HPP 3rd Ave.: Pahoehoe or A'A lava?

[hpp4me]

I had a wonderful phone chat with a smart and nice person at Rozett's Nursery. She tells me that our planting strategy depends on whether we have pahoehoe or a'a lava. If I understand correctly, with a'a lava, it is possible to have holes dug and planting mix brought in for trees. If it's a'a lava, we need to think about raised beds.

So, for all of you out there in lower Hawaiian Paradise Park, what type am I likely to have on 3rd Ave. (near Paradise)? Does hole digging seem possible?

We have lots of knee-high brush (ferns, mostly) growing if that means anything.

[Daniel]

Thats funny they didn't tell you you at rozette's. HPP is all pahoehoe. You can make holes in it. You need to hire a backhoe or rent a jackhammer. Unless you have your lot ripped then you can dig it by hand.
The same goes for a'a. You can have whatever you want, it doesn't matter what kind of lava you have. Its all the same to a backhoe or a D9. Come by my place and you can see for yourself. My mother in law grows beautiful veggies in a couple of inches of soil on top of solid and/or ripped rock. Drive around and look at people's yards, you'll see right away what some of the possibilities are. Its harder to stop things from growing than it is to get things to grow.

Daniel R Diamond

[oink]

My lots are on 3rd about midway between Kaloli and Paradise and yes they are indeed pahoehoe.

Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.

[Carey]

We walked many of the lots near Paradise On 2nd & 3rd 5 years ago as that was an area we were very interested in: they are pahoehoe with many pukas, dips & rises that make some nice areas to 'plant in the puka'. This technique involves finding pukas with nice base cracks, filling with cinder/soil, and planting your gardens. This area has some very remarkable flowscapes and native plants, there are some lots that have some very beautiful halas & ohias that you may want to treasure.

Some of the lots had some unique flow characteristics that we thought would be exquisite 'flow walks' on the property. If you haven't had a chance to take a garden walk with some of your neighbors, some of our friends there would most likely allow you to see their planting styles. The technique we had planned on was taught to use by one of your neighbors, who has used the 'plant in a puka' technique for years, with wonderful results.

[hpp4me]

This is reassuring! I even have two names now of people who have the backhoes to dig the holes. Getting excited!

[csgray]

Did you walk your lot before buying? I know people who discovered multiple dead cars and pukas full of garbage (including waste that was probably from a meth lab they had to pay dispose of as toxic waste) when they finally really got into their lot. After hearing those tales we walked every inch of the lots we looked at when we still thought we would build. Found a lot of waste and dumping on lots that looked good from the road.

If your place doesn't have many ohias it may have been ripped by a previous owner, look at your lot, and look at the neighboring empty lots. If your trees are just fast growing trash like albizias and the neighbors have ohia you might want to pull up some vegetation and see just what you have under there: pahoehoe, a'a, or ripped lava.

Carol

[hpp4me]

Carol, it was impossible to walk it. It does have neighbors, so hopefully that kept the bad people out.

[mac nut]

I am a little confused with your post Hpp4me. You mention the two types of lava, pahoehoe and a'a lava, then give the choice of digging or raised beds for the same type of a'a lava. do you mean raised beds for a'a lava? and digging holes for pahoehoe?