Mule Palm Planting Location Question

[teaksmith]

I just picked up two 3-gallon Mule Palms from Michael at Mule Palms of Mississippi. These are going to my new place about 3 hours north of where they were grown on the MS Gulf Coast. The house is on the waterfront on a large reservoir and the zone is officially 8A but with the waterfront in the backyard and about a 10-foot elevation from the front of the house to the lake's edge, it may be marginally warmer than surrounding areas. There's a mature CIDP down the street that appears quite healthy, but most everybody around here sticks with the reliable Trachys, Butia and various Sables, and I plan to plant many of those too. 

I'm thinking of locating these first two Mules at the front of the house, opposite the lake, because it gets southwest exposure and is well protected from the wind. My question is how close to the house is too close to site them? There's an A-frame on that side that will provide some shelter from frost if they are close enough, but I'm trying to picture how they'll work if they survive long term and reach 10-15 feet. Another reason for siting them here is that they'll be easy to protect if we get another winter like 2014 or worse. It's rare for temps to drop into the teens here, but it certainly happens and I lost a couple of small Mule palms at my other place when it dipped to 12F because I was away and unable to protect them.

I've attached a couple of photos of my preliminary thinking on this, and would like the opinions of those with more experience. 

[Allen]

No expert on Mule planting since here I'm 7A but looks good.  Since you're 8A it is likely you will have to protect these some and when they get big they could die because they will be hard to protect.  So if you want long term palms I'd recommend mixing in some Butia or Trachy on your property with the mules. 

[teaksmith]

11 minutes ago, Allen said:

No expert on Mule planting since here I'm 7A but looks good.  Since you're 8A it is likely you will have to protect these some and when they get big they could die because they will be hard to protect.  So if you want long term palms I'd recommend mixing in some Butia or Trachy on your property with the mules. 

Yes, I will be moving several of my Butia and Trachy from my other property and adding new ones as well. I plan to protect them during worst winter events. The grower of these has some that have reached a large size in Shreveport, LA, which is due west of me a couple hundred miles. 

Edited March 2, 2020 by teaksmith
typo

[Joe NC]

I'm also in 8a, and have planted a mule fairly close to the house.

It is hard to tell, but it is planted 6' diagonal off the corner.  I do have rub marks on the edge of the roof where fronds make contact during storms.  Ideally it would be planted a bit further out, but hopefully this close to the SE facing brick might give it a small advantage during the cold?  Either way, it was nice to have an outlet nearby to run power to the x-mas lights when it was smaller and I could still wrap it.   

The photo is from post hurricane in 2018, so it is even bigger and making more contact with the roof now.   I know now that it is too big to wrap some cold snap in the future will likely take it out, but until then....

[teaksmith]

10 minutes ago, Joe NC said:

I'm also in 8a, and have planted a mule fairly close to the house.

It is hard to tell, but it is planted 6' diagonal off the corner.  I do have rub marks on the edge of the roof where fronds make contact during storms.  Ideally it would be planted a bit further out, but hopefully this close to the SE facing brick might give it a small advantage during the cold?  Either way, it was nice to have an outlet nearby to run power to the x-mas lights when it was smaller and I could still wrap it.   

The photo is from post hurricane in 2018, so it is even bigger and making more contact with the roof now.   I know now that it is too big to wrap some cold snap in the future will likely take it out, but until then....

Wow, that's an impressive Mule palm for 8A! That's encouraging to see. I figured with the massive fronds these palms have I will have some against the house and probably hanging in the way of the sidewalk and driveway too, but I can live with that if putting them closer to the house will give them a better chance of survival. 

[RJ]

I have no idea how big the reservoir is that you are on but water proximity can make a significant microclimate. I have property not far from Lake Murray in SC. This lake is ~50,000 acres he water temp in the lake gets to about 55-60 at the coldest point in a given year. The area around the lake is quite a bit warmer in the winter then places further away (5+ miles) The lowest temperature my property near the water has seen this winter is 28, while my rental home 20 minutes away and further from the lake has seen ~23 this winter.  

[teaksmith]

17 minutes ago, RJ said:

I have no idea how big the reservoir is that you are on but water proximity can make a significant microclimate. I have property not far from Lake Murray in SC. This lake is ~50,000 acres he water temp in the lake gets to about 55-60 at the coldest point in a given year. The area around the lake is quite a bit warmer in the winter then places further away (5+ miles) The lowest temperature my property near the water has seen this winter is 28, while my rental home 20 minutes away and further from the lake has seen ~23 this winter.  

This reservoir is 33,000 acres and the house is on the south side of a large bay on the southwest side of the main body of the lake. I hope that will help moderate it as well. We just bought the place in the fall and this winter was unusually warm, so I don't really have a good idea yet. I think the winter water temps are similar to yours. 

[RJ]

5 hours ago, teaksmith said:This reservoir is 33,000 acres and the house is on the south side of a large bay on the southwest side of the main body of the lake. I hope that will help moderate it as well. We just bought the place in the fall and this winter was unusually warm, so I don't really have a good idea yet. I think the winter water temps are similar to yours. 

Certainly sounds promising. Lake Murray has the advantage of not only being large, but it’s deep. So there is plenty of time for late season thermal water inversions that also help moderate it late in the winter season. 
 

sounds promising, and if you have some large CIDP’s nearby then you should be pretty good for all but the really cold stuff