IN THE AFTERMATH 


OF IRMA

VIRGIN GORDA, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS

PROJECT STATUS | BUILT

 
 
 

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Plants are more resilient than people, rooted in place with no choice but to adapt, endure, and wait for conditions to improve. Their resilience, however, depends on the care given before the storm. In Virgin Gorda, this project revealed how preparation—enriching soils, selecting the right species, planting densely, and pacing the installation—created a landscape able to forgive and recover. When we returned in the spring after Hurricane Irma, we found the site had endured with only minimal damage, except at the beach, where the force of the storm had swept away nearly all vegetation.

 
 

THE SITE BEFORE IRMA

Before Hurricane Irma, we had four years to prepare and plant across a difficult, highly disturbed 10-acre site. The beach was left for last, its ground compacted into a muddy basin by construction runoff until the new deck was completed. Along the ocean’s edge, many storm-weakened trees stood suffocated in a tangle of vines and invasive species. By clearing this growth, we freed the trees to catch light and breeze again, setting the stage for a healthier coastal community.

 
 
 

A NEW PLANT COMMUNITY

In the cleared pockets of space, we began layering native shrubs, forbs, and grasses to reestablish the conditions and functions of a back dune. We preserved the four Hippomane mancinella trees—poisonous yet deeply rooted in cultural history—as reminders of the landscape that once was. With the owner’s support, we chose to let them stand, trusting that children could be taught to avoid their toxic fruits so the species could endure in its rightful place.

 

The gazebo deck occupied such a large footprint that vegetation became the means of both privacy from public beach users and of guiding access to the shore from many directions. Visitors could wander barefoot through the back dune, discovering the diverse plant species we introduced. Unlike the typical Caribbean beachscape of coconut palms, seagrape, and a handful of other species, this was a richly designed tapestry—the living setting when Irma struck. What endured and what vanished afterward became an important lesson.

 
 
 

DUNE RECONSTRUCTION AFTER IRMA

When Hurricane Irma struck, Virgin Gorda was left paralyzed—without public water or electricity for months. Management chose to dedicate the site’s private desalination system not to irrigation, but to the island’s people in need. Despite the loss of several large Lignum vitae trees and a few corozo palms, most vegetation across the property endured. The beach landscape, however, suffered the greatest damage, stripped not only of its plants but also of the organic matter that had slowly accumulated beneath the sand at their roots.

 

Through the spring and summer, we studied the traces left by waves—their sudden rise in squalls and their gentle retreat in calmer interludes—to determine the safest place to begin replanting. The ocean’s movements are unpredictable, yet we searched for patterns. To encourage the return of sand and rebuild the shallow dune, we proposed reinforcement measures: reconstructing engineered sandy soil beneath the surface, then replanting with native grasses whose rhizomes would anchor the shifting ground in place.

 
 

To restore immediate scale and shade, we brought in tall coconut palms along with the few large native trees available on the market. After Hurricanes Irma and María, growers across the Caribbean had little remaining stock, leaving few options. Though the replanting altered the beach’s character to a more resort-like feel, the introduction of new shrubs and groundcovers soon began to weave the richness of a new plant community.

 

Especially remarkable was the sight, just five months later, of Gundlachia corymbosa—collected by Rossana from the wild back dunes of Anegada—flowering and being pollinated before her eyes. Marble and wild cinnamon trees were heavy with fruit, while Baccaris, Erythalis, and Casasia bloomed and seedlings sprouted through the sand. This new life was sustained by temporary irrigation from the site’s desalination plant, once it could again be spared for the landscape.

 

In 2025, when we returned to the site, the vegetation had not only endured but thrived. What began as a fragile reconstruction had matured into a resilient coastal ecosystem—evidence of the landscape’s capacity to recover, adapt, and grow stronger after disturbance.

 
 
 

AFTERWARDS

Read conclusions in the video below

 

And when the hurricane’s devastation fades into memory and the plants return, so too do the people, bringing back their customs and their desire to celebrate life. At Long Bay, recovery is marked not only by the regrowth of vegetation but also by the return of the “Christmas in July” boat gathering, a tradition revived with the landscape itself.