Small footprint but tall palm

[Dylan]

I’ll apologize up front as I’m not well versed in the scientific names and in general, new to palms.

My wife and I moved to South FL recently and we have a small area we want to spruce up. We’ve been eyeing lots of various palms in the area and have identified Christmas and Alexander palms that have a trunk size and ground footprint were interested in. As I understand it Alexander palms will grow taller than Christmas palms. We’ve also seen what seem to be an areca type palm but I don’t think they’re arecas. They’re sometimes singles but have seen multi as well and they’re no more than 6-8 inches in diameter but well over 15-20’ tall. I can post some pics another time, but wanted to post this to see if I could get some ideas of palms similar to what I’m talking about that are not necessarily expensive and also easy to take care of.

[Cbigler]

Carpentaria Acuminata might be if interest to you. It’s a fast growing slender palm. 

[DoomsDave]

@Dylan welcome! How about some pictures?

[Kim]

Ptychosperma macarthurii is tall, slender of trunk, and clumping. Look for photos, see if that interests you. I can't make a firm recommendation, not being experienced growing palms in Florida, but my impression is they are easy to find and grow. 

[TropicsEnjoyer]

Ptychosperma, Adonidia, Coccothrinax, Wodyetia, Dypsis/Chrisalidocarpus, Hyophorbe, Pinanga, Latania, etc all good genus choices for sfl and there are many more. Take advantage of your climate that gives you a lot of free will to choose!

[Looking Glass]

7 hours ago, Dylan said:

I’ll apologize up front as I’m not well versed in the scientific names and in general, new to palms.

My wife and I moved to South FL recently and we have a small area we want to spruce up. We’ve been eyeing lots of various palms in the area and have identified Christmas and Alexander palms that have a trunk size and ground footprint were interested in. As I understand it Alexander palms will grow taller than Christmas palms. We’ve also seen what seem to be an areca type palm but I don’t think they’re arecas. They’re sometimes singles but have seen multi as well and they’re no more than 6-8 inches in diameter but well over 15-20’ tall. I can post some pics another time, but wanted to post this to see if I could get some ideas of palms similar to what I’m talking about that are not necessarily expensive and also easy to take care of.

If you want to toss some palms in and call it a day, Alexander and Christmas palms are great choices.  Just very common.  But also easy to grow and replace.  

https://www.south-florida-plant-guide.com/small-palm-trees.html

https://www.south-florida-plant-guide.com/alexander-palm.html

https://www.south-florida-plant-guide.com/adonidia-palm.html

If you just moved down and are in Key West, (or anywhere south of West Palm Beach) you have a ton of choices for more exotic and interesting stuff.  If you enjoy growing plants and creating landscapes, you might want to do a deep dive and consider all of the excellent choices that you have.  If you like this kind of stuff, but came from a temperate place and just aren't experienced growing tropical things...  man are you in for a treat.  Your tastes will develop with a little time, exposure, and internet reading.

Down there you are in the most tropical area in the continental US...  Zone 11b.

 

 

Picture of the spot, picture of what you are liking in the neighborhoods and parks would help a lot.     

 

[Dylan]

Thank you so much for the great feedback already! I've searched some of the suggestions on plantant.com and some definitely are in the range of what we're thinking. I'll get some pics out and about today and post them.

[sonoranfans]

3 hours ago, Dylan said:

Thank you so much for the great feedback already! I've searched some of the suggestions on plantant.com and some definitely are in the range of what we're thinking. I'll get some pics out and about today and post them.

Might be a good idea to go see the palms in person so you know what you like.  Fairchild bottanical gardens is in miami, one of the most complete palm gardens in the US.  Sometimes an in person view of choices can clarify your tastes.  Once the take a camera pic of the palm and the name you can go to palmpedia.com for care, soil preferences etc.  Palmpedia will be way better than plant ant for species specific information on suitability size and care.   Once you have a list of things you like, google search the local nursieries availability lists or call them to see what they have and they have a LOT of palms in SFL.  Some have beautifully colored trunks and crownshafts.  I recommend being open to the possibilities.

[Dylan]

I took a few pics and some close ups of some of the palms we are considering. Again, this is a small area we can plant and we also have some lady palms in buckets to complement the talk skinnys we want. We have some friends down the road that are very much into the more rare and fun palms and we love what they're doing. We also have a small lipstick palm and pigmy date palm.

I'll try to keep these grouped appropriately. Seems after you save you get the pics inline so I can edit and add descriptions.

The following 2 pics are the same tree. The second being a closer up shot of the top.

 

The following 3 pics are from the same shot. 1st pic is of all 3 palms and 2 close ups following.

 

The following 2 are from the same shot.

 

2 more pics groups with the 2nd being the closer up shot.

 

The last 3 are additional pics of palms we like.

These may all be the same or close to the same. What we like about this size trunk is that we have more room for other items around it and we don't want a trunk overgrowing the space in 10/20/30 years.

[aabell]

1 hour ago, Dylan said:

 

First two here are Carepentaria acuminata. Fits the bill for tall, skinny and they are usually fast growers as well. Not the cleanest look in my personal opinion, a bit shaggy sometimes but still a nice option.

 

Two different species here, Ptychosperma elegans and Veitchia arecina.

This is the Veitchia. One of my top choices I'd recommend for you. A bit larger overall than some of the other options, but still a lot skinnier than something like a Royal. Very elegant straight fronds, and you get that white crownshaft with contrasting dark tomentum (more visible when they're smaller)

These are Ptychosperma elegans, probably the thinnest trunk options for a solitary palm. (I think the common name Alexander is confusing here because it's also used for Archontophoenix, which looks quite a bit different). They are fairly fast growing, small, look good in groups and just nice versatile palms overall. Only downside is if you want something larger or rarer.

These are Adonidia, Christmas palms. They have a very similar look to the Ptychosperma elegans at this size but they probably will take longer to get there - they aren't slow growers but slow to gain height. Again they are pretty palms but extremely common and sort of the default home Depot palm in South Florida these days. the other downside for you would be the time it takes to get to this height vs the other options. 

 

 

First photo is Adonidia and second photo with the very thin straight trunks is Ptychosperma. If you don't want something that gets too tall too fast might want to avoid the Veitchia and Carpentaria. Lots of good options though.

Edited your post with the photos and added my own captions with IDs and opinions. Will try to think of some other potential options for you too, you have lots of options, especially if you go up to homestead you can find just about anything you want and probably for a good price depending on the size. 

[Merlyn]

@Dylan I started a similar thread back in April, with some additional ideas here:

Some other ones from the lists that aren't in previous posts may be Dictyosperma Album/Rubrum, Burretiokentia Hapala, Ptychosperma Macarthurii or Shefferi, and Cyphophoenix Alba, Nucele, and Elegans.

@D. Morrowii made another good thread here the year before, with a good summary list of ideas at the very bottom post:

 

[Looking Glass]

The other question is how tall do you really want these?   The nice thing about Christmas palms and such, is they don’t get hugely tall, fast.  The ones in your pics are absolutely ancient.  At some point, very tall, solitary palms are just telephone poles and are best admired from a couple of properties away.  They don’t offer shade and you won’t be admiring the foliage unless you are laying on your back.   That’s the problem with Veichia in a small space or yard, especially with their relatively sparse fronds.  

 

[TropicsEnjoyer]

@DylanWould it be possible to see pictures of the space you’re working with? I think that would really help with considerations and just to get an idea of how a palm might fit.

Another thing too, if your house is 2 story, taller palms may be more fitting than say for a 1 story house in which tall trees would look disproportionate.

[Brian]

Syagrus botryophora is a great option for small areas and is fast growing. 

[Dylan]

On 12/13/2024 at 7:43 PM, Looking Glass said:

At some point, very tall, solitary palms are just telephone poles and are best admired from a couple of properties away.

Part of the reason we want very tall is because our place is tucked away down a little alley so you can’t see much from the street. Being able to see them from the surrounding block streets is what we’re envisioning even though that’s decades away. We want to put a less tall “layer” in as well.

 

On 12/13/2024 at 11:24 PM, TropicsEnjoyer said:

DylanWould it be possible to see pictures of the space you’re working with?

I’ll get a pic of the small area we’re working with posted soon. 

[Dylan]

This is a pic from before we moved in but we have too many potted plant temp in the way of a getting a good pic. We have about 9’ x 3’ on each side of the door to work with. I want to extend the right side out to that white support pole. The 3’ of depth is the limitation influencing the skinnier trunk palms.
 

While it’s mostly a blank slate, we do have a couple of nice potted lady palms to incorporate somewhere (the wife loves them). I plan to keep those thinned out well so they’re less bushy. We’re also putting Bahama shades in over the windows so there will need to be 12-18” clearance immediately in front of the windows. The planter border will be oolite, possibly replacing the concrete door pad with oolite as well just to frame up the look we’re going for.

[iDesign]

I'm on the other coast so you'll get your best recommendations from your (many) Florida peers, but is this the general "look" you're wanting... i.e., tall skinny palms rising from one (or both) of the planters, and smaller tropical potted plants sprinkled elsewhere?

Oh, and welcome to Palmtalk!
* newbies are very welcome... especially those with photos (we love making suggestions for other people's yards).

 

[DoomsDave]

@Dylan if you like @iDesign’s suggestion, maybe consider a small to medium palm like Ptychosperma elegans or something similar.  

[iDesign]

1 hour ago, DoomsDave said:

@Dylan if you like @iDesign’s suggestion, maybe consider a small to medium palm like Ptychosperma elegans or something similar.  

I believe Ptychosperma elegans is the one I Photoshopped in (based on @aabell's ID guesses), although any of the suggestions would likely work. I usually prefer palms to not be much taller than the home, but personally think tall skinny palms would look nice here. Partly due to how adorable the home itself is.

Bonus pic for fun (since the home is so darn cute)...

[TropicsEnjoyer]

Yeah for a small house like that a ptychosperma would be fitting. Adonidia would also work too as an option that doesn’t gain height as fast. And as a bonus maybe you can plant something around the palms for added greenery.