One Year - an Assessment

We've been gardening in Costa Rica for a year now. There have been many successes and failures. It is time to tally the results.

Background
When we bought the property in 2006 it was covered with a dark volcanic soil. The northeast quadrant was especially good. The owner was growing corn and squash at the time. In 2007/08 it lay fallow, and became overrun with African star grass, an invasive, exotic species. During construction in 2008/09 the builder ended up with a huge pile of red clay, which he (in our absence and without our knowledge) bulldozed over the top of the volcanic soil, to an average depth of about eight inches. When we arrived in 2009 about three quarters of the lot had been basically destroyed by the red clay. The northeast quadrant was still rich, black volcanic soil, but in several places had been compacted by heavy equipment and mixed with building debris -- sand, gravel, chunks of cement, broken glass and ceramic tile, rusty nails and wire, pieces of wood, plastic, Styrofoam, etc. The red clay was also filled with debris.

We began digging up the northeast quadrant and removing the debris. After two months we had restored, and actually improved the soil -- sand had been added to the silky smooth volcanic soil, giving it excellent drainage. We are gardening this area intensively.

In the red clay area we had two dump-truck-loads of black soil delivered. We mixed this with sand, lime, rice hulls, and compost, and began digging large holes for planting trees and shrubs. Things went well until July 20, when we received 3.7 inches of rain in about three hours. Most things in the red clay area went downhill from there. What happened was this, the rain could not penetrate the red clay, so the water ran downhill until it found the shrub/tree plantings (with the good soil), where, having no place else to go, it soaked in and sat there, damaging the roots. We have added drainage ditches since then, and most of the plants are hanging on, and some seem to be actually recovering.

Other major problems encountered were: grubs, stalk borers, gophers, leaf-cutter ants, and high winds (in December and January).

We are also working on a vegetable garden featuring a windbreak and raised beds with wooden siding.

There have been many failures and some complete catastrophes. Most of the failures are in the red clay area. Most of the successes are in the black soil area. Originally I called our gardening a "work in progress." Since July 20 I refer to everything as "an experiment." We have learned many lessons, which we are now applying to create our future garden in paradise.

THE BIGGEST SUCCESSES (Top 20, ranked)

1. Impatiens -- planted five New Guinean impatiens near the front door in black soil, each a different color, They are the first thing guests comment on. The white one is two and a half feet tall!
2. Angel's hair mimosa -- (Calliandra calothyrsus) -- my wife, Maria, dug up some very small saplings along the side of the road. One survived and is now eight feet tall and covered with flowers (planted in rich, black soil, in a shady area).
3. Sunflowers -- now on our third planting of medium-sized, multicolored sunflowers. They can grow in almost any soil; just give them lots of sun; hummingbirds and honeybees love them.
4. Targuá (Croton draco) -- a native, fast-growing pioneer species; planted a foot-tall sapling, dug up from the side of the road; now seven feet tall and blooming.
5. Wandering Jew (Tradescantia zebrina; Cucaracha) -- two varieties acquired from coffee plantation next door. Doing very well in shady area; they make a nice, lush ground cover.
6. Poró (Erythrina lanceolata, coral tree) -- full-size tree that came with the property, growing on north property line; sheds its leaves and blooms from November till march; Baltimore orioles love it.
7. Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia, Nazareno) -- brought to us by our gardener; doing very well in less than average soil.
8. Avocado tree near driveway -- native (criollo) species that came with the property; all of the cement mixing took place around it, and it made it through like a trooper; loaded with fruit, May - July.
9. Purple taro (black magic) -- planted in good soil; prolific.
10. Grapefruit -- pink variety; planted on steep slope, in average soil; doing very well.
11. Tree tomato (Solanum Betaceum, tomate de palo) -- my wife dug it up in a nearby coffee plantation; huge leaves; already bearing fruit (fruit, leaves, and branches resemble an egg plant more than they do a tomato).
12. Fuchsia (Fuchsia triphylla) -- my wife pulled up a seedling along the side of the road; hummingbirds love it.
13. Caladiums -- green with cream-colored freckles; given to me by a sister-in-law; planted in rich black soil in partial shade; prolific.
14. Güitite (Acnitus arborescens, wild tree tobacco) -- native species; produces fruit for the birds; planted in 2008; doing very well; many volunteers popping up around the property.
15. Coleus -- many varieties planted from cuttings in shady areas; tolerates many types of soils.
16. Porterweed (Stachytarpheta frantzii, rabo de gato) -- purple ones doing very well (pink ones doing okay); hummingbirds love them.
17. Agapanthus -- planted in the dry season (when they normally bloom); they began blooming almost immediately.
18. Banana -- several on the property planted in clay are doing poorly; one planted in black soil doing very well.
19. Jalapeño peppers -- bought a small flat at EPA (Costa Rica's equivalent to Lowe's), not knowing what variety of pepper they were; prolific.
20. Brazilian red cloak (pavoncillo rojo) - planted four-inch high seedling; now five feet tall and growing vigorously.

Passiflora (before the gopher got it)

THE WORST FAILURES (Bottom 10, ranked)

1.  Passion flower (passiflora vitifolia) -- did terrific until gopher ate the entire root system; planted a second one with an underground wire cage to protect it from the gophers.
2. Chayote -- planted in unprotected area with less than ideal soil; 70+ mph winds in January tore it up.
3. Impatiens -- my wife pulled up several plants from a nearby coffee plantation (where they were growing wild); by accident they were planted in organic fertilizer from a nearby coffee processing plant; we think the fertilizer was very acid; they died.
4. Vinca -- same thing happened to them as the impatiens.
5. Celery -- planted them twice in different locations, and their leaves seem to just burn up.
6. Eucharist lily (Eucharis grandiflora) -- tried planting them in various habitars, with no luck.
7. Corn -- wiped out by grubs.
8. Bamboo -- planted a bamboo fence in the dry season; not weeded or watered because we thought the bamboo could fend for itself; we were wrong.
9. Mango -- we purchased a variety that does well at high elevations; it did well for a while, but was attacked by fungus; now spraying with copper sulfate.
10. Bougainvillea (veranera) -- did okay in the dry season, but when the heavy rains came they began to look poorly and shed their leaves.

Happy gardening!