In an effort to brighten up Coral Gables Senior High School, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson partnered up with the Gables Garden Project to plant over 45 trees around the school. The event took place from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Sept. 8, with a multitude of clubs and organizations in attendance. Among those that could be seen at the event were the Gables Fire Rescue Cadets, Political Activism and Civic Engagement Club, Coral Gables Police Athletic League, Interact and St. Theresa Pack 16 Boy Scouts.
Giving back to the Gables area through community service events is the fundamental base for which many of these clubs were built on, including Garden Project, which hoped to make their community a better place to live by educating people about the importance of preserving nature in urban areas. Similarly, Vice Mayor Anderson has long been known to be a strong advocate for green spaces throughout the city, part of which was reason for her victory in election to the Coral Gables City Commission in 2021. As a member of Gables’ Garden Club and an active participant in many of their gardening events, Vice Mayor Anderson helped pave the way to brighten up Gables’ space.
“As co-president of the Gables Garden Project, I was tasked with planning an event where we will plant a pollinator patch in the front of our school to beautify our campus. And as usual, we’ll continue having events where we plant in our garden with members of the project,” junior Paz Chico said.
“It’s quite generous of the mayor to donate all 45 of those trees and not only just donate them, but also go to the school to help plant them as well. She seems like a very genuine person who really cares about her community and doesn’t just do it for her campaign or credit,” junior Caterina Nuonno said.
Starting the event, Vice Mayor Anderson informed the volunteers on the importance of greenery in cities; something the city of Coral Gables prides itself on. She then explained that the gumbo limbo tree was chosen to be planted on the Gables campus due to its nativeness to South Florida, promoting a healthy agricultural ecosystem within the school’s gardens.
The gumbo limbo also has special properties that make it unique from other trees. It is a medium sized tree that can grow to 30 meters tall and yields fruit which feeds local birds. The tree species can be found in tropical climates and can survive hurricanes and other harsh weather conditions. With this resilience to Miami’s weather, the trees are likely to last in Gables for a long time to come.
“I had already learned about the gumbo limbo tree before just from visiting Vizcaya, so seeing them in the school now should be great. There’s a lot of empty space in the field and the parking lot that should’ve just been filled in with trees, and the gumbo limbo would be the perfect tree to put there,” sophomore Alessandro Vendrame said.
Following the Vice Mayor’s speech, groups were formed to begin planting the trees. They were split between the teacher’s parking lot and the school field. The younger children within the St. Theresa Pack 16 Boy Scouts were instructed on how to properly plant a tree, beginning with learning how to dig into the ground.
After digging around six inches of dirt, volunteers encountered limestone, due to Gables’ layer of sedimentary rock under its shallow surface of dirt. When this happened, a metal pick was brought out to break up the porous layer of rock in order to continue digging. After the holes were sufficiently deep, the trees were removed from the pots and placed in the hole. To nourish the trees, the remainder of the hole was filled with water. When the process was finished, the trees were packed into their holes using the original dirt and then fastened into place.
After every tree had been planted, the groups that planted each tree received a red ribbon to tie around the tree. The red ribbon contained the names of the members of the groups who planted the tree and it decorated the trees with a touch of Gables’ color.
As the Garden Project turns empty spaces into lush gardens, they make plans to maintain the health of their new trees. Through continual watering of the trees every week they hope ensure their growth and survival as a community inside Gables.
“Being a board member on PACE and improving my school is part of the main reason why I joined it. Seeing how I can truly get involved with the school and leave my mark on it, is something not just PACE strives to do but also every club here,” sophomore Carolina Sesin said.
