A guest post by Linda McGivern
Here goes—though I really don’t want to admit it because you’ll hate me: I have a gardener. At my winter home in the Caribbean. There. Now that’s out of the way, let the ranting begin.
I am sure we who love gardening can agree that when it comes to our landscapes, there is a certain level of, shall we say, control that we like to exert over our plant dominions. Having someone else come in to do one’s garden work not only disrupts the finely tuned supervised comings and goings in the garden, but is not-so-secretly scoffed at by hardcore devotees in not-so hushed whispers, as in: “Did you see that landscaping truck at Sandra’s? She’s a fake gardener.”
And so my double life as a committed do-it-yourself New England gardener/order-up-the-help tropical gardener in the Dutch Caribbean has got me all chagrined. But what is a woman to do? We only live here four months of the year and, unlike the northeast garden that politely goes to sleep for five to six months, tropical gardens go gangbusters pretty much 13 months of the year. By itself, the tamarind tree in our yard (shown above, with aloe) makes enough babies to cover the earth in a year. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But you get the picture.
There I was a few weeks ago, minding my own business swatting mosquitoes in the kitchen as our long-time gardener Milton worked in the yard blowing leaves with a combustion engine, chopping down the tropical milkweed that I leave up for the monarch butterflies, and weed whacking beautiful tropical grasses that send up rose-colored plumes that rustle in the ocean breezes. I stuffed earbuds in my ears, turned up the music on my device, closed my eyes, gritted my teeth and attempted to meditate. I am not very good at meditation and so my mind naturally wandered to why, exactly, I was struggling to tell Milton to stop blowing leaves, cutting and weed whacking nice plants, and just generally not tending my garden as I would.
The answer came down to liberal white guilt. Who am I, white woman of plenty, to tell Milton, hardworking Colombian immigrant, that he was going to have to quit “convenience” gardening and embrace hands-on old-style tending of my garden in the hot sun.
When I thought it was safe, I opened my eyes and peered warily outside. There, with a plastic tub of chemicals on his back, was one of Milton’s employees, spot-spraying herbicide in the backyard. This is how a million tamarind babies are executed. But there was also collateral damage in the yard, including a gorgeous two-inch high desert rose volunteer and a few tiny dwarf poinciana volunteers I had been nurturing. The spraying was the final provocation.
At home in the US, I am an environmentalist first and an avowed gardener second. I have tried to avoid using chemicals of any sort on my landscape, even back in the days when everyone claimed that glyphosate (Roundup) was perfectly safe. I determined that I can’t be an environmental gardener in the United States and a cringing snowflakey one here in Bonaire.
I put on my big gardener pants and reminded Milton we had asked for no spraying in our yard, which abuts the ocean and a beautiful fringing coral reef, loaded with creatures, that lies not 200 feet away from the spraying.
Milton assured me that what he was spraying was safe for pets and the planet: Paraquat. However, I needed no further information than the second Google hit on this product—a Wikipedia entry that noted the frequency in which Paraquat is used for suicides in Trinidad and Tobago—to understand its toxicity. It is reasonable to say that this crap is most assuredly not okay for the birds and creatures of my yard, much less the backyard coral reef that is already under enough climate stress without this added nail in the coffin. I broke the news to Milton that he would have to stop spraying the herbicide in our yard and that he could add the cost of hand-weeding onto our monthly bill. I asked him to leave the milkweed and the grasses alone and then kept silent about the ear-splitting, fossil fuel horrors of the leaf blower, determining that this was one battle I would cede.
I will continue to employ another person to tend my garden here; I have to. He has a yearly contract to do the job and I have skin cancer, which makes it stupid to be overly involved in equatorial gardening. I am forced to compromise my gardening morals sometimes because of this. But we all have that horticultural line in the sand when it comes to working with other garden tenders; it turns out mine extends from my backyard to a coral reef.
You need to get out and talk story with other gardeners on the island. Start asking questions about their gardens. Time to go hunting. I realize the pickings might be slim, but Milton is not likely the sole person willing to care for your tropical garden. I also feel quite certain the concept of environmental stewardship exists in abundance in that part of the world. Find another gardener.
Christopher: you raise a great point — one that I and my husband discussed at length following the realization of the widespread Paraquat use on the island, not just by our landscape guy, but, apparently, by most landscapers on island. Bonaire is actually ABOUT nature, which drew us to it in the first place as Scuba divers, and its government has been protecting its gorgeous reefs since the 1970s…long before anyone was really even giving a thought to the beauty and necessity of coral reefs. The widespread use of a toxic chemical like this flies in the face of that stewardship and we have been discussing what we can do to move the protest from our small backyard to the larger realm of back (and front and side, etc.) Bonairean yards in general.
As for finding another gardener…Milton is also the wonderful person who has long been my tropical gardening teacher. It was Milton who loaded me into his truck for a journey across the island’s unpaved and very rough backroads to find a new pot for a really gorgeous desert rose plant that had blown its previous one. It was also Milton who explained to me the intersection of tropical xeriscape and plantings to avoid iguana (island squirrels) destruction. He has helped us out many times over the years.
My personal feeling is that the island government is going to need to step in and ban the import of the kind of stuff they don’t want running off into the reefs. This is probably not going to happen anytime soon, sadly.
Start looking now for a new gardener. In the mean time purchase environment friendly products for him to use at your home.
Rather than firing Milton, perhaps cut him some slack. As a hardworking immigrant, perhaps his background is more hard work than horticultural expertise. Perhaps his chemical usage was passed down from where he apprenticed, where the emphasis was placed on labour (cost) savings.
Teach a person to fish…or in this case teach exactly why chemicals should be avoided, and you may grow an environmentally considerate gardener from a landscape labourer.
Thanks stevestongarden. See my response to Christopher (above). Firing our guy is out of the question. People actually vie to get Milton for landscaping on the island.
With that said, there is no question that “cost saving” and “time saving” are at the heart of most business endeavors, right? Landscaping on Bonaire is no exception. The problem — and it is a big one — is that the sort of landscaping that is going on is at odds with the general ethos of an island whose nature pays the bills, via ecotourism.
Milton is both a smart plantsman (horticulturalist) and a business owner. He is simply employing the same tools that everyone else on the island uses. They all have to stop.
Just my opinion, but to be candid, this article really only caters to the 1%. Ironically, although the progressive left rails against the conspicuous consumption and consumerism of the conservative right, the progressive left is just as likely to be in the 1% statistically as those on the right. This creates something called hypocrisy, or as I tell my predominantly leftist students, the Marie Antoinette effect.
This is where the 1% has lost all reality of life for the 99%. They have homes in the Caribbean, they have homes in the Hamptons, they fly to the French Riviera or to exotic resorts in third world Nations for vacations a few times a year. They speak of their gardeners and their maids and servants. They are landed gentry in the world of conspicuous consumption. Yet when they talk about their life, they speak about it as if it’s the norm. They hire servants for mere dollars a day and then contribute money to good global causes which spend 80% of those dollars in administration fees. In their railing against the politics of the right and the fact that we are destroying our world, these Marie Antoinette’s actually contribute just as much to that destruction and add to that global poverty distribution.
It’s nice to have a garden. I have a flower garden too. I work 70 hours a week for an income that is half of the median American income, just so I can survive. I do not despise the wealthy, for they have certainly inherited and or earned what they have. But I always find it tragically amusing when I read stories like this, where the masses of the world struggle to survive while the Marie Antoinette’s, upon hearing that the people do not have bread, suggest they eat cake. They are completely out of touch with reality.
Having lived in Mexico and gotten proficient in Spanish, I learned that the place is so CLASS conscious more than MISOGYNISTIC like the US… I became very much the boss over my employees. Never rude; just got my way. One of the most freeing things in my lifetime. That sense of self never left me, and was recently remarked on by an acquaintance.
I suggest you tell your employee what you want and lay off the mind games.
Yes Rebecca! That is exactly what I was trying to say. I was struggling too much with the “optics” of telling Milton to quit spraying toxic chemicals in my yard and not struggling enough with the environmental consequences of this spraying.
Idk much about gardening, but I do know this trick. On a hot day you can pour vinegar on any weed and you will watch it dissolve. Now if it’s around flowers I don’t know about that, but it definitely will kill weeds. I suppose you could make the vinegar hot as well. I’m sorry to hear about your skin cancer, Good luck.
Terri: we have been using the vinegar trick for years and it almost always works (against invasive woody perennials and shrubs not so much). I AM sure, however, it would work on tamarind seedlings. A ginormous jug of vinegar might be just the place to start with Milton.
Putting men to work, landscaping, for clients, from my 20’s, something happened good, finally, in my 40’s. Now 60, have 2 good decades working men.
I can WORK a man; with intention, to his limit. In pride on my part, knowing, I will be stunned in joy at what is returned from him. We are 2 people waltzing.
Every man I work with, out performs what I ask. Eager to learn the layers of what I’m asking him to do.
Why? What happened from my 20’s to 40’s? Ran out of time to be timid, nice, beat around any bush, instead…GET IT DONE, daylight’s burning. Full stewardship of the garden, myself, the job at hand, and the man’s spirit. He’s there to do a good job. We’re a team.
Thrilled to pass along knowledge to these men. A failure if I don’t. Have enjoyed so many picnic lunches at jobsites with these men across the decades. Partners to the job at hand.
Garden & Be Well…..Tara
Thank you Tara. This is all true. I am the steward of my gardens: both here at home in New England and in Bonaire. Here, I do it my way, with minimal damage to the environment. In Bonaire I can’t control this because I am largely not there. This past winter season was an abject lesson for me in standing up for myself as the paying customer with the hope that in doing so, at the barest of bare minimums, some attention would be drawn to the issue of spraying toxic chemicals in backyard and resort landscapes all over the island. But Christopher (see comment #1) is correct. Much more needs to be done.
You do not have a gardener, you have a garden labourer. You are expecting your labourer to be gardener and then you hide in the shrubbery getting more and more worked because he isn’t. As his employer you must make it absolutely clear what you intend him to do and if you are pleased then let him know. Ask him where his strengths are, and what he has seen in other gardens in your area that he thinks would work with yours. Whilst it may never be a a close partnership at least you won’t be afraid of him. I bet Sandra’s garden is great.
Hello Valerie: Sandra has a lovely garden .
Milton, as noted above, is a gardener, with a wide-ranging knowledge of tropical horticulture. I am sure many of the people who work for him (including the young man who was spraying Paraquat all over our yard) are laborers with no interest in the true work of tending to a garden.
Ultimately, you are correct. It’s on me, not him, to make sure that my “remote” garden is tended to my standards. I’m trying to step up to that plate; but, lord knows, I will probably be hiding in the ixoras next season, wringing my hands while watching some new cost saving/time saving toxic measure being taken in my tropical garden. Hopefully I’ll be able to summon the memory of all the pep talking here and stop it in its tracks!
I think you need sympathy more than advice. I’m astonished that Paraquat is still made – it was made illegal in the UK in 2007. Hope your home will soon be under the same ban. Xxx
Thanks for the moral support Anne. And I am with you: when I started to read about Paraquat, I could not believe it can be used anywhere! Nevertheless, it is an herbicide that is widely used across the Caribbean, despite its links to Parkinson’s Disease, brain disorders, lung damage, a number of different kinds of cancer, etc.
The U.S. EPA still allows its use for commercial purposes. Terrible.
It makes me very happy to read such glowing support of Milton and that he has been a good teacher for you in your tropical garden. Way to go Milton. If he knows the island flora and ecology, if he knows about tropical xeriscaping, then he knows. Perhaps as a baby step you can switch him to glyphosate – in other people’s gardens. It’s a bit less toxic.
Ridding the island of paraquat, that may take a little help with some friends.
Here’s you problem The answer came down to liberal white guilt. Who am I, white woman of plenty, to tell Milton, hardworking Colombian immigrant, that he was
Filthy liberal
I’ve been sitting here with a blinking cursor for a half hour doing my best to choose my words carefully so that this does not get crazy.
Monisha I want to say to you:
THANK YOU.
Yeah, I lost interest at “I have a gardener at my winter home in the Caribbean.” I tried to read on, but stopped at “we only live there 4 months a year.” Not b/c I think it’s wrong to own second homes, but I just can’t identify with any of it.
If we’re going to have the racism/elitism discussion, then I would like to hear Milton’s side of the story first. It seems to me that Linda was trying to make the point that, in hiring a well-respected local gardener to tend her garden in absentia, she became aware of the irony of local pro-environmental efforts vs local anti-environmental gardening practices. She also owned the fact that her situation is unlike most people’s, and how she became aware of how her white liberal guilt got in the way. If there’s a problem here, it’s not that Linda shared her story; it’s that we need to hear more from the Miltons of the world.
I would very much enjoy spending a day with Milton talking story in some tropical gardens he cares for.
Such a terrible problem to have during the pandemic. The Timing of his is impeccable.
Why do rich people write these things during a pandemic. Also, If you love nature so much why have a controlled garden?
Sorry, I usually do not post replies like that but the article really got to me. We are in a pandemic and you have the luxury of your own outdoor space and multiple homes to keep you safe.
Have a heart for your gardener. Why not buy him the weed killers and tools tools that you approve of?
Thanks
And then I found this: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/24/scientist-tells-of-relief-after-speaking-out-over-weedkiller-fears
Linda, thank you so much for sharing your story. I am sorry to see you attacked by people who need to take their fundamentalism everywhere, even into the garden, and act like a bunch of Stalinist executioners. What a pity.
Your article points to a problem that is way more common, and right at our doorsteps: It’s not just Caribbean gardeners and landscapers who – pressed for time and efficiency – act irresponsibly und use irresponsible products. All of us could speak up left and right, here at here, day after day, when landscapers butcher plants, provide monoculture, use leaf blowers and dangerous products, right next to our gardens, in public parks, in business parks. But how many of us speak up? It will be a long and hard way to learn better practices – and I hope you can start this road with Milton. He seems to be a fine guy, and it is definitely worth a try. Every little step counts – and is WAYYYYYYYYY more positive than ugly name calling.
Agree, but he has a contract and many times they are at a set price. A less toxic or nontoxic weed killer may be more expensive and require additional applications. Raking rather than leaf blowing takes longer and is more labor intensive. Perhaps compensating Milton for the extra labor, time and supplies would make it possible for him to accommodate these extra requests.
Hi Linda
Sorry to hear about your skin cancer.
Perhaps I can chime my 2c worth, all to be taken with a pinch of salt:
I’m like Milton.
I’m a professional garden-carer in South Africa, and some of my clients are what we here call Swallows, like the bird: 6 months here, 6 months overseas.
So I feel I can relate to the situation you’ve described.
We’re never in “Control” of Nature- at best we’re proactive or reactive, but never truly in control.
You know that saying about how you cant control a force of Nature, now try imagining controlling all of Nature.
Maybe you could give yourself and Milton a bit of slack and just plan on trying to do the best you can.
Sure there will be setbacks, hiccups and upsets, but you can always plan to do things a little differently, and hopefuly better, for the next time. Planning requires communication.
Also, it might help if you think of yourself as a Patron, Milton is the Artist, and the garden is the Canvas.
You’ve commissioned Milton, a garden artist, to provide you with a beautiful, living, immersive picturescape.
Sure, you pay the bills, but you also have to let the artist do what they do best.
My slightly cynical- side wants me to say that although you might own the property, the garden is actually Miltons in a way.
As you’ve mentioned in your rant, you are only living on the property for 4 months of the year, whereas Milton is attending and caring for the property for the almighty tropical 13- month growing season, as you put it ( I love this description, and I truly hope if you dont mind if I pinch it for myself).
Miltons sounds like an all-weather gardener, whereas your experience sounds like it is more fair-weather gardener. I dont say this to dismiss your skills, but rather to show that Miltons skills extend to a far greater range, and his resilience is slightly tougher than yours- as you’ve said your other garden rather politely goes to sleep for almost half the year, whereas much closer to the Tropics its more a case of ” Survival of the Fittest” I’d say.
In a nutshell, you still treasure each and every plant, and Milton does too, but he knows that Nature is harsh and he’s probably had to harden his garden-heart a little.
I personally feel this makes him the true custodian of the property and garden.
Yes, a hired Custodian, if you like, but the Custodian nonetheless.
Best idea would be to have him actively and totally on-board with your plans, so that you know that the right plan is being carried out for the whole year and not just when your at the property. Total peace of mind.
As far as all the folks suggesting you get somebody else, I’d say dont.
It sounds like you and Milton have a great rapport, so I’d suggest rather try explaining your ideas to preserve and re-vitalize the Natural aspect of the gardens, as opposed to telling to not use a particular pesticide, as an example.
The difference, I suppose, is to rather have him excited at a new opportunity to try a new tactic of gardening as opposed to being told-off like a naughty child.
Carrot vs Stick approach I guess.
Anyway, I’m absolutely sure that you and Milton will find a way to continue working together to care for your special part of the world.
Keep well and happy gardening.
Iain