mound planting?

[palm789]

any photos to show me how accurately high to dig the mound for my jubaea,just want the extra drainage in my clay soil

[Tracy]

2 hours ago, palm789 said:

any photos to show me how accurately high to dig the mound for my jubaea,just want the extra drainage in my clay soil

That is a tough one to answer without qualifying it.  If you are planting in a low spot that tends to pool water and will still be saturated at the current grade, then you might want to consider going higher.  If your concern is just about the clay soil, and you don't get pooling of the water normally, then you can get by with less mounding.  The challenge with mounding is that over time the soil may want to settle and slide away from your mound.  I like to use large rocks to support the mounds I create.  Normally my mounds are just a few inches in height (3" to 12") for the plants I want to provide extra drainage (mostly cycads). Wish you success with the Jubea and you will have to post some update photos of how you have planted it once completed.

[TomJ]

I am field growing them in clay.

As long as it isn't in standing water, you should be OK.

I think digging a drainage channel for standing water might be better.

 

[Palm Tree Jim]

You also might consider amending the soil to provide better drainage.

In the past, I have used pumice stone with great success.

[Joe NC]

I made two very quick (and ugly) illustrations.  I have clay soil, and learned the hard way about amending. 

The problem with digging a big hole and amending the backfill to improve drainage in clay soil, is creating the "bathtub effect"

Water collects in the large hole that is dug, and can't drain into the surrounding clay.  The amended "good draining soil" kind of acts as a sponge, and the rootball and roots from your plant end up just sitting in a pool of water that collects in the hole the "bathtub".  The roots then rot unless the plant enjoys growing in boggy conditions.  

The issue isn't the clay itself, but the pocket of water that gets created when you dig a hole into the clay and fill it with anything other than the clay soil that was removed. Even just plopping the rootball into an un-amended hole can create this effect, as the well draining soil in the nursery container/rootball will do the same thing. 

 

Mound planting solves this problem by allowing water to drain away from and not pool around the rootball.  The plant can then put roots down directly into the clay soil and not rot in the standing water.  

 

[palm789]

planted the jubaea in a raised bed with a slight mound,hopefully this should help my palm rather than planting it deep in non draining clay risking my palm not worth it