They were warned by many old folks of the village: "Do not attempt to trim the branches or cut down the silk cotton tree." It is believed that plants, like human beings, emit vibrations and also react to the behaviour of human beings.
Much superstition surrounds the silk cotton tree as one which emits evil vibrations which can cause harm or even death to those who fell or attempt to fell those massive forest trees. Those stories, however, did not deter a team of daring landscapers from Point Fortin, led by Ricky Bhola, along with Clevon Vesprey and Shane Moore.
In the recent past, they were commissioned to remove a big silk cotton tree near a river in Cap de Ville, in the southern outskirts of the borough of Point Fortin. At the start of the operation a strange, foreboding feeling gripped the men. Fearlessly, Vesprey took up the chainsaw and approached the massive tree. "Several times the chainsaw malfunctioned, which was unusual, but we could not stop, the operation had started," Bhola said.
The determined Vesprey continued to the finish. In the end, he suffered a damaged foot, while Moore ended up with a swollen, painful ankle.
In another instance, the men were asked by a woman to visit a silk cotton tree in her property and to give an estimate to remove it. She told them another man gave her an estimate but never returned; he died several days later. Bhola shook his head in consideration and finally decided against accepting the job. He recalled that his father, who was also in the landscaping business, died one month after trimming a silk cotton tree.
Among the team of landscapers, Vesprey stands out as an unusual, amazing and daring tree climber. He makes climbing and trimming of trees an acrobatic activity; an art and a craft. He actually walks up the trunks of trees. He is seen walking on high branches with hands free of any support. He can hang from a branch by holding on with his left hand and with feet dangling free while chopping with his right hand. It is almost like watching a circus act. He explains, "You must know the nature of trees. Some are flexible, some are brittle. You must know what tree to climb and how to climb it."
Bhola noted that there are dangers and hazards in felling and trimming mature trees. Some trees are more flexible than others; they can bend, sway and flex without a fracture. With others there are limits as to the amount of weight which they can bear without being broken. He pointed out that the coconut tree and other mature palms are flexible. The head of the fronds can spin many ways in the breeze, making it dangerous while felling those trees. The safest way is to start from the top by removing all the fronds (branches), fruits and flowers before cutting off the trunk, they indicated.
In the trimming and shaping of trees, one must bear in mind the aesthetics and the health value of those trees, shrubs and herbs as they serve as nature's oxygen factories, while absorbing carbon dioxide in their natural biological function.
The preservation of trees is of even more importance now, with the increasing number of motor vehicles and the development of heavy industries with the associated air pollution.
Bhola is a man of many skills. He is a certified instrument technician who once worked with Caroni Ltd at the Useine Ste Madeleine Sugar factory until its closure. He is also a very skilled welder. Landscaping, however, was always a part of his life as a little boy. He acquired a love for nature, following in the footsteps of his father who was in the landscaping business up to a few years ago, when he died. As Bhola grew up he learned to use and repair lawn mowers, whackers and chainsaws. Now he manages and works alongside a team felling trees, cutting and maintaining lawns and ornamental plants.
Moore is a valuable member of the landscaping team; he adapts easily to the demands of the company, including the removal and transporting of the cuttings to officially designated dumps.
These landscapers work with a degree of care and caution, always on the lookout for lurking hazards such as poisonous snakes, jack spaniards (jeps), bees and other stinging insects. On the flip side, in spite of the concern for the protection of our wildlife species, it is often necessary, but regrettably so, to trim off branches or chop down trees which may serve as homes for many of our birds and other wild animals like the manicou, squirrel and iguana. They voice a common regret, "We cannot stand in the way of development but it's the unfortunate price to pay."