Which palms to grow

Make sure to supply consistent summer irrigation. Its narrow crown fits into surprisingly tight urban spaces. Rhopalostylis baueri Norfolk Island palm. A close cousin of the Nikau palm, the Norfolk Island palm offers a softer, more tropical and more colorful look, slightly faster growth, and higher light tolerance when young.

Both species are exceptionally pretty foliage elements as juveniles in shade and both can live for many years in containers. The pindo or jelly palm from Uruguay and south Brazil is an exceptionally versatile and adaptable plant, suited to coastal gardens as well as hot, inland places. With its leaves recurving down over the lip of a pot, it makes a perfect container specimen. In the ground it slowly becomes a modest-size palm tree to 20 feet in 50 years in sun or shade, developing drought tolerance with age.

Showy flower stalks pop out of dramatic baseball-bat-like bracts popular with floral designers. Fruits that follow ripen to yellow-orange and can be delicious and made into preserves, as befits its common name. Use it anywhere temperatures stay above 15F and soil is reasonably well-drained. Its hybrid with the Chilean wine palm, Butia x Jubaea , offers a larger size tree with a more structured crown of foliage and equal or greater drought and cold tolerance.

Washingtonia robusta Mexican fan palm. It will tolerate but not look good in the chilly fog belt, while it will thrive but get occasional winter foliar damage in the coldest inland climates. Widely available, it grows fast and gets quite tall 50 feet in 50 years. Phoenix dactylifera true date palm. Tall specimens make good street trees. The kentia palm is a slow-growing and moderate-size 30 feet in 50 years palm tree that brings a tropical note into local landscapes with its crown of weeping feather leaves and its gently leaning, smooth, green ringed trunk.

Single trees attract attention but plants in clumps and groves look especially attractive. Young plants look best in part to full shade, while older trees handle both full sun and shade. Supply summer irrigation. Kentia palms are useful in urban centers, in frost-free, windy, bayside gardens, and even in fog-belt landscapes. Can be a nice small street tree with irrigation.

Not viable where temperatures regularly drop below 30F. Parajubaea torallyi var. A fast-growing, very rare, majestic tree from high in the Bolivian Andes. Looks like a husky coconut palm. Give it full sun, good drainage, ample water, regular fertilizer, and stand back and watch it develop into a graceful and substantial palm with a hefty, fiber-clad trunk and finely divided pinnate leaves. Once established, it will tolerate drought. Can reach 20 feet tall in 15 years.

Produces edible miniature coconuts. Plant as young as possible and with no root disturbance. Minor seashore tolerance, but otherwise adaptable from the foggy Outer Sunset to Walnut Creek Sunset zones A fast-growing, very rare tree from the Bolivian Andes. Height: 3—4m. Plant in a shady spot, in moist well-draining soil.

Height: 15m. How to plant a vegetable garden. Turn your pool into a tropical garden. Get your mag delivered! Chinese windmill palm An elegantly shaped tree, the Chinese windmill palm Trachycarpus fortunei is well suited to growing in the subtropics, along with cool and temperate climates.

Height: 7m Chinese windmill palm Getty. Varieties of Turf Lawn Watering Tips. Shop Online! Need help? Contact Us Ask An Expert. Share Share this article on social media. With the tropical look taking over gardens even in less-than-tropical climates , palms have come right into vogue.

These leafy plants, with their upright growth, fit perfectly into tropical gardens. How to grow palms in a garden Choose a sunny spot with well drained soil. If the soil is clay based, add gypsum and fork in well. Dig the planting hole twice as wide and to the same depth as the root-ball. Remove the shrub from the container, gently tease the roots and cut away any circled or tangled roots.

Position in hole and backfill with soil, gently firming down. Form a raised or doughnut shaped ring of soil around the outer edge of the plant's root zone. This helps keep water where it's needed. Most suitable in a sheltered well-lit south- or west-facing position. Good rate of growth. This is the one species of palm that can be grown widely in the UK, though the leaves may be damaged by high winds in cold, northerly, exposed sites.

It is tolerant of heavier clay soils and some shade. The closely related T. Both appear as hardy as the Chusan palm.

Trithrinax campestris Caranday palm : Fan-shaped, blue-green, wind resistant leaves. Slow growing; the trunk may grow to 5m 16ft. Easy to grow. Washingtonia filifera Washington palm : Tall fan-palm, fast growing and not suitable for a small garden. If winter damage occurs, remove damaged growth in the spring and maintain good growing conditions to aid recovery.

Unfortunately, true palms such as these have only one growing point at the top so when this is killed the palm is unable to regrow from lower down unlike cordylines. If recovery does not occur before late summer, the plant will probably have to be replaced.

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