South Florida Style ~ Palms for your Landscape

 Hey there my planty friends, so glad you're back for the next episode of Gardening South Florida Style!

In this post we are going to take a moment to talk about palms in the landscape.  Especially when planning for our potentially extreme weather events here in SE Florida.  Whether it's drought, tropical storms, hurricanes, high winds, salty air, humidity and whatever else Mother Nature decides to throw at us...palms are some of the hardiest plants around!

Disclaimer here before we start: Palms do not replace the importance of trees.  It's a misnomer that they are the same & they are not.  Palms do not produce the same environmental parameters of carbon dioxide to oxygen ratio, nor do they provide the same amount of shade which helps to offset the amount of heat retention from our concrete jungle.  BUT (and a big butt here😉) they do have some positive values in landscapes, especially during tropical storms and hurricanes.

So let's get into some favorable attributes that palms have before we diss on them. Don't worry it's just a soft diss not a hater diss, no one likes a hater & who could hate a palm anyhow?! Pfft seriously no one, that's who 😂  First & foremost, as we all know, they are super pretty & have a very unique shape that is a lovely addition to any landscape design.  Unlike a typical tree shape, palms are strictly vertical growers with all their fronds at the top area of their trunks, which we call the crown or canopy.  Though with that being said there are basically two kinds of palms that can grow here in south Florida: a solitary trunk like a coconut palm which will only grow one trunk & can only grow their new progeny by seed. Then we have, however you want to refer to it, a clumping/clustering/multi-trunk palm like an areca palm.  They propagate not only by seed by also by growing their new progeny out from the root base of their trunk.  Like a baby clone of itself.  We call that suckering, don't ask me why, it sounds silly I know.  Palms unique architectural shapes do a great job of breaking up the continuity of shrubs & trees, offering something interesting your eyes can rest upon.  There is a palm for every area of your garden, from shade to full sun.  Some palms are just so stunning, they can be a gorgeous focal point all on their own. 

 Have you ever seen a red sealing wax palm, Oooohhh my gosh... #1 Stunner fo' sho'!!!

Red sealing wax palm (cyrtostachys renda) is considered a cluster type palm.

So since we just established their structural shape & we know they're just an absolutely beautiful addition to the landscape; how can their placement be used effectively?  Here in South Florida we get our fair share of storms & hurricanes.  Though what people might not know is we also have a time in our Spring as well as in our Autumn/Fall season when winds can ramp up to 20-30mph with gusts up to 40-50mph as part of our season not due to a storm event.  The winds usually blow in from the N/NE to the S/SW.  Aaaand they are non-stop....20+mph for daaayyysss! That's when I bust out the "windy-hair don't care" t-shirt 😂 Depending on how tall a specific palm species will grow (some palms can grow 40-50 ft or higher) they can be great windbreaks.  A healthy palm can withstand most tropical storms, low level hurricanes & constant high winds with very little damage to the palm & little to no damage to your property.  If you understand where any palm species originates from you can see how perfect they are for our weather.  They can grow in the harshest environments.  August 24, 1992 Hurricane Andrew tore through south Miami-Dade county. You know what was the single most successful plant still standing after that category 4/5 hurricane in our neighborhoods?  If you guessed palms, call yourself a winner...you're winning friend!  Though when planting palms just make sure they are planted far enough away from your home or other buildings so when they sway like a drunken sailor in the wind they aren't knocking against the building which can be potentially damaging.

Quindio wax palms growing in the high mountain elevations of Colombia, South America
photo by Thibaud Aronson

You can also use palms as a full sun filter for understory plants which grow best in part sun/part shade to help give them a reprieve from our intense sun.  Palms also cast a long shadow so if you have them towards the edges of your property their shadow can be useful to help throw some shade (in a good way) on areas that could use a cool down, i.e. pool, jungle gym, hammock, shed, patio, etc.  Right place, right palm is my motto & now it's your as well!

Look how beautiful this cluster of cabada palms look as a side yard focal point at one
of our client's homes...simple, elegant, modern & low to no maintenance!

Privacy is a priority for many people, especially here where a one-story ranch style home gets knocked down for a mega-mansion to be built in it's place, with zero lot lines I might add.  So privacy is usually at the top of our client's wish list of landscape must-have's.  In most cases solitary trunk palms do not offer privacy due to the nature of how these palms grow.  Their fronds are always at the top as we established & as the palm grows taller so does the crown of the palm.  So for instance, let's say you plant a tall palm on your property to cover either your second story window and/or your neighbor's window like in the picture below.  For the immediate time yes, you'll have a bit of privacy.  Though unfortunately that privacy is fleeting, as the palm grows taller so will the crown. Now it's above your roof line, bye-bye privacy, also your neighbor is now you and/or lord forbid your kiddo's #1 voyeur, eewww!  P.S. Zero lot lines are absolutely ridiculous & those ordinances should be changed but that my friend's is another post! Trust me when I say we'll get into it! 😉

We also see clustering palms used as a type of privacy hedge which can work in some cases depending on the species of palm.  Though most people unknowingly use areca palms for this because they are available everywhere, extremely fast growing & inexpensive but what they soon realize is it ends up costing them way more in the long run.  Areca's are prolific growers & will take over a space very quickly, outgrowing everything around it.  Plus they are high maintenance & as messy as a room full of unattended kindergarteners on art's & crafts day!  They drop an extraordinary amount of palm fronds on a daily basis & sucker like crazy (there's that word again). They are best used on a very large property & with lots of maintenance to remove all their new growth they look really pretty.  But once they are huge & established they are very costly to remove due to the amount of labor it takes to get their gigantic root ballz out.  And last they are the #1 palm super susceptible to the ganoderma fungi which can kill palms & trees faster than flies on a pile of poop.  Unfortunately there currently is no known cure to irradicate the ganoderma mushroom.  Talk about a party-pooper!

You can see the line of arecas along the back perimeter of the property at one of our client's homes.
We had a huge pile to pick up every other week when we came for maintenance.  Luckily we removed them all (due to ganoderma spreading) & replaced them with cabada palms, which is a more appropriate palm for most south Florida yards.

So let's segway into design, at this point you know you want palms planted in your landscape...but what species of palm & what kind of maintenance will they need?  Great question because most people think palms are maintenance free.   Where as most palms are certainly low maintenance, they all need some amount of work.  Like my hair on a hot & humid day!  There are two types of palms in this instance: the palms that we call "self cleaning" and palms that need to be pruned.  The self cleaning palms like sabal palms, Christmas palms, royal palms, veitchii palms, areca and MacArthur palms all drop their fronds once they have used up the food source from them.  They drop to the ground, you pick them up & put them in your compost bin, er I mean garbage can or bulk pick up & you're good to go.  And every so often you will need to trim the seed pods from the trunks.  But palms that need to be pruned like bottle palms, foxtail palms, bismark palms and all the date palms like Sylvester palms, roebellini palms & Canary Island palms will not release their fronds even after they've died.  They need to be pruned...of course isn't that the case, the palms with the biggest pointiest deadliest spines on them need to be trimmed by hand.   My husband still has a piece of a date palm frond spike stuck in his leg that broke off when we were pruning a client's Sylvester date palm.😩 Palms that need to be pruned can usually be done by the homeowner though most people hire tree trimmers like us for various reasons, mainly because it can be difficult & dangerous.  So definitely something to consider when choosing a palm(s).

So what kinds of palms are available?  There are sooooooo many, like thousands of different species & hybrids of palm throughout the world.  Many of which grow exceptionally well here in South Florida due to our tropical & subtropical climate.  Some palms are fast growing, while some are painfully slow yet most are moderate growers.  Some palms have huge heads while others are small.  Even the palm frond colors, shapes & sizes vary from species to species.  Some can grow in full sun while others will burn with the direct sun on their fronds like Florida tourists from the Midwest.  Did I mention there are soooooo there are many different varieties of palms? Hee hee...with that being said, it's all about right palm, right place.  It's a good idea to do a bit of internet sleuthing to find out what requirements the palms you like will need.  Or even just researching what palms will grow best where you live.  Here are some of our most popular palms that can grow here in SE Florida, see if you find one or two or ten that you like.

Licuala elegans in the center with foxtail palms

Sabal palm (Sabal palmetto) - Florida native & state palm - self cleaning, solitary trunk, typically grows up to 30ft in landscapes taller in the wild, slow long living palm, full sun.

Licuala palms - from Vanuatu, Pacific Islands - needs to be hand pruned, solitary trunk, many different species in this family (grandis, ramsayi, peltata, etc) understory dappled shade, fronds get torn from high winds, likes moist habitats.

Alexander palm (Archontophoenix alexandrae) - self cleaning, solitary trunk, grows up to 80+ft in natural habitat but about 40-50 ft in landscapes, fast grower once it gets established, full sun, can handle more water than most palms.

Solitaire palm (Ptychosperma elegans) - from Australia - self cleaning, solitary trunk, can be confused with the Alexander palm, grows up to 20-25ft, full sun to part shade.

Christmas palm (Adonidia merrillii) - from Philippines - self cleaning, solitary trunk, probably on of the most popular small palms seen in landscapes, grows up to 25ft, full sun to part shade.

Cabada palm (Dypsis cabadae) - unknown origins thought to be Madagascar/Comoro Islands - self cleaning, multi-trunk, grows up to 20-30ft in landscapes, full sun to part shade, like more water than most, extensive root system

Montgomery palm (Veitchia arecina) - from Vanuatu/Fiji/Tonga - self cleaning, solitary trunk, grows up to 30-40ft, fast grower, full sun

Roebelenii palm (Phoenix roebelenii) - from Laos/Vietnam - also called pygmy date palm, needs to be hand pruned, clustering habit, grows up to 15-20ft, very popular small palm, full sun, slow growing long living, like all date palms needs to have regular fertilizer schedule.

Sylvester palm (Phoenix sylvestris) - from Pakistan/Himalayans/Nepal/Bangladesh/India - needs to be hand pruned, solitary trunk, grows up to 50-60ft, can tolerate colder temps, full sun, slow growing long living, like all date palms needs to have regular fertilizer schedule.

Elegant palm (Carpoxylon macrospermum) - from Vanuatu - needs to be hand pruned, solitary palm, grows up to 40+ft but it's a relatively new palm to SE Fla's landscapes so will see but so far they have surpassed 25ft, gorgeous bottle shaped trunk & curved fronds, full sun.

Carpentaria palm (Carpentaria acuminata) - from Australia - self cleaning, solitary palm, grows up to 40ft tall, full sun, fast growing, can handle more water than most, fertilizer is a bonus for this palm.

Now that you're a palm pro...can you guess what these two palms are? 

Oh my gosh, so many palms, so little time 😁 We could totally keep going with the list but as you can see there are many different types of palms.  Just remember not all palms can grow in SE Florida's harsh environment unless you have created micro-environments for them.  So once you've narrowed your search, it's all about price.  How affordable are the palms you want.  A rule of thumb to consider is, the slower growing, the rarer, the larger = the more expensive it can be.   My personal opinion is to buy as big as you can afford.  No one wants to wait a lifetime for a plant to grow to an enjoyable size. 

Well y'all I think we went over on our allotted time frame for this post, eek but if you are here reading this then thank you sooooo much, you're a winner! 💕 Hopefully this can help you along your landscaping journey here in Florida especially when is comes to designing a landscape around our hurricane/storm season.  

Until next time my planty peeps!  Happy Gardening!

Much love and best wishes,

Sheri

xoxo

💚