palm – Xtremehorticulture

Mexican Fan Palm Removal

1 Comment / palm, roots / xtremehorticulture

Q. We have decided to have our Mexican fan palms removed. Do we need to have all the roots removed or just cut the palms down to the ground, especially the one next to the pool? One of the “fan palms”, most likely favoring California fan palm (because it is “fat” at the base) (W. filifera). Palm trees in general, Washingtonia types in particular, interbreed easily and so the genus can easily be genetically mingled. A. If your palm trees do not sucker from the base (date palm, Mediterranean fan palm do produce suckers from the base) then as soon as the top is cut off, the palm will die. Both Mexican and California fan palms have one central bud at the top which is the only place where new growth can occur. Once cut and they die, they will slowly decay if left behind. The problem you will have when you leave any kind of stump is the palm trees very slow decay rate. Palm debris decay or rot very slowly. Coir is taken from coconut palms and is used in soil mixes to build soil structure because it resists decay. It is slow to decay and is the main reason I discourage its use in compost piles or use in woodchip mulch. It makes a great semi-permanent component in soil mixes. In both cases you want fertilizer or compost added to circumvent its slow decay. When plants decay, they add to the organic content of the soil and help make it darker. Remove as much of your palm trunk as possible. The palm roots won’t regrow, but any debris left behind from the trunk will decay very slowly. If you decide to use it in your new soil mix (it is a great addition to soils to improve soil structure), chop it as small as possible and make sure that fertilizer or compost is added to the soil to compensate for the slow breakdown of palm debris.

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Leaves Browning on Palm May Be Lack of Water

1 Comment / leaf scorch, palm, palm leaves dying, windmill palm / xtremehorticulture

Q. I moved here a year ago and have yet to figure out what this tree needs to thrive. I located and uncovered the drippers to make sure it was getting enough water. I removed a lantana and a Mexican bird of paradise that I thought might be robbing it of moisture. I think I may need to rake back the rock and provide mulch around the base. It puts out new growth, but it soon turns brown and the tree looks pretty sad. I thought that leaving a few of the dead fronds may provide the new growth with shade. So far that hasn’t helped. The tree is in the east side of the house and gets morning sun. It is shaded by the house to the west and a large palo verde tree on the south side of the house. Any help would be a life-saver. My other palms seem to be thriving, but this little guy is sick. A. It looks like a windmill palm. What I’m looking at looks exactly like a lack of water. I hope you are not watering every day. You should give plants like this a long burst of water and then hold off before you water again. In the summer this might be 2 or 3 days apart. In the winter this could be a a week to 10 days apart. Windmill Palm and Drought Windmill Palm will have leaf scorch a little bit in our climate but not that much. If that exposure is on the south or west side of the house it’s probably a bad location for it because of the heat reflected off of the house and also the rock below the palm. That location can be very hot. What Todo You can get some of that leaf scorch to disappear by adding more drip emitters around the palm and making sure that it gets enough water. I am guessing that your palm should receive about 15 gallons each time it’s watered. I would have at least 4 drip emitters under that palm, located about 18 inches from the trunk. The amount of water depends on how many minutes the drip operates. Let’s say you have it watering for 60 minutes. Then you would need for drip emitters that are 4 gallons per hour located under the palm tree. If your system is on for 30 minutes then I would have 6 drip emitters under the canopy and these are the 5 gallon per hour. Another alternative is to not use drip emitters but a coil of drip tubing circling the tree. .Let’s again say you are running it for 60 minutes. This tubing would be connected to your irrigation supply line and be about 15 feet long. The tubing would have emitters embedded in the tubing 1 foot apart and they would be 1 gallon per hour emitters. If you are watering for 30 minutes, then use a coil 30 feet long circling the Palm multiple times. The tubing would be put under the rock. In any regard, the problem appears to be not enough water is being applied.

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Select the Right Plants to Grow With Palms

2 Comments / aptenia, canary island date palm, dead fronds, palm / xtremehorticulture

Q. I have had this palm for 10 years. Every time I add additional water with a hose or bucket I lose more fronds. Every year I cut higher on the palm to get rid of dead fronds. I drove a metal stake down 18 inches but did not pick up any visible moisture in 3 different places. Any ideas on how I can go about this from a more scientific method? Canary Island date palm with aptenia planted at its base A. I did not see a whole lot wrong with your palm in the picture you sent to me. It is pretty normal for the fronds to begin to brown out and start to die once they drop below horizontal. In our climate it is also pretty common to have some tip burn on the leaves along the fronds, particularly as they get older and drop close or below horizontal. I did notice you have Aptenia, hearts and flowers, growing at the base of the palm. This plant is not complementary to a palm that has deeper roots. Aptenia has shallow roots so it is watered frequently with a small amount of water. Palms must be watered more deeply and less often. If you are going to plant something at the base of a palm, plant something with deeper roots that has a similar watering requirement. Replant at the base of the palm with something more deep-rooted that can give you some color. Select a woody perennial that give you season-long color in that spot or an evergreen with a deep root and a similar requirement for water.

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