauty is that -- these are vermilion and again. Very tropical. Very conducive to this area so it works very well and again this is another. From LA had yet -- Management or any type of broad middle ads that are dark green and texture should remain in shape should not getting. Done OK they start to burn and what about this ground cover that that is the blue days. And we it's also called that the creeping vine because. It just creeps along the borders of areas you plan and it. If we're gonna go ahead stuff blatant company's plant you tell me where I'll be glad while you guys are filling up. And what I want to -- to this area is you can. Notice here there's a slow. And it just loves all around the sink hole right. I want my the idea was to create. Blue days and this will cover itself up completely. You -- down sure you'll be right back up. In the same area now we want to go and read these a little. Now one over on this side of the garden up against the wall you doing something a bit different but what we've done here Bob is we wanted to create. More color in this area. -- found that the law from looking from the inside a dining room out. The wall was to -- so we made some few changes and here and we edited it broke up with blooms -- read it this with the red -- right and that's a medium shrub that you are grows between. Eight to ten feet when mature and what's this these are calico yes. There are about twelve different varieties of them in the tropics and get well they do get -- get anywhere between six to eight feet when mature we'll also be so will be covering this area here."

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