Spacing

[WaianaeCrider]

A few years ago a friend gave me some dates to eat.  They had seeds and I tried to sprout them.  Got three going and planted the three next to each other in a triangle.  They are about 3 feet to the top of the fronds.  Now I want to plant a 1 gallon Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. "hookeri" near.  How far should I space them trunk to trunk?

[Steve Mac]

Well Steve, the date palm leaves are said to reach from 13 to 20 feet long and the Chambey from 10 to 12 ft long.

So if you are planning for many years ahead, it is quite a ways. 20 ft plus 12 ft, so about 30 ft trunk to trunk I would think.

[WaianaeCrider]

9 hours ago, Steve Mac said:

Well Steve, the date palm leaves are said to reach from 13 to 20 feet long and the Chambey from 10 to 12 ft long.

So if you are planning for many years ahead, it is quite a ways. 20 ft plus 12 ft, so about 30 ft trunk to trunk I would think.

I was thinking along those lines, but then looking at peoples garden photos here people tend to really pack things in.  Years a go I planted an Arenga  pinnata and a foxtail about 7' apart.  Today they are both about 20 feet tall and you can't really see the foxtail fronds just it's trunk  Of course there are other plants around.  At 78 maybe I should go for about 10' and let who ever inherits my place worry about why I did it.  LOL  Maholo for your thoughts.

 

[96720]

I plant palms really close I have a CIDP and a Phoenix reclinata and a royal and 4 more royals all planted in a 10’ square area I love the jungle effect they all have different growth rates and were planted at different times.

[sonoranfans]

14 hours ago, 96720 said:

I plant palms really close I have a CIDP and a Phoenix reclinata and a royal and 4 more royals all planted in a 10’ square area I love the jungle effect they all have different growth rates and were planted at different times.

planting density in phoenix AZ needs to be closer for many palms.  Shade and shared water are life savers there.   5 royals in a 10 ft2 area is going to be a problem, lots of leaf damage in the future.  You are new to this I take it?

[96720]

Log enough that this is my largest royal you can see 3 more royals beside the big one and off to the right is another I don’t think you can see and also a foxtail beside me

[ExperimentalGrower]

On 9/27/2021 at 9:10 PM, WaianaeCrider said:

A few years ago a friend gave me some dates to eat.  They had seeds and I tried to sprout them.  Got three going and planted the three next to each other in a triangle.  They are about 3 feet to the top of the fronds.  Now I want to plant a 1 gallon Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. "hookeri" near.  How far should I space them trunk to trunk?

I guess it depends a lot on the design scheme you’re after. I also like the jungle effect and I deal with frost so I plant close knowing this will eventually benefit me with a canopy of frost protection (using Queens, etc). But the palms you mention are BIG boys. So just take that into account. Try to visit botanical gardens and be the weirdo gawking at people’s palmy yards to get an idea of what you should do. I’ve been to some absolutely spectacular private gardens where the main mode is close together and jungly and it looks amazing.

[Fishinsteeg234]

I recommend checking out some popular botanical gardens near you to see the spacing they used to get some ideas. Some large palms can be grouped close together nicely, at different growth rates and maturity heights. The closer together, the more shade they will eventually cast which some people are looking for. I wouldn’t space them any closer than 7-10’ trunk to trunk IMO. 15’ separated makes for a good hammock spot. 

[96720]

You can plant them as close as you want if you plant them very close they will have a smaller crown. I have 3 CIDP planted right together not on purpose but animals planted them for me I like where they are so they will stay.

[The Palm Nut]

Hi Steve, I went for the jungle look years ago and like you, I just keep planting. There are so many advantaged in my neck of the woods following this method. Strength in numbers and of course I never plan on selling my place, unlike most people these days.  

Cheers

[D Palm]

I space my palms, trees, bananas, etc. out, more of a preference. 

[Billeb]

I love the jungle look myself. As far as I’m concerned, it has a lot to do with what the specific plants are, how fast they grow and mature height/width etc. As you can see by the attached, I planted a 20G Bismarckia in the same general area as 3 other plants. The Bentinkia in front was a 1G, the Arch. Tuckeri was a 3G and the plumeria was a pretty good size cutting I got from my neighbor. The Bismarckia will get massive obviously but the Tuckeri will be higher in 10yrs, the plumeria can be cut to whatever shape I want and the Bentinkia should be under the Bismarckia. That’s my theory anyway. 
 

-dale

[WaianaeCrider]

Yea w/two acres to work with over the past 20 odd y ears I'v been giving most at least 8'.  Not getting that jungle look.  Been to botanical gardens where they are widely spaced.  Think I'm gonna give them at least 10'.  Someday if I live long enough I'll begin to fill in around them.  I have a few areas where I can put some Chamadorea in the shade of 20 year old plantings.  Mahalo for all the advise.

[Kim]

Steve, I would be more concerned about the disparate cultural needs of date palms as compared to Chambeyronia macrocarpa.  These are not exactly compatible in the strictest sense -- water and sun requirements. I would be concerned the date palm roots would "steal" all the water from the Chambeyronia.  For my own aesthetic, I would not put them in close proximity; your preference may differ. My 2 cents.

[WaianaeCrider]

3 hours ago, Kim said:

Steve, I would be more concerned about the disparate cultural needs of date palms as compared to Chambeyronia macrocarpa.  These are not exactly compatible in the strictest sense -- water and sun requirements. I would be concerned the date palm roots would "steal" all the water from the Chambeyronia.  For my own aesthetic, I would not put them in close proximity; your preference may differ. My 2 cents.

Never thought about that.  Mahalo. 

[WaianaeCrider]

Most of my plantings are NOT in the same climate as the palm come from, but I've noticed that they tend to adapt, or die LOL.  So I went ahead and planted my Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. 'hookeri' about 9 feet from my triple date palms.  There are also 4 Howea forsteriana planted together behind the tractor.

This is what the area looked like about a week ago.  I had already done some work "cleaning" up the area.  Most of the piled up pots were from a pile of pots w/soil from palms that had died a few years ago.

Yea pretty messy.  The gray pipe is left over scraps from a construction prodject where I worked about 18 years ago.  They were just laying around.  Bought some connectors at HD and bingo I can outline the planting area.  The cement blocks were once holding up wooden pallets w/plants on them.  Starting to look better.

Finally got it in the ground today.  Behind the Phoenix triplets on the left is a group of Dypsis lutescens planted about 20 years ago and greatly neglected.    Way in the back on the left is my Bismarckia nobilis, also in the ground at least 15 year and like the Dypsis neglected until about a year n a half ago.  Been watering and fertilizing for the past 2 years and it's coming along nicely.

Here is a single of the palm.  Tallest frond is bout 3 feet high. 

[Kailua_Krish]

These are much more drought tolerant than I think most people realize. Also tolerant of poor soils but I don't think you have those out your way

[WaianaeCrider]

I've found a lot of palms are drought tolerant reguardless of where they come from.  Unless I have some ground water under my "dry" stream.  Some palms in the ground for over  20 years still on the same water system as when planted.  I have a HUGE Kukui nut tree that was here when I bought the place 40 years ago.  No one had lived here for over a year thus it got only rain water for that time which means less than 20" for over a year.

What ever soil I have is what the "dry" stream has left behind over the past years of flooding combined with what was there as it began cutting its path over the centuries.

Any hoo, here is a shot w/the shade cloth up.  Also included one of my long neglected Bismarkia which at at least 15 years should be bigger.  To the right of the Bismarkia in the second photo is a little Gausia maya.  So w/in a small area I have a fair amount of palms from different world wide locations.  Also out of sight is a Dypsis lastelliana and a Hyophorbe verschaffeltii both in the ground for over 20 years.

 

 

 

[tacobender]

I personally would keep big palms like Bismarcks and date palms at least 10 ft apart, they are very wide for a few years until they trunk. Date palms can be impenetrable close together.  Royals and other big cownshaft palms grow more upright. I think they can be closer.

[WaianaeCrider]

Yea, my Royals are about 15' apart and about 20 years old.  Pic is from 2008