PalmsNorth.com

Hello all I am new to the forum. I have puchased a good size 30 gallon windmill palm and am ready to put it in the ground.

I am in CT zone 6 and have clay soil.

I would like to plant in a mounded bed and would like to know what most people use for soil?

Is regular top soil, peat moss, adding in bark chips etc a good thing.

I also have some crushed gravel i could add. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

Steve

Wow, a 30? gallon for your first one? You just have to post some pics. I'm somewhat of a newbie myself and where I live we have Loess soil so it's naturally loose and has good drainage. The bark (small) ships is a good idea, but there are a lot of material that you can use to keep soil "loose" around the root ball.

One thing I did is buy heat tape for pipes and wrapped the root ball of my Windmill Palm with it. It has a built in thermostat to keep root ball from freezing in cold Nebraska winters and along with my above the ground protection.

Hi Steve, glad to have you aboard.

As a general rule, palms need well draining soil.
Clay is not good, so a mounded bed is a good idea.
I wouldn't ever add peat moss to clay, as peat moss holds water like a sponge.

I'd ensure that the land slopes away from all sides of the mounded bed so you don't ever get puddling.
Gravel in the subsoil works as long as it leads water away downhill, not just gravel under the palm.

You'll probably want to place the Trachy somewhere near the house, considering you'll want to protect it in winter.
Electrical nearby saves 100 foot long extension cords.

Look forward to seeing it.

Barb

thanks for the quick reply.

I am a little impatient so i went with the 30 gallon.

I have heard differing opinions on peat moss can any one help.

i was thinking of mixing my natural clay soil with some peat moss, top soil (Bags from big box store) with a top dressing of manure (Bag from box store) and perlite or the loose crushed gravel. Does anyone have any thoughts on this mixture? Ratios?

Thanks Ill post pics once its in ground. Finally we are warming up in CT

No peat moss.
Have read that (steer) manure isn't good for palms(jungle music site)

Look into crushed pebble size lava rock. It's light, cheap and easy to work with.

Steve, where ya from? edit your bio.

thanks Barb

I have left over gravel from a stone patio. was thinking of mixing it in. with top soil and my clay for the entire mound. It has a slight slope back wards where water can run so that the palm will not sit in the water.

I have electrical out by my pool which is where it will be. also pretty protected from winds by arborvitae.

What's the old saying? Dig a $50 dollar hole for a $10 plant? something like that.

I personally hate box store bagged soil, the cheaper stuff is just lime-rotted sawdust.
And never buy bagged soil for palms that has fertilizer in it.

gravel from a stone patio. was thinking of mixing it in. with top soil and my clay for the entire mound.

Pea sized gravel would work well.
Like a chain with a weak link, your problem part will be beneath your palm's amended bed, where it's just unamended native clay.
That's where a sloping drain should cut through the native clay and take water away.

Let's see if others chirp in here....maybe take a photo of it and the area it's going?

Barb

The gravel is grey and not round but sharp. Would this work? How about perlite??
Thanks

The gravel should be smaller than a dime. I dont think the shape is too important. I always mix it 1/3 with premium soil like scotts( which has small bark in it) and whatever soil is in your yard. If you dont mix your clay into the amended soil the roots will not acclimate to it. Then when they out grow the hole it may take longer for root development.

I'd pass on the perlite if you're using gravel.

Barb

So I planted this beautiful palm in a raised bed with top soil, my soil and the gravel I had on hand. It seemed pretty loose and looked like the drainage would be great. Beneath the bed I angled the soil toward the French drain around our in ground pool.

All in all I believe it will be a great addition ( funny I misspelled addition and my autocorrect when to addiction)
To the backyard.

Thanks for the help! I will post as soon as I get the pics uploaded

Syano, sounds good.

And auto correct was right...it IS an addiction.
Look forward to the photos.

Barb

Here is one view

Different angle

Once again thanks for the help

That is one great looking Trachy!
Great spot for it, sure looks tropical.

Your hard work will pay off in the Trachy settling in nicely.

Barb

Wow that seems really small for a 30 gallon. I was expecting to see anout 5 feet of trunk. That looks the same size as my 15 gallon

Welcome Neighbor - I have 4 trachies about the size of yours but I have been wheeling them in the garage for the winter. I gave my dad a small trachy and he planted it and covered with only burlap (no heat) on the north side of his house in Manchester CT and it lived! I have a similar sized Waggie that I brought in the house this winter and when I brought it out I burned nearly all the fronds.
Maybe I should just plant them.
Paul

Thanks for the welcome. And try at least one in the ground!
Are you on bananas.org as well?? Thought I saw you over there as well.
We will see how this goes but I think it'll be a great addition to the back yard.

Syano10 wrote:Thanks for the welcome. And try at least one in the ground!
Are you on bananas.org as well?? Thought I saw you over there as well.
We will see how this goes but I think it'll be a great addition to the back yard.

Yes I am also on bananas.org - You are right, I do have to experiment with one.

Yours looks great planted there!

Paul

Where have you gotten the palms from?? I know you were wondering about musa basjoo. I got mine in newington at stonehedge gardens. Bill Ma do you sell windmills??

Syano10 wrote:Where have you gotten the palms from?? I know you were wondering about musa basjoo. I got mine in newington at stonehedge gardens. Bill Ma do you sell windmills??

I got them from here http://palmtreesalesonline.com

it was in there package deal area - 6 - 2-3 year old palms for $149 - they let me substitute. I got all Windmills (I got 8 back then for that price) I grew mine in pots for the past few years to get them up to size.

I gave 4 away - 3 people killed them - except my dad's in Manchester.

Bill in MA used to sell really big windmills, haven't seen any posts on here from him in a while - his neighbors were causing problems for his cool little business.

I'll check out stonehedge gardens for the basjoo if I don't find one.

Paul

Bill still has palms for sale...

Jim, maybe post a link to Bill's sale page?

Barb