palms and erosion

[irishQ]

seems to be an erosion issue which could be very easily solved with more dirt, but... i

just want to check with the experts as to whether or not this is an easy fix.

see the pic of my backyard. i have a bunch of christmas palms, some foxtails and a few royals which all have root exposure. they are growing just fine. they have been in the ground about 10 years.

my concern is whether i can leave these alone or should i bring in lots of top soil to replace the erosion. if i refill the area, is there any chance of killing the trees if it is done wrong?

thanks

[bgl]

Bob,

First of all, welcome to PalmTalk! I wouldn't be concerned about the exposed roots, but if it makes you feel better just cover them up with soil, and compact the soil without damaging the roots. But only cover the roots, and nothing above the exposed roots. That certainly won't harm the palms, and it may make them even happier!

Aloha from the Big Island,

Bo-Göran

[Tropicgardener]

Palms have adventitious roots that do appear around the base of the trunk and I would say that is what yours are doing. It is totally normal and as Bo said covering in around the roots won't cause any damage to the health of your palms.

[kylecawazafla]

You don't need to worry about erosion at the base of your palm trunks. It might not be isn't, but the roots are hiking up the trunk instead! As long as they don't look like these, you should be fine! (Serenoa repens along the Matanzas Inlet)

[Moose]

seems to be an erosion issue which could be very easily solved with more dirt, but... i

just want to check with the experts as to whether or not this is an easy fix.

see the pic of my backyard. i have a bunch of christmas palms, some foxtails and a few royals which all have root exposure. they are growing just fine. they have been in the ground about 10 years.

my concern is whether i can leave these alone or should i bring in lots of top soil to replace the erosion. if i refill the area, is there any chance of killing the trees if it is done wrong?

thanks

Mulch would be beneficial Bob. Welcome to palm talk!

Where are you in Florida?

[irishQ]

thanks for the replies. my concern for killing the trees by adding top soil stems from trying to resolve the same problem a couple of years ago. had 2 foxtails, each about 5' tall. i added a bag of top soil around each and within 4-6 months they just fell over dead. it appeared the roots rotted.

need to spend more time out back and re-mulch and fert. is LESCO any good? or is it just cheap commercial filler?

[Moose]

Bob - LESCO makes a good Palm Special fertilizer. Don't put it up against the trunk, broad cast it under the palm to about 1 ft beyond the drip line. Your Royal Palm is a gross feeder, you may supplement extra nitrogen if you so desire.

[NApalm]

welcome to palmtalk irishQ. Lots of very knowledgable people here. How bout some pics of your whole palm collection?

[Eric in Orlando]

I've added soil around roots like that without any ill effects. Just don't bury any trunk. Often our sandy soil erodes or more often settles way down as air pockets develop.

[Eric in Orlando]

Sabal palmetto along Tampa Bay adjacent to the Kopsick Palmetum

[richnorm]

Some good advice above but would note that Queens grown on our heavy clay have a tendency to push themselves out of the ground. If soil is not banked up to the base of the trunk to prevent air-pruning of new roots they can get wobbly. Same is true of some caryotas.

cheers

Richard

[Palmsbro]

On 3/15/2012, 10:39:51, kylecawazafla said:

You don't need to worry about erosion at the base of your palm trunks. It might not be isn't, but the roots are hiking up the trunk instead! As long as they don't look like these, you should be fine! (Serenoa repens along the Matanzas Inlet)

 

 

 

 

Are you sure that that is not saltwater intrusion?