Windmill palm exposed roots?

[ckh1980]

I recently noticed some exposed roots and was concerned something was wrong. I did a little googling and I read that it is normal, but I wanted to run it by the experts here as well. I have also since removed the rocks in the pic. I was just experimenting with them.

[Allen]

Take a look at this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P2VyIGTLdE

 

[Las Palmas Norte]

1 hour ago, ckh1980 said:

...I have also since removed the rocks in the pic. I was just experimenting with them.

What was involved with this experiment? Also, if you haven't already, back fill the voids left by removing the rocks. Your palm looks great.

[ckh1980]

1 hour ago, Allen said:

Take a look at this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P2VyIGTLdE

 

Thank you. I do live in SE VA zone 8a so we have fairly mild winters. Sometimes it will flirt with freezing temps. The interesting thing about that video is the advice is contrary to another one I watched. In the vid I saw, the guy said most people pile up dirt and end up killing the tree.

[ckh1980]

32 minutes ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

What was involved with this experiment? Also, if you haven't already, back fill the voids left by removing the rocks. Your palm looks great.

I was going to ring the tree with larger stones and use 3-4" chalet in the rest of the bed. I'm trying to lower some of the maintenance in the flower beds as I have quite a few. With this root development, I'm not sure if I should proceed with the rocks or not. I did exactly as you suggested with some mulch near by. 

Thanks for the compliment.

Edited October 14, 2023 by ckh1980

[Allen]

56 minutes ago, ckh1980 said:

Thank you. I do live in SE VA zone 8a so we have fairly mild winters. Sometimes it will flirt with freezing temps. The interesting thing about that video is the advice is contrary to another one I watched. In the vid I saw, the guy said most people pile up dirt and end up killing the tree.

Well you had a 13F last year on Norfolk.  Can you provide the link to the video?

Edited October 14, 2023 by Allen

[ckh1980]

35 minutes ago, Allen said:

Well you had a 13F last year on Norfolk.  Can you provide the link to the video?

Sure. Here it is:

https://youtu.be/FS3Or0hnAos?si=r6epfabgsJ8WU3Aw

[Allen]

57 minutes ago, ckh1980 said:

Sure. Here it is:

https://youtu.be/FS3Or0hnAos?si=r6epfabgsJ8WU3Aw

It seems to say put dirt over the roots just not a foot of dirt?  And he is dealing with more tropical palms in Houston with roots a foot out of the ground.  My advice is to cover with dirt in your area up to the top of the root initiation zone.  Your roots are already brown from last winters cold if you look closely unlike the white roots in the video I showed you.  You should also push on the palm trunk and make sure it doesn't wobble slightly and is firmly rooted.  Enough rotting of the roots will cause the palm to become unstable and you run risk of losing palm. 

Edited October 14, 2023 by Allen

[ckh1980]

29 minutes ago, Allen said:

It seems to say put dirt over the roots just not a foot of dirt?  And he is dealing with more tropical palms in Houston with roots a foot out of the ground.  My advice is to cover with dirt in your area up to the top of the root initiation zone.  Your roots are already brown from last winters cold if you look closely unlike the white roots in the video I showed you.  You should also push on the palm trunk and make sure it doesn't wobble slightly and is firmly rooted.  Enough rotting of the roots will cause the palm to become unstable and you run risk of losing palm. 

That makes sense. Top soil and mulch or just mulch? I thought I had planted it too low already so maybe I can taper around the base with the additional dirt.

Also, if I do add rock, would it be wise to leave a ring of mulch around the base of the tree? Many of my neighbors have just used rock right up to the tree, but there was discussion I read on here not to do that.

[DAVEinMB]

@ckh1980 completely normal

[Allen]

28 minutes ago, DAVEinMB said:

@ckh1980 completely normal

 

This photo above is a great example of how this works.  And yes Dave is correct in saying that it is natural for palms to do this.  However roots like this exposed to cold temps may die.  The roots on the left in Dave's photo are "root pruned" because they can't reach the soil and the ones on the right are reaching the soil.  More roots = a healthier palm.  My roots are mulched in winter or covered with more dirt and look like this

[ckh1980]

Thanks a lot guys. I was starting to worry there was something wrong and also concerned about the yellow tips. I'll add some mulch to the base to give it a little extra protection. 

[Banana Belt]

Interesting thing about plants palms in particular, they love attention and care.  Palms initiate new roots around the perimeter at the base of the trunk, not from the bottom or under the stump.  Adding or placing new good rich soil around the base of a palm encourages new roots and the palm will grow but it won't stop just there, the palm will beg for more soil by sending out new roots at base of the trunk.  In a way Palms are like the plant from "The Little Shop of Horrors", begging give me more, give me more.