Need help with newly planted Royal Palms

[robsp2000]

I planted 4 - 25 gallon royal palms in late January. Not knowing any better, I added fertilizer to the soil around the rootball. I realized this was wrong pretty quickly and within 4-5 days we dug them back up, rinsed the rootball and dug the holes out larger and added fresh unfertilized soil. 3 of the palms have bounced back well and the new center fronds are growing pretty quickly. About 6 inches a week. One tree however, didn't do as well. It had 4 fronds to begin with and about a 16" new center frond sprouting. The two lowest fronds turned completely brown. The third one turned about 25% brown and the highest frond just has a little brown on the tips of the leaves. All this damage happened within the first 2 weeks. Since then it has not gotten any worse.

The new center frond though has not grown at all. It is still the original size it was when it was planted. Is this tree dying or is it in shock? It's been about 7 weeks now. If it is just shock, how long can this last before it starts to grow again?

Here are two photos, the one on the left was taken Feb 19th and the other taken today. There has been maybe 1/4 inch growth. The other palms have had around 18 inches of growth in the same time.

Edited March 15, 2013 by robsp2000

[MattyB]

It's shock. 1/4" of growth although disappointingis a good sign because it means it's still alive. keep it heavily watered and it will pull through. it will take 2 years before its fully recovers. lots of water is the key with transplanted Royal Palms. Ken Johnson taught me that and I've found it to be true in my personal experience as well

[MattyB]

you probably did more harm than good when digging them up for the second time. I would have just kept them really really wet to make sure that the fertilizer didn't burn them

[robsp2000]

Thanks, I have been watering them all using 5 gallon buckets with small holes drilled in the bottom so I can tell exactly how much I am giving them. I have been giving each about 10 gallons a day. Is that enough or too much?

[Cedric]

Just had to bump this up because its a classic.

I always add fertiliser at planting. Its probably the only time you will ever be able to fertilise down there amongst the roots, a golden opportunity I would say.

Only never use high soluble high nitrogen high phosphate type fertiliser. Best is organic with extreme high potassium or use straight potassium , trace elements and bone meal/fish meal well mixed and you can add literally a ton of it no problem long as its well mixed with the soil. If you have no access to this type of stuff extreme slow release is also good but i havnt seen it every where only in Australia in very large compressed tabs (lasts for three few years before starting to disintegrate) but Manutec seems to have stopped making them. In America you do get large trace element spikes these are fantastic to bury under the tree too, yea I love em!

[robsp2000]

Classic?

Just had to bump this up because its a classic.

[sonoranfans]

Classic?

Just had to bump this up because its a classic.

I think he meant its a classic mistake to fertilize at the time of planting. Most of us have done it, I guess we wanted the palm to grow as fast as possible...

[kahili]

I don't think that Cedric said that fertilizing at the time of planting was a mistake. He said that he always fertilized at the time of planting. I do too. As I said elsewhere, why wouldn't you fertilize when you plant? If the plant was in a container before, then the roots are not disturbed-in fact almost any plant is happier in the ground than in a container.There are some exceptions of course, but for the most part true. If the plant was getting fertilized in the container , and most are, then why would you stop the fertilizer? If the fertilizer is the right type and amt, then there is no burn. The bigger issue is the amt of water that the plant receives after transplanting-many times its too little or too much, and I suspect that that is the problem here-not the fertilizer. When a plant's roots are burned from over fertilizing -all the leaves are affected. When its a lack of water, then the lowest leaves are affected first. Stick with a good slow release fertilizer and use the right amt and you are not going to burn any roots.

I think that Cedric meant that its a classic mistake to over fertilize, not fertilize.

Rob-what kind of fertilizer did you use and how much of it?

[sonoranfans]

this is what I thought:

http://www.south-florida-plant-guide.com/plant-fertilization.html

exerpt

Fertilizer DONT'S

Don't buy cheap fertilizers. It's like dog food - the premium brands put in more meat and less filler. Same with fertilizers.

Don't add fertilizer to the hole when you plant. And wait till the plant's been in the ground at least a month before beginning plant fertilization.

Don't rake it in...fertilizer can go right on top of mulch.

[kahili]

I should have clarified that I always top dress the fert and always use a good slow release or controlled. I have to disagree with waiting a month though-whats the point of that? If you use a good fert, and don't over fertilize then the amt that the plant is getting is only going to help-its not a lot at once if its a good slow release. You are not combating shock if you water the correct amt-i.e not letting the plant dry out or over watering. I should stress again that this if for plants that were in a container and are root bound enough that the roots are not disturbed when planted, not bare root plants that were just dug up and transplanted. I always fertilize right away, scattering the fert away from the trunk, but near it on the soil before I mulch what I just planted. Never had a problem and the plant keeps growing. I have a feeling that they are saying to wait a month in case the plant was a bare root or they are figuring that percentage wise, it will not get watered correctly-thats the only reason that I can think of as to why they say to wait-esp if you are planting in sand-which has no nutrients.

You can fert on top of mulch-but its more efficient to get it under the mulch if you can.

[sonoranfans]

I have been told by several nurserymen not to fertilize for 4-6 weeks. this could be a precaution against a fast release fertilizer being used with minor root damage. Im guessing that when roots are rubbed during the planting or settling(by sand/grip) that the protective surface membrane can be rubbed off and that they are easier to burn. I suspect that fertilizer will just impede healing in the event of even minor abrasion. I do know that the florikan palm special I use takes about one month to start releasing significant amounts of fertilizer according to studies by UF and the concentration released peaks at month 3(6-7month release). But I would never assume anyone uses a fertilizer that is that expensive. Testing of other fertilizers like osmocote revealed an inferior control that spiked much earlier and didnt give consistent distribution of nutrients over time. Controlled time release fertilizers are not all the same, there are wide ranges in the amount of "control".

[robsp2000]

We used palm special, but not knowing any better, sprinkled it in the hole so it was touching the root ball. Once we dug them up and rinsed them off (you could see burning) and changed the surrounding soil the damage stopped right away. All of the others bounced back well. That was almost two months ago, we are about to fertilize the right way in a few weeks.

How much water should I be giving them? I have read everywhere but it seems like everything I read says something different. I hear Royals love water, that you can't over water them where I live (Key West). Other sites says otherwise. How many gallons a day should they get?

[sonoranfans]

We used palm special, but not knowing any better, sprinkled it in the hole so it was touching the root ball. Once we dug them up and rinsed them off (you could see burning) and changed the surrounding soil the damage stopped right away. All of the others bounced back well. That was almost two months ago, we are about to fertilize the right way in a few weeks.

How much water should I be giving them? I have read everywhere but it seems like everything I read says something different. I hear Royals love water, that you can't over water them where I live (Key West). Other sites says otherwise. How many gallons a day should they get?

Rob it sounds like you dodged a bullet. The palm special is a diffusion based fert. which means that it releases when wet. It works nice on top the soil, but putting it in a continually wet hole could lead to a faster release if it is always wet. For the watering I would start every other day before the wet season and add 10 gallons each slowly. If it rains skip a watering, and space it out to every 3 days after 4 weeks. You are in the native range of Roystonea, and you dont have sandy soil, these should be a pretty easy grow.

[robsp2000]

We used palm special, but not knowing any better, sprinkled it in the hole so it was touching the root ball. Once we dug them up and rinsed them off (you could see burning) and changed the surrounding soil the damage stopped right away. All of the others bounced back well. That was almost two months ago, we are about to fertilize the right way in a few weeks.

How much water should I be giving them? I have read everywhere but it seems like everything I read says something different. I hear Royals love water, that you can't over water them where I live (Key West). Other sites says otherwise. How many gallons a day should they get?

Rob it sounds like you dodged a bullet. The palm special is a diffusion based fert. which means that it releases when wet. It works nice on top the soil, but putting it in a continually wet hole could lead to a faster release if it is always wet. For the watering I would start every other day before the wet season and add 10 gallons each slowly. If it rains skip a watering, and space it out to every 3 days after 4 weeks. You are in the native range of Roystonea, and you dont have sandy soil, these should be a pretty easy grow.

Awesome, thanks for the advice, I will follow that schedule for watering.

[robsp2000]

We got some growth! About 2 inches in the last week.

[Cedric]

Crisis averted, well done I would say and well spotted. Once the roots start rotting it can be a very rapid decline indeed especialy for those skinny spindle size three leaf seedlings.

Roystonias most of them are pigs at a trough for fertiliser but primarly for trace elements in the early stages. If you have a slow leaking septic tank thats your ideal spot you will have a burgeoning healthy monster in no time.

I did mean it's a classic to burn the old roots at planting (who hasnt at one time at least) with handfulls of high notrogen rapidly melting type fert and tons of water. For babies at planting the best in my opinion honestly is organic stuff like bone meal blood meal and tons of it well mixed plus trace elements. You cant add enough organic material a whole cow would do nicely. You can water as much as you want no burning. A tiny sprinkle of high (lol) rapidly disolving nitrogen on the surface/mulch every few weeks well watered in until the organics are producing their own nitrogen and not eating it up instead is ideal.

Im envious I just love love growing Roystonia mine are all giants already, I can't find any more species here and seedlings are always too big for even my suitcases. I think if any palm does Roystonias do become almost a friend and confidant, just so much larger than life and responding so rapidly to anything you do too. Will have to think of getting seed again.

[SanDimas]

Cedric

I too love the genus. I have the regia, princeps and oleracea.

I was surprised they were selling the oleracea at Home Depot .

$65 for a 15gallon double.

I use steer manure as top dressing-fertilising in ground Palms.

Chicken manure is less heat generating and less burn when transplanting.

Cheers. Ritchy

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

There's some interesting info in this thread about fertilization. I never put fertilizer in the bottom of any planting hole for any plant, palm or otherwise, that's a recipe for anaerobic decomposition and a fast track to root rot. The bigger the plant, the worse this is. I also don't buy the idea of mixing a ton of organics into the bottom of the hole, as it's also a recipe for root rot. I usually keep native soil below the newly planted rootball, and add a few inches of native soil in the rest of the exposed bottom, then I put soil mixed with organic amendment. This has worked very well.

I also add slow release fertilizer on top right away, and use foliar spray to help, but I never apply quick release fertilizer until a palm has been growing several months.

So far, this has worked amazingly well. The only thing to watch out for is that if your native soil is heavy clay, the newly planted rootball will easily dry out even if you water like crazy. That's because the wetting factors for the potting soil doesn't match with native soil. Even with added organics around the rootball, this is still an issue. The only thing that's worked well for me here is drip on top of the newly planted rootball itself. That has worked wonders.

[DoomsDave]

robsp:

Welcome!

We exist to help you with your palm problems. Including addiction to same.

Do please keep us apprized of the progress of your royals.

[Cedric]

Cedric

I too love the genus. I have the regia, princeps and oleracea.

I was surprised they were selling the oleracea at Home Depot .

$65 for a 15gallon double.

I use steer manure as top dressing-fertilising in ground Palms.

Chicken manure is less heat generating and less burn when transplanting.

Cheers. Ritchy

Oh thats just unfair, oleracea at the Home Depot and double, sure! I would've bought all of them without a second thought, the RR of Roystonia. There is allways room for another twelve oleracea in anyones garden LOL. They are the canopy scape from heaven and pretty much instantly making a showing.

There are some differing thoughts about fertiliser at planting but I think different soil types drainage etc depends on what you do. But in the main its always benificial to add compost and bone meal etc. If there is no drainage your roots will rot anyway.

[Moose]

We used palm special, but not knowing any better, sprinkled it in the hole so it was touching the root ball. Once we dug them up and rinsed them off (you could see burning) and changed the surrounding soil the damage stopped right away. All of the others bounced back well. That was almost two months ago, we are about to fertilize the right way in a few weeks.

How much water should I be giving them? I have read everywhere but it seems like everything I read says something different. I hear Royals love water, that you can't over water them where I live (Key West). Other sites says otherwise. How many gallons a day should they get?

Fertilizer in the hole touching the root ball is a "classic" mistake. Fertilizer in the hole is ok if you put several inches of soil over the fertilizer. Let the new roots penetrate the soil and find the granular fertilizer. By then the fertilizer has "transformed" into a form that can be absorbed and the roots have acclimated somewhat. That is what I have always done when planting my palms. Another practice is to plant as the start of the rainy season. Palms would rather have the "real deal" over irrigation water.

Being in Key West - you have a rocky soil like mine. It would be difficult to over water Royals. Royals love water and they are nitrogen pigs. I would recommend the use of water soluble fertilizer evey 14 days as a root drench. This will not burn the roots and will be in a form that can be readily taken up by the roots you have. Royals do develope an extensive root system with time. They also love to be mulched.

I hope your planning incorporated the factor that these palms grow very tall and develope large heavy fronds. These palms have evolved a characteristic to "give up" its fronds in heavy winds. This helps them to become less wind resistant during hurricanes. A heavy gust of wind can cause fronds to "snap" where the petiole meets the base. A 70Lb + frond falling from 20+ feet can put a good hurting on surrounding plants.

Good luck with your endeavor. Planting natives is a good practice.

Ron

[robsp2000]

Thanks for the help. I am literally obsessed with these royals now. I love watching how fast the healthy ones are growing and I'm constantly measuring the new frond on the one in shock. It has grown more in the past week than it did in the first two and a half months. It's now growing just as fast as the others so it seems it might have come out of shock.

Moose, what type of fertilizer would you recommend and how do you do a root wash?

Here are some photos:

This one shows how much it has grown since my original post, most of this is in the last 10 days:

Here is another view of the one that was in shock, it was down to just two somewhat green fronds:

This one we call the beast, it is the largest and growing the fastest:

Edited April 20, 2013 by robsp2000

[robsp2000]

Here are some shots of the others:

Edited April 20, 2013 by robsp2000

[Cedric]

The frazzled grey curly necrotic leaf tips are more trace element problems magnesium potassium ratio or insufficiency often pot grown get this but I found they grow out of this when the roots spread and keep up with the top growth and they put on a few meters of trunk.

Those Roystonias are planted quite close together, an in fact i've never seen that before. Could be thats not such a problem with Roystonia as the whole leaf is usually more on the horizontal so they could mesh quite well into one another but it might be the falling leaf gets tangled up.

Moose is right twisting off the whole leaf at the beginning of the petiole in moderate to heavy winds is something they do easily. Recovering very fast after damage the spike or emerging leaves rarely seem badly affected.

[robsp2000]

The frazzled grey curly necrotic leaf tips are more trace element problems magnesium potassium ratio or insufficiency often pot grown get this but I found they grow out of this when the roots spread and keep up with the top growth and they put on a few meters of trunk.

Those Roystonias are planted quite close together, an in fact i've never seen that before. Could be thats not such a problem with Roystonia as the whole leaf is usually more on the horizontal so they could mesh quite well into one another but it might be the falling leaf gets tangled up.

Moose is right twisting off the whole leaf at the beginning of the petiole in moderate to heavy winds is something they do easily. Recovering very fast after damage the spike or emerging leaves rarely seem badly affected.

Down here in Key West, Royals are everywhere and in some cases planted even closer than this. There are a lot of examples around town of mature Royals close together and they look good and are healthy. We are hoping that these six will provide a nice canopy and some much need shade to our front yard.

[Cedric]

Ah yes I myself planted five royals in the same hole and they did tremendously well, in fact they seemed to put on even more girth than usual, could be all the fert I was dumping on them (: However in this case they grew out leaning curving up like coconut palms making enough space for each crown. This charming habit as a clump grower unfortunately was their downfall as they started shoving the house out their way so I reluctantly had to spend a great deal to get them professionally axed section by section roped and safely lowered, heavy heavy giant columns of pure water took days they were very tall already. I couldnt just remove one or two as they seemed to be supporting one another.

All this talk of Royals is making me dizzy Im going to mail order me a box of Oleracea seedlings post hast.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

I am curious, you planted your roystonea and they sat almost idle for 7 weeks then took off. Is that typical of 15g and up? Seems quite a few of the larger things I planted just 3-4 weeks ago are just sitting there idle. The bigger the box the slower the start. I see that happening with citrus a lot, they sort of sulk for a whole and then take off. I am just curious what other people have experienced with palms.

[Cedric]

I am curious, you planted your roystonea and they sat almost idle for 7 weeks then took off.

The roots got zapped by chem fertiliser.

[robsp2000]

I am curious, you planted your roystonea and they sat almost idle for 7 weeks then took off. Is that typical of 15g and up? Seems quite a few of the larger things I planted just 3-4 weeks ago are just sitting there idle. The bigger the box the slower the start. I see that happening with citrus a lot, they sort of sulk for a whole and then take off. I am just curious what other people have experienced with palms.

I planted 6 50 gallon palms. Only one gave me problems, the other have been steadily growing the whole time. 4 of them had root burn but only 1 went into shock.

[Jeff Searle]

Well, they look like their on their way, just keep them well,well watered, until the rains get there. I, like some of the others would be a little concern for planting these so close. Especially your neighbor that parks his cars just underneath them. I see his palms are planted there and might give him some relief when the leaves come down. Your not in old town are you? Do you know Tim and Dan that are here on the forum? Also Andre J. He lives in Bahama village. These three guys are all very good landscapers and palm experts. Seek out their help if needed.

[DoomsDave]

robsp:

Looks like you planted your royals very close to a driveway. When they get big, which will be fast, they will drop dead leaves on cars beneath them. I had a friend near me take one out because of that, alas, we all cried.

Those dead leaves are very heavy (50+ pounds) and can dent cars, and shatter windshields. I suppose (hope) the Psuedophoenix give some protection. Other large palms can do the leaf drop thing, too, including some of the big dypsis like D. decipiens.

In any case, keep us apprized!

dave

[dan.vagnoni]

robsp:

Looks like you planted your royals very close to a driveway. When they get big, which will be fast, they will drop dead leaves on cars beneath them. I had a friend near me take one out because of that, alas, we all cried.

Those dead leaves are very heavy (50+ pounds) and can dent cars, and shatter windshields. I suppose (hope) the Psuedophoenix give some protection. Other large palms can do the leaf drop thing, too, including some of the big dypsis like D. decipiens.

In any case, keep us apprized!

dave

I wish i had a car-denting decipiens...

[DoomsDave]

robsp:

Looks like you planted your royals very close to a driveway. When they get big, which will be fast, they will drop dead leaves on cars beneath them. I had a friend near me take one out because of that, alas, we all cried.

Those dead leaves are very heavy (50+ pounds) and can dent cars, and shatter windshields. I suppose (hope) the Psuedophoenix give some protection. Other large palms can do the leaf drop thing, too, including some of the big dypsis like D. decipiens.

In any case, keep us apprized!

dave

I wish i had a car-denting decipiens...

Dypsisdean has one at his place in Encinitas. His son parked a car underneath it, and the leaf fell off and shattered the windshield.

Some of those big Dypsis have ENORMOUS dead leaves. Tokoravina, I think, has dead leaves that weigh about 100+ pounds. Jeff Marcus has one in Hawaii and the leaves are too heavy for one guy of normal strength to move easily.

[dan.vagnoni]

robsp:

Looks like you planted your royals very close to a driveway. When they get big, which will be fast, they will drop dead leaves on cars beneath them. I had a friend near me take one out because of that, alas, we all cried.

Those dead leaves are very heavy (50+ pounds) and can dent cars, and shatter windshields. I suppose (hope) the Psuedophoenix give some protection. Other large palms can do the leaf drop thing, too, including some of the big dypsis like D. decipiens.

In any case, keep us apprized!

dave

I wish i had a car-denting decipiens...

Dypsisdean has one at his place in Encinitas. His son parked a car underneath it, and the leaf fell off and shattered the windshield.

Some of those big Dypsis have ENORMOUS dead leaves. Tokoravina, I think, has dead leaves that weigh about 100+ pounds. Jeff Marcus has one in Hawaii and the leaves are too heavy for one guy of normal strength to move easily.

Looks like I better plant my robusta away from the house

[robsp2000]

robsp:

Looks like you planted your royals very close to a driveway. When they get big, which will be fast, they will drop dead leaves on cars beneath them. I had a friend near me take one out because of that, alas, we all cried.

Those dead leaves are very heavy (50+ pounds) and can dent cars, and shatter windshields. I suppose (hope) the Psuedophoenix give some protection. Other large palms can do the leaf drop thing, too, including some of the big dypsis like D. decipiens.

In any case, keep us apprized!

dave

Dave,

Yeah I know how heavy the fronds are. Unfortunately because our lot is so small this was the only place for them. My wife and I agreed that the advantages of having the Royals were worth the hassle/risk of falling fronds. We only use one of the two sides of the driveway, in bad weather/ high wind I will park on the street. Once they get too tall for use to handle, we will probably use a tree service to get the ones that are dying and about to fall that pose a threat. With how compact this island is and all the coconut and large palms here, it seems to be a very common issue you have to learn to deal with.

For us the shaded canopy we will get over our front yard plus how good these palms will look is well worth the hassle.

[robsp2000]

Ah yes I myself planted five royals in the same hole and they did tremendously well, in fact they seemed to put on even more girth than usual, could be all the fert I was dumping on them (: However in this case they grew out leaning curving up like coconut palms making enough space for each crown. This charming habit as a clump grower unfortunately was their downfall as they started shoving the house out their way so I reluctantly had to spend a great deal to get them professionally axed section by section roped and safely lowered, heavy heavy giant columns of pure water took days they were very tall already. I couldnt just remove one or two as they seemed to be supporting one another.

All this talk of Royals is making me dizzy Im going to mail order me a box of Oleracea seedlings post hast.

What kind of growth rate can I expect from these? I read a lot of places that say 1 foot per year. Mine are maybe 12-15 ft tall at their highest frond. So 15 years until I got 30 ft royals?

[sonoranfans]

Ah yes I myself planted five royals in the same hole and they did tremendously well, in fact they seemed to put on even more girth than usual, could be all the fert I was dumping on them (: However in this case they grew out leaning curving up like coconut palms making enough space for each crown. This charming habit as a clump grower unfortunately was their downfall as they started shoving the house out their way so I reluctantly had to spend a great deal to get them professionally axed section by section roped and safely lowered, heavy heavy giant columns of pure water took days they were very tall already. I couldnt just remove one or two as they seemed to be supporting one another.

All this talk of Royals is making me dizzy Im going to mail order me a box of Oleracea seedlings post hast.

What kind of growth rate can I expect from these? I read a lot of places that say 1 foot per year. Mine are maybe 12-15 ft tall at their highest frond. So 15 years until I got 30 ft royals?

think faster than that Rob... Mine are 9 years old from seed(according to the nursery I bought them from) and are just under 25' overall. They are fast in my area but you have a longer, more wet growing season than me, I think. I think in 15 years you will call them "offspring of godzilla...."

[DoomsDave]

robsp:

Looks like you planted your royals very close to a driveway. When they get big, which will be fast, they will drop dead leaves on cars beneath them. I had a friend near me take one out because of that, alas, we all cried.

Those dead leaves are very heavy (50+ pounds) and can dent cars, and shatter windshields. I suppose (hope) the Psuedophoenix give some protection. Other large palms can do the leaf drop thing, too, including some of the big dypsis like D. decipiens.

In any case, keep us apprized!

dave

Dave,

Yeah I know how heavy the fronds are. Unfortunately because our lot is so small this was the only place for them. My wife and I agreed that the advantages of having the Royals were worth the hassle/risk of falling fronds. We only use one of the two sides of the driveway, in bad weather/ high wind I will park on the street. Once they get too tall for use to handle, we will probably use a tree service to get the ones that are dying and about to fall that pose a threat. With how compact this island is and all the coconut and large palms here, it seems to be a very common issue you have to learn to deal with.

For us the shaded canopy we will get over our front yard plus how good these palms will look is well worth the hassle.

Okay, good.

Glad to know you know what you might be in for.

And, I concur with sonorafan's comment, and then some. Godzilla ON STEROIDS. You'll likely call the tree service in sooner instead of later.

(You might want to experiment with Bat-guns that will shoot a rope up there to do it yourself. The one that got removed here in OC, I was a nearby friend who tried to rope some of the dead leaves down. This palm was a good 50+ feet tall after 20 years (much slower than for you!). I couldn't even throw the rope high enough to get a grip with anything!)

If yours turn out to be oleraceas instead of regias (which they appear to be) they'll be even faster.

[robsp2000]

It's great to hear how fast these can grow, can't wait for these to get established and more fronds come in. What is the difference between Oleraceas and Regias? What should I look for to tell them apart?

[dan.vagnoni]

robsp:

Looks like you planted your royals very close to a driveway. When they get big, which will be fast, they will drop dead leaves on cars beneath them. I had a friend near me take one out because of that, alas, we all cried.

Those dead leaves are very heavy (50+ pounds) and can dent cars, and shatter windshields. I suppose (hope) the Psuedophoenix give some protection. Other large palms can do the leaf drop thing, too, including some of the big dypsis like D. decipiens.

In any case, keep us apprized!

dave

Dave,

Yeah I know how heavy the fronds are. Unfortunately because our lot is so small this was the only place for them. My wife and I agreed that the advantages of having the Royals were worth the hassle/risk of falling fronds. We only use one of the two sides of the driveway, in bad weather/ high wind I will park on the street. Once they get too tall for use to handle, we will probably use a tree service to get the ones that are dying and about to fall that pose a threat. With how compact this island is and all the coconut and large palms here, it seems to be a very common issue you have to learn to deal with.

For us the shaded canopy we will get over our front yard plus how good these palms will look is well worth the hassle.

Learn to deal with? How about stop planting these monsters in little nooks and crannies and plant appropriate sized palms for our island. Good job on the sargentiis which will take their sweet time but it isn't too late to rip those royals before they start pushing your fence