Why not pot plant?
It would save you and your palm a lot of trouble 😛

I have been thinking of potplanting as a way of creating the "atmosphere" in my garden too. Some species I cannot never plant out but creating short illusion is worth it. Some roots tend to push out from the drainage holes but it´s small loss for roots compared to plant and dig every year.

Jim,
are you married?
Nothing personal, but it might help understand the incomprehensible.
The best answer I can give is, "the W wants it planted, and she wants me to dig it up on October."
I have no idea why. I go through this routine every Spring and every Fall with a myriad of plants.

I have gotten away with one exception, for her Washy, by buying an expensive pot for it:

<img class="go2wpf-bbcode" src="<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href=" http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/vX3FyDX4gPXDJT62ckmUfg?feat=embedwebsit e"><img src=" " /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href=" http://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm/BallroomPlants2010?feat=embedwebsit e">ballroom plants 2010</a></td></tr></table>" alt="">

Here is the Phoenix I bought her this week:
<img class="go2wpf-bbcode" src="<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href=" http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/_OKQzs8XgGWOIAfXCUDkgQ?feat=embedwebsit e"><img src=" " /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href=" http://picasaweb.google.com/terdalfarm/NewPalmsSpring2010?feat=embedwebsit e">New Palms Spring 2010</a></td></tr></table>" alt="">

She wants it in the ground in a particular place, so it'll go there. In October, I may put it in a nice pot for the winter in hopes it can join her Washy as a life-long potted palm.
The pygmy date palm was on sale for US$15 as it was seriously root-bound and in desperate need of a re-potting. So, if I spend US$30 on a pretty pot next October, I'll call it a deal.
--Erik

Nothing personal Erik
I was.......... ONCE!
I get it.

😆 😆 😆 😆
--Erik

Yup, Jim's got a good idea...pot planting (pot and all).
Otherwise there's transplant shock every time...

Barrie, I tried to pull my CIDP's fronds up like your EPS colleague did.
Mine just seems less supple, maybe because his fronds seem so much longer.

This CIDP...can handle ALL the heat this desert area can throw at it...and wind.
A five-gallon bucket of water poured on it once a week in summer.
Seems happy as a clam.
Spends every winter in the cold building, with lots of light.

Erik, those are great looking specimens.
Nice $$ pot too...I'd still bury it. 😆 😆 😆

You can always sink that one in plastic and then bury it,that way you can lift it out of the plastic pot.

Have your wife dig the hole 😉