Trachy and Garden Update

hilashes · Post by **hilashes** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:30 pm

Hi All - been out of the loop a bit, due to a very busy February. Thought I'd post an update on my two Trachys, one with a shelter and one without. During our cold snaps overnight of -5C back in February I would wrap the palm in burlap and cover it with a garbage bag to keep dry. The leaves still suffered some frost damage and sometimes I'd take too long to uncover them and the leaves would stay wet under the wrapping. I am sure this is what made the tree look this way as a result, other than that it's shooting wonderful looking spears like crazy.
Here are the pictures in a slideshow or click on it to view my album closer, (added are my two banana stalks and a budding butterfly bush!)

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Thanks for looking, hope everyone's doing well, I'm sure looking forward to SPRING! YAY!
Heidi

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:06 pm

Great!
Even the less-protected Trachy looks pretty good, but the protected one looks fantastic.
Nice that banana stems are still standing. They will take off nicely vs. starting from roots.
Thanks for sharing. --Erik

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:11 pm

Heidi,
thanks for taking the time for an update.
The sheltered Trachy looks fabulous!
The other will be fine...it's only TROUBLE when the new spears are brown and the old ones are green

Buddleia is breaking? Wow.
Miles ahead of us, of course.

Carpenter H will see what a good job he did last year, being encouraged to do it again for second Trachy.
How satisfying!

Barb

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:43 pm

Heidi,

They look good. Glad to see that they made it. I think that damage on the unsheltered trachy is from being wrapped up. I strong believe trachys damage quickly from not being able to breathe. You can almost never achieve total dryness under tight wrapping. A dry palm frond is a dead one; 85 percent of plant leaf material is water, so you can see that provides an optimal place for mold, bacteria and mildew to grow under tight wrappings.

Some of my trachys saw down to 8F and have almost zero damage on them. But the difference is they were not wrapped up tight in their protection and were able to breathe properly.

Lack of light and tight wrappings will quickly hurt these palms.

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:51 pm

Been wondering where you've been

Glad to see all is well.

Wes North Van · Post by **Wes North Van** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:55 pm

Not sure where in Vancouver you are but they do not need to be protected here in the lower mainland.
I have 30 or so trachies in my yard and they have never been protected nor have they ever had any damage.
My tallest one is at least 30' tall now.
I am located by Ambleside Beach at 6' above sea level but I know of trachies in the Fraser valley and up on the mountians and I know they are ok too.
I agree with Wxman, I think you do more damage to trachies in our climate being wrapped up than you do if you let them breathe.
My two cents worth.

hilashes · Post by **hilashes** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:24 pm

Thanks Everyone for your comments!

Jim! Yes I'm back

good to hear from you, I saw your palm update and I went to post a comment and the computer crashed

I loved the Waggie and the Agave and the rest of your cactus' really pulled through nicely despite the collapse. NICE WORK!

Tim and Wes - I completely agree with you guys! Wes its good to hear from you, I'm in Maple Ridge...so we're in the same climate, I wouldn't mind your 2 cents anytime please and thank you! do you have pics of your palms? 30 Trachys WOW

Tim, I agree with you 100% With trial and error over the last couple of winters I'm now realizing what really is working. Obviously not the wrap and garbage bag

The sheltered Trachy proves to be the best method so next year. I found that if I at least kept the palm dry all was good. I'll definitely get H to build another one for the other trachy next winter. I also looked at your palm updates and wanted to tell you how awesome they look. what a difference from even last year!

Barb - when we were above zero back in December the Buddleia was even budding THEN! It would have a lot more I believe, if it weren't for our colder than normal temperatures the last couple of months. at least it's happy now!

Hopefully Carpenter H will get that shelter done for next winter, I'm sure he's happy he helped keep it alive and well!

Erik - I tried really hard this year to keep the stems on the banana so I could get a head start on height in the spring. they should be really tall this year ( I hope). Glad you liked the pictures! good to be back here too, I've been away a little too long and now that spring is almost here it will be nice to see everyones gardens start up again.

Thanks again everyone!
Heidi

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:07 pm

Heidi,
I'm very glad you are back, and appreciate this thread. I'd like to use it to ask novice questions about Trachy. I struggle with them and have for a dozen years now at this latitude. I appreciate the advice from folks who know more than I do.
Barb mentioned Trachy with green old leaves and brown new leaves/spears.

Those are my two good ones!

The worst was the one I took the most care of; maybe (per Wes) I loved it too much?
The two Waggies look great but they got electric heat (cable) around the base. If that is cheating, I'll keep doing it.

Also, congrats on the bananas. I'm hoping for re-growth from the roots; sucks to live way up here at 35 oN.

--Erik

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:23 pm

great pics!

Wes North Van · Post by **Wes North Van** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 10:13 pm

Here are a few pics taken in Mid February of 2011

This one is of a new planting on February 2011.
Sarcococco Humilis and Hart's tongue Fern

Bamboo at night. The fence is 6 feet high so it gives you an idea of how high the bamboo is.
It is at least 25 to 30 feet.

Front yard

hilashes · Post by **hilashes** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:30 pm

WOW Wes you've got an incredible landscape going on with all your tropicals! such an inspiration, thanks for sharing those. How old would you say your Trachys are?

Erik - gee thanks! I've always considered myself a rookie, but we learn from one another as we go and that's why we're on here to share our experiences. I was afraid I care for my Trachys a bit too much too, after finding myself outside covering, uncovering, wrapping, fussing....but this was a good test this year sheltering one and not the other. what I found was keeping them dry as possible - it's worse when they're wet than when they're dry and exposed to the extreme cold. I say "whatever works....if it works DO IT" so cheat all you want. lol Also regarding the bananas this is my second attempt at keeping them through the winter successfully - again it's trial and error and now I know what to do next winter. I'm sorry to hear about your two trachys spears browning - I'll have to go back and take a look and catch up on yours...as I said I've been so out of the loop lately! Glad to be back too Erik, thanks again!

Heidi

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 9:42 am

Fabulous Wes.
It's been a while since we saw photos, very nice.

Oh to have a climate like Vancouver's...

Barb

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:40 am

Wes, your place is awesome.

CTPalm · Post by **CTPalm** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 5:26 pm

Nice pics you two! I wish I lived in your climate!

Paul

hilashes · Post by **hilashes** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 6:59 pm

Thanks Paul! I certainly could learn a lot from Wes - wow what a landscape!

Wes North Van · Post by **Wes North Van** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:25 pm

Thanks everyone.
I will post some more pics later.
I am working on improving the back yard and planting more palms in the front yard.
The back yard looks more like a jungle with palms everywhere.
I have to clean it up a bit.
The climate here is perfect for the trachycarpus species and not bad for jubaea, r. hystrix, s. minor, t. campestris, c. humilis, b. armata and c. radicalis.
These palms make up most of what I have however I am going to plant a butia eriospatha and washingtonia robusta this year. I will have to protect the washie.

hilashes · Post by **hilashes** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:28 pm

Wes I'd love to plant a butia - where are you buying yours from?

Wes North Van · Post by **Wes North Van** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:45 pm

I grow mine from seed.
They grow quickly.
I bought my seed from Rarepalmseeds.com
I see on another discussion page that Marigold nurseries in Victoria has some good sized ones.
They are marginal here but they are hardier than capitata which has to be protected here.

hilashes · Post by **hilashes** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:48 pm

Capitata was the variety I picked, but if eriospatha is hardier then I'll take it! thanks for the info Wes.

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