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Palm Trees In the Landscape, Palm Culture Basics  by Phil Bergman

Basic guidelines for successful palm tree planning, acclimation, maintenance and aftercare.   Also learn about special problems with growing and why palm trees die.

There are few groups of plants that offer the beauty and charisma of palms. This factor along with increasingly more species available to consumers has resulted in the palm craze that weve seen recently. Whether you are new and starting your first garden or an experienced collector just adding one more species, there are basic data that will make your planting much more successful.

Getting the Right Property
If you havent yet purchased or leased your home, search out the perfect location for growing. Find the warmest area in your locality and make sure you have good sun exposure. If youre in a cold area, find property on a ridge or hill to promote cold drainage. Ask prospective neighbors if it freezes. Look for successful growth of palms in that neighborhood. Investigate water quality, soil quality and drainage as well. And finally, pick a property large enough to support your present and future palm habit. 

Before You Begin Your Garden
It is advisable to have a plan before you put in your first palm. Decide what you are trying to accomplish. Determine planting density desired, pathway location, needed retainer walls and improvements, and work areas. Dig a few holes just for the purpose of examining the quality of your soil and for checking drainage. If your soil is of poor quality, import new soil or begin amending soil before planting. If you buy large amounts of soil, research it thoroughly and purchase top quality soil blends. Affordable fill dirt will haunt your garden forever. If drainage is bad, amend your soil with sand and install leach lines in over-moist areas. If possible, install your irrigation system prior to planting. Also, create your own home nursery and gradually accumulate species that you wish to eventually plant.

Garden Design
Haphazard planting gives haphazard results. Plant species in the appropriate locations. Palms are quite unique in that you can predict the plants eventual size and probable rate of growth. By knowing the species you will be able to predict how they will look and perform in a given location. A large clumping palm will obscure smaller species planted behind it. Caryota urens may shade out an adjacent sun loving species. A Phoenix canariensis right next to the house will most likely need removing later. A spiny species next to a walkway would be dangerous. By knowing your palms and what they will be, you can avoid these problems. Plant fast growing palms to establish shade and the resultant canopy for other palms. But make sure the shade produced is where you want it. A shady swimming pool might not be what you want. Put spiny species away from well traveled areas. In your planting, space palms so that you can see them. Be willing to plant fan palms to mix with your pinnate palms as this will add eventual diversity and beauty to your garden. Certain species such as Archonotophoenix, Howea, and Roystonea are attractive when grouped, so plant multiples. Also, be imaginative. Use boulders if available. Have different elevations and mound some plantings. Utilize companion plants such as ferns and cycads that look great with palms. You can even attach a few epiphytic orchids onto your palm trunks to add color and distinction. Also, palms in a row along a sidewalk or driveway can be quite dramatic.

The Importance of a Canopy 
Rapid growing species such as Caryota, Syagrus, and Archontophoenix will quickly grow overhead and produce resulting canopy. This is aesthetically pleasing because it gives the third dimension of height to your garden. More importantly, it gives a protected environment below that enables you to introduce many more exotic and sometimes fragile shade-loving species. A well formed canopy may be the single most important thing you can do while creating a palm garden. The canopy results in areas below that are warmer in the winter, have less wind, hold more humidity and create a rain forest appeal. Many genera such as Geonoma, Chamaedorea, and understory Dypsis sp. cannot survive direct sun, especially at a young age. It would not be unusual to have microclimates below your established canopy that are three to six degrees centigrade higher on a cold night. However, always remember that palms will grow and your "canopy" might shade out a sun-loving species.

Selecting the Palms to Plant
Gradually accumulate the species you want for planting. Remember your canopy plants. Be adventuresome and try new species. Mix fans with pinnate palms. Try some dwarf species. Try species with different trunks, textures and color. Read about palms and ask fellow I.P.S. members which species can be grown in your area. Dont over-utilize a single species or genera. Just because Queen Palms were a good buy doesnt mean that you should plant fifty of them.

Acclimating Your Palms
 If your palm is from a greenhouse, shade structure or imported from a more tropical area, acclimate it before planting. Such plants must deal with lower outside humidity, cooler temperatures, and more intense sun. Any of these changes can be a problem for your palm, even if it is sun loving. Acclimation from the greenhouse into full sun should be done gradually over a two to three month period (or more) for many species and preferably between spring and fall. Start in shade. Slowly and incrementally increase the sun exposure every two to three weeks. Occasionally wet down the foliage. If you notice any burn (faded, then brown areas) on the sun exposed foliage, return the palm to more shade. An alternative to acclimation to sun is acclimating the palm into filtered light, planting it in filtered light and then allowing the plant to slowly grow into the sun.  Finally, there is one more method: to place a temporary shade covering over the palms using shadecloth and poles.  The, as time goes by, cut holes in the cloth to gradiently allow the passage of more sunlight.  I know an enthusiast who has successfully grown one gallon plants in the garden this way over the past decade with few losses.  Now his plants are huge!

The Best Size to Plant 
In most climates outside the tropics, a plant with some degree of size has a better chance of surviving, especially if it is a species that is marginal in ones locality. A general rule might be the bigger the better, but pocketbook limitations may apply. I would recommend planting acclimated plants of at least one half meter height. Larger plants seem to better tolerate the shock associated with transplanting. Very durable species will most likely survive regardless of the age of the planted palm. It takes a palm about 12 months after planting to start looking good. During its first six months, the plant is establishing new roots and acclimating to your gardens temperature, soil, and humidity levels. Existing leaves may yellow or age. Post Greenhouse Shrink (subsequent leaves being shorter) can be seen in almost any size of plant and results from loss of the optimal greenhouse environment. This is also seen with plants taken out of shade structures. Plants will reestablish their leaf length with time as they adjust to their new environment.

When to Plant
Outside of the tropics, the optimal time to plant is after the risk of cold weather has passed. This is typically spring and summer for most growers. If you live in a very mild climate, you can probably plant anytime from late winter to late fall. If you choose to plant just before cold weather arrives, make sure that you are utilizing fully acclimated specimens, preferably with at least one full year of outside culture prior to planting.  I must add that there is disagreement over planting in the Fall.  Some say it gives the plant undue risk.  Others say it optimizes root growth for rapid Spring growing.  So, realize that not everyone agrees.

Drainage
Almost all species of palms prefer good drainage. One should familiarize themselves with the type of soil in their garden and the drainage it affords. Heavy subsoil or clay may have very poor drainage. An experimental half meter deep hole dug in a representative area of your garden will teach a lot about your soil, water pattern and drainage. First, you will learn the depth of your topsoil and the difficulty of digging in your soil. Secondly, you can have your soil tested by a soil lab for pH and nutritional status. Third, you will discover the effectiveness of your watering pattern and can make any adjustments as needed. Finally, and most important, you can test your drainage. After normal rainfall and watering, one digs a hole a half meter deep and wide. Quickly fill this hole with water and time how rapidly the water totally disappears. With excellent drainage the water will be gone within thirty to sixty minutes. Good drainage would take several hours. Adequate drainage would take six to twelve hours. With poor drainage, the water remains for 24 hours or more. 

If you garden falls into this poor drainage category, you can predict some species will have problems unless you plan ahead. You may have found that, in digging your hole, you came to a clay or heavy substrata. It may be this layer that is holding stagnant water below the ground. A large hole dug into such material actually forms a pool that holds water indefinitely. If this layer isnt too thick, you can utilize heavy metal bars or a jackhammer to break up this layer prior to planting and thus promote drainage. It may be advisable to prepare multiple holes at one time if rented equipment is used. An alternative technique is digging underground diversion channels from hole to hole utilizing gravity to divert water downward. One can also mound plants (with or without constructed walls) above the water table. If your problem is heavy clay topsoil causing drainage problems, consider repetitive amendments of sand and coarse organic material. Over the years this will promote better surface drainage. 

Planting on slopes presents a drainage problem of sorts. Slopes discourage water from getting the the palm's roots. Solutions include slow emission of drip irrigation, adequate watering wells, or mulching to slow down the downward movement of applied water.

(Continued on next page) 

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Last modified: June 05, 2010

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