My New Avenue Planting

[freakypalmguy]

Here's the story,

When I first moved into my place, I thought to myself, "that would be really cool to line my long driveway with queen palms". Well, I did it and have not been happy with the decision for a couple years, as I feel it (CAUTION: PALM SNOB COMMENT TO FOLLOW) cheapens the look of my garden. I know it would still look pretty good, but just not something unusual and majestic.

The queens are planted 24feet on center, so I decided that I could plant something in between each one, and either keep the queens or (CAUTION: PALM SNOB COMMENT #2 TO FOLLOW) chainsaw them at ground level (easiest way to get rid of them) when the others reached apx 6' tall.

So I've been racking my brains for a while now, trying to decide what to plant. I finally decided on a palm, Bismarkia should look great, be unusual, still be cold hardy, with an added bonus of being fast growing.

Well, I was speaking with Randy (Yachtingone) a few weeks back and asked what he thought of my idea (which he liked) and mentioned his five gallons Bismarckia for sale at a smoking price. Done deal. Randy then mentioned he had some other palms for sale that might go nicely as well, and fit all my criteria, Beccariophoenix alfredii. "Why not alternate Bismarkia and Beccariophoenix down the driveway" he said. He had some really nice five gallons for sale, also for a great price. I thought it was a killer idea, so here's a few pics.

Eleven Bismarkia and Eleven Beccariophoenix loaded in the pickup.

A view the way it looked with just the potentially doomed queens.

A couple shots with the palms centered between the Queens.

Looking up

Looking down

[freakypalmguy]

I dug, planted, setup the drip lines, and cut all the rabit cages on Sunday. I tried to take an "after picture", but with queens and the Rock Rose, you can't see any of the palms, so here's a shot of one of the planted Beccario.

Thanks again Randy for the amazing deal on the palms and all the other loot you hooked me up with. For those that have never been to his place, he has a killer garden and a lot of great palms and cycads for sale.

Matt

[Zeeth]

You know, this is going to be freaking awesome when they get big!

[Jeff in St Pete]

Good selection to go with the Queen palms. Actually I think the Queens look good by themselves, but the Bizzies and B alfredii will just add to the beauty. That driveway is going to look killer in a few years!

[Xenon]

This is gonna look awesome in a couple years, nice palm choice .

Jonathan

Edited July 13, 2010 by Xenon

[realarch]

Geeze Matt, that is one heck of a driveway! Oh yeah it's gonna look awesome. A couple of the queens though

would add some height and a bit of verticality. Or maybe something a bit more exotic.

[Dundo]

Great selection of the palms, we have similar taste. U will have best driveway ever in 10ish years

Edited July 13, 2010 by Dundo

[hanapalms]

You may want to keep the Queens when the whole drive is looking awesome.

[velutina]

I think the Queens look amazing! Can't wait to see it with the new palms

[obabylive]

I'm in agreement, keep the Queens. You have enough spacing with them in place. They may be common, but as we've seen in other posts, they can be quite dramatic when grown well. Besides, I just couldn't kill so many mature palms on purposes !!!!!!!.

[Alicehunter2000]

And the crowd chants......Keep the Queens! Keep the Queens!

[Walter John]

And the crowd chants......Keep the Queens! Keep the Queens!

No, I think you heard wrong, must be too much noise, I can hear them shouting "Cheap with Queens" or "Chop the Queens" perhaps.

[Gonzer]

Geez Matt, that's not your drive....is it? Looks like the road leading up to Hearst Castle!

[freakypalmguy]

Thank you for the kind words everyone. I think the queens have about a 75% chance of survival.

And Gonz, not Hearst, Worst Castle

[sick1166]

very nice

[PalmatierMeg]

What a great driveway, wide as the roads in my neighborhood. It'll look great in a few years.

[Kumar]

What a huge driveway Matt ! I salute your use of bismarckias - I wish there were more of those in my city.

[peachy]

Queens, Royals, CIDP or Archontophoenix are commonly used to line driveways around here. Not long ago a friend got rid of a lovely curving avenue of queen palms and her place looks much poorer for it. A combination of palms like you currently have should look amazing in time. Wish I had the space to do something like that myself. San Simeon (Hearst Castle) is a lovely homey house and I wish it was up for sale. As they say in France, its Tres Moi.

Peachy

[yachtingone]

Matt,

I'm warming up the chainsaw!

Randy

[Kim]

A Bismarckia and Beccariophoenix lined driveway with a nice curve to it, that is going to be a major PRA destination in the future! Queens? Eh, maybe. Wait and see...

[paulgila]

Here's the story,

When I first moved into my place, I thought to myself, "that would be really cool to line my long driveway with queen palms". Well, I did it and have not been happy with the decision for a couple years, as I feel it (CAUTION: PALM SNOB COMMENT TO FOLLOW) cheapens the look of my garden. I know it would still look pretty good, but just not something unusual and majestic.

The queens are planted 24feet on center, so I decided that I could plant something in between each one, and either keep the queens or (CAUTION: PALM SNOB COMMENT #2 TO FOLLOW) chainsaw them at ground level (easiest way to get rid of them) when the others reached apx 6' tall.

So I've been racking my brains for a while now, trying to decide what to plant. I finally decided on a palm, Bismarkia should look great, be unusual, still be cold hardy, with an added bonus of being fast growing.

Well, I was speaking with Randy (Yachtingone) a few weeks back and asked what he thought of my idea (which he liked) and mentioned his five gallons Bismarckia for sale at a smoking price. Done deal. Randy then mentioned he had some other palms for sale that might go nicely as well, and fit all my criteria, Beccariophoenix alfredii. "Why not alternate Bismarkia and Beccariophoenix down the driveway" he said. He had some really nice five gallons for sale, also for a great price. I thought it was a killer idea, so here's a few pics.

Eleven Bismarkia and Eleven Beccariophoenix loaded in the pickup.

A view the way it looked with just the potentially doomed queens.

A couple shots with the palms centered between the Queens.

Looking up

Looking down

those queens are thinking "uh oh,i dont like the way those new-comers are looking at us!"

bizzies are a good choice,i planted them all around my property along the street.

[MattyB]

1. Paul, did you really need to quote the entire photo-post? Did you think we would not know what you're refering too?

2. Randy, you searched the internet for a pic of Leatherface and that's the best you could come up with? That is not Leatherface. I know Leatherface and that's not him.

3. Matt, consider yourself luck I even looked at this thread considering it has Queen Palms in it.

[MattyB]

Now that I got that out of my system; on a more serious note:

I like the Queen Palm look. The fact that they'll grow so much faster and taller than the Bizzies and Beccarios will give that staggered and layered look without creating too much over crowding. I bet it'll look great. I think you should keep the Queens, just imagining it in my minds eye. Nice work brother, thanks for the pics.

[paulgila]

i agree it was inappropriate to re-post the whole thing,but i was in a hurry. my oatmeal was getting cold.

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

Awesome private drive! I too will add my voice to the "Keep The Queens!" chant.

That is going to look fantastic in a few years! Great choice!

[Peter Pacific]

Keep the Queens!!! Your drive will look great in a few years with the bizzies and the B. alfrediis and you´ll be an inspiration to palm snobs everywhere! Peter

[BeaumontTropics]

For the first time in a long time,

I seem to agree with the majority. Save the queens. Sure, they look common now, but filed in along with Bizzies and Beccarios? That will look intense! Plus, there are things you can do to make queens look a little more unique.

Look at this one, for example. I've never seen anyone do this with a queen. Kind of looks cool. I don't know if it's good for the palm to be shaved and cut like it is, but it seems like you're not too concerned with the well being of it anyways.

As for the palm snobs, Tell 'em to crap in their hands! Sometimes those little La Jolla Weenies forget that we all don't live in their climate, and have to grow what will look good for us, year round. Because out here in the I.E., we do more than shoot Bo-Tox!

[bayside mike]

The alfredii and bismarks will take a while to be

noticeable, better leave the queens for a while anyway.

That's an awesome driveway.

[yachtingone]

Did that hurt?

The queens are next!

[MattyB]

Did you mean?....

[iamjv]

Great looking driveway..... once saw a driveway like that lined with Jubs, maybe you could plant a couple of them as well???? (For the next generation!) Jv

[Walter John]

As for the palm snobs, Tell 'em to crap in their hands! Sometimes those little La Jolla Weenies forget that we all don't live in their climate, and have to grow what will look good for us, year round. Because out here in the I.E., we do more than shoot Bo-Tox!

That's some serious snark or rather a version lower known as shark snark.

Out here in the Internet Explorer we do more than shoot Bo-tox ???? Say what ?

[BS Man about Palms]

Luck "Y" Matt, Luck "Y".

[freakypalmguy]

Thanks again all for the good words guys and gals, I am truly surprised that the majority are in the "save the queen" group. I thought for sure, they'd be lined up, torches in hand. We'll see in a couple of years.

Nice Snarkasm Matteo, you had to, those boys were just begging for it, with Paul violating one of the most basic posting rules and Randy putting down with that weak leatherface.

[yachtingone]

I'm practicing now Matt!

I have my best leatherface on! Tough to see in this pic.

[Patrick]

And the crowd chants......Keep the Queens! Keep the Queens!

I'm with the group to keep the queens.

I was thinking the exact same thing as MattyB, and then I came across his post and it mirrored my exact thoughts.

If you water & fert. the hell out of those queens then they'll get up and above your Beccie's and Bizzies and give you a very nice, tiered look.

By the time your new palms get any size on them, those queens should have quite a few feet of trunk, and they might even provide a bit of overhead protection if it ever does get super-cold there again.

Your driveway looks great now and it will look even better in a few years. Nice!

[mjff]

Keep the Queens, and consider yourself lucky to have them. The best I could do out here is Washingtonias or Sabals, and even the Washingtonias get burned most years out here. Looks great with just the Queens, will be awesome once the others get big too.

[yachtingone]

Freaky one,

Can I jump on the queen palm band wagon?

I'll put awat the chainsaw and take off my mask!