Leaving my garden behind, moving on up.

[BayAndroid]

Well, I'm moving and leaving my garden behind. The amount of work I put into this yard is amazing to look back on, but life happens and you know how that goes. There is a silver lining though, my new home is only a short distance away, but due to cold air drainage, I'm getting a nice boost in my climate zone. I'll be upgrading from a solid 9b to a high 10a / low 10b. 

I had to consider if it would be better to just leave my palms in place, to hopefully drive by and see them thriving one day, or to attempt the dreaded transplant... Well, I had the pleasure of hosting @Darold Petty last weekend and we talked about the true reality that the next owner is unlikely to know or care to take care of a rare palm tree in the landscape... And that the chance is always worth taking; dig it up. 

So today I was busy! 

Attached are pictures of my yard in it's prime and the palms I dug up today (Chrysalidocarpus Decipiens, Brahea Decumbens & Brahea Super Silver) 

 

[richnorm]

Good luck!

[happypalms]

Congrats on the climate zone. I got to keep my garden after a divorce. But look on the bright side you can grow a stack more different palms with your new climate a bigger bonus for you. Transplant as much as possible I say there your palms the new owner could bulldoze the lot. Good luck. 

[Harry’s Palms]

When I moved “on up” from the lower flat area of my town to up on the hill I also gained a micro climate with excellent cold drainage. It really makes a difference in what grows. Good luck with the move , it is very stressful to change residence. Harry

[Darold Petty]

Good luck, Will !   

[PAPalmtrees]

9 hours ago, BayAndroid said:

Well, I'm moving and leaving my garden behind. The amount of work I put into this yard is amazing to look back on, but life happens and you know how that goes. There is a silver lining though, my new home is only a short distance away, but due to cold air drainage, I'm getting a nice boost in my climate zone. I'll be upgrading from a solid 9b to a high 10a / low 10b. 

I had to consider if it would be better to just leave my palms in place, to hopefully drive by and see them thriving one day, or to attempt the dreaded transplant... Well, I had the pleasure of hosting @Darold Petty last weekend and we talked about the true reality that the next owner is unlikely to know or care to take care of a rare palm tree in the landscape... And that the chance is always worth taking; dig it up. 

So today I was busy! 

Attached are pictures of my yard in it's prime and the palms I dug up today (Chrysalidocarpus Decipiens, Brahea Decumbens & Brahea Super Silver) 

 

You have a beautiful yard hopefully the new owners appreciate the garden as much as you did!

[NorCalWill]

I would have done the same thing. Take what you can, leave the rest behind, and move forward with creating a new palm paradise. Good luck with the transplants!

[BayAndroid]

22 minutes ago, PAPalmtrees said:

You have a beautiful yard hopefully the new owners appreciate the garden as much as you did!

Thanks, I'm hoping so. I would be thrilled if I found this house on the market. 

[BayAndroid]

Does anyone have advice on how long I should wait to fertilize the Decipiens? I don't want to rush it, since it will be in a bit of shock for a while. I was thinking 2 weeks (organic fertilizer?)

[Jim in Los Altos]

1 hour ago, BayAndroid said:

Does anyone have advice on how long I should wait to fertilize the Decipiens? I don't want to rush it, since it will be in a bit of shock for a while. I was thinking 2 weeks (organic fertilizer?)

Hi Will, Congrats on moving up in zones! Should be exciting to get your hands in the soil at your new place. I wouldn’t fertilize the C. decipiens at all for several months. A good fertile garden soil mix should benefit enough until the palm settles in. Is that a Beccariophoenix alfredii in your yard and are you taking it with you too? 

[Harry’s Palms]

I agree with Jim on fertilizer . When I moved up here I had so many in pots( 7 year collection) that it was a handful just keeping them out of the sun and watered until I could get them in the ground. I didn’t fertilize until I saw growth. In those days I used Apex Palm Plus the first Spring . We moved up here in October 1997., so about 5 months without fertilizer. We bought the house next to a model in a very small enclave of 9 homes . When people would come to tour the model they would wander over and ask if I was running a palm nursery! Harry

[FlaPalmLover]

I didn't expect you to say you were transplanting things after how the post started out! 😁

[BayAndroid]

5 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Hi Will, Congrats on moving up in zones! Should be exciting to get your hands in the soil at your new place. I wouldn’t fertilize the C. decipiens at all for several months. A good fertile garden soil mix should benefit enough until the palm settles in. Is that a Beccariophoenix alfredii in your yard and are you taking it with you too? 

It is, a Beccariophoenix Phoenix, but it will stay. I'm planning to buy another one, only so much effort can be put into transplanting. I totally would take everything, but part of me thinks it would be cool to see it continue to grow where it is.. Yeah, no guarantees, but we'll see. 

[BayAndroid]

4 hours ago, FlaPalmLover said:

I didn't expect you to say you were transplanting things after how the post started out! 😁

LOL, true.. 

[Frond-friend42]

Cheers, to moving somewhere warmer!

[Foggy Paul]

I’m guessing East Bay hills? One of the best climates anywhere, as a visit to the UC arboretum confirms. Congrats! Envious of your summer heat units 🥶

[BayAndroid]

3 minutes ago, Foggy Paul said:

I’m guessing East Bay hills? One of the best climates anywhere, as a visit to the UC arboretum confirms. Congrats! Envious of your summer heat units 🥶

Hills of Redwood City, it's a pretty good microclimate. 

[Tracy]

12 minutes ago, Foggy Paul said:

I’m guessing East Bay hills? One of the best climates anywhere, as a visit to the UC arboretum confirms. Congrats! Envious of your summer heat units 🥶

I was curious as well when I saw 10a or 10b.   Sounds like it must be a very exceptional micro climate in the Bay Area.   The areas that I remember being exceptionally mild on low temps were the foggiest area that lacked heat as well.   The places I remember getting warm during spring and summer normally got pretty cold in winter.

Congratulations on the move and hopefully you also got a little more land to play with.   It is so easy to fill up a garden with this addiction to plsnts.

[BayAndroid]

3 hours ago, Tracy said:

I was curious as well when I saw 10a or 10b.   Sounds like it must be a very exceptional micro climate in the Bay Area.   The areas that I remember being exceptionally mild on low temps were the foggiest area that lacked heat as well.   The places I remember getting warm during spring and summer normally got pretty cold in winter.

Congratulations on the move and hopefully you also got a little more land to play with.   It is so easy to fill up a garden with this addiction to plsnts.

I don't have a ton of history to review, but I was able to see weather stations within close proximity on Wunderground; the readings were about as cold as 39 a couple times this winter, down where I currently reside, that translated to 28. Summer time temperatures are about the same as my temperatures right now, maybe a little cooler. I will be interested to see how the wind is up there. Lots of things I will learn. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

3 hours ago, Tracy said:

I was curious as well when I saw 10a or 10b.   Sounds like it must be a very exceptional micro climate in the Bay Area.   The areas that I remember being exceptionally mild on low temps were the foggiest area that lacked heat as well.   The places I remember getting warm during spring and summer normally got pretty cold in winter.

Congratulations on the move and hopefully you also got a little more land to play with.   It is so easy to fill up a garden with this addiction to plsnts.

Tracy, My area of Los Altos is 10a and we’re far from the fog belt areas of the Bay Area. It’s been eighteen years since the temperature has dropped below 33°F. Will’s new home in the Redwood City hills is bit closer to SF but still outside the fog belt with plenty of summer warmth. It’s often rather breezy there however.  Below is the Los Altos 10a breakdown.
 

[Tracy]

7 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Tracy, My area of Los Altos is 10a and we’re far from the fog belt areas of the Bay Area. It’s been eighteen years since the temperature has dropped below 33°F. Will’s new home in the Redwood City hills is bit closer to SF but still outside the fog belt with plenty of summer warmth. It’s often rather breezy there however.  Below is the Los Altos 10a breakdown.
 

Yes it is one of the best microclimates it seems.   I lived in Palo Alto, El Cerrito and Fremont and worked in Saratoga, downtown Oakland and Pleasanton, so knew the bay area pretty well.   On the east side of the ridge of the Peninsula at elevation you get nice cold drainage, yet don't get as much fog further south.  I spent a few spring and summer afternoons and evenings windsurfing at Coyote Point so know the wind you mentioned well.

[daxin]

Berkeley/Oakland hills host a great collection of wonderful exotic gardens that are taking full advantage of the local frost-free zone 10a microclimate, but I think the main reason might have been the strong symbiotic gardening community there, including many many very adventurous gardeners, designers, nurseries, and the UCBG. It is kind of ironic that in terms of private gardens with a great PALM collection, that area is not all that impressive. Darold in SF, Jim in Los Altos, David in San Jose, Ben in Clayton, Edith in Atherton, Dick Douglas in Walnut Creek for example, are some of the greatest Bay Area palm gardens IMHO. I think this might come from the smaller lot size in general over that region, and the abundance of other exotic plants as distractions. @Darold Petty @Jim in Los Altos I’d love to hear your thoughts on this observation.

For z10a microclimates in the Bay Area, I got to see a 15’ tall in-ground Manila Mango tree in Fremont last week. It is in the Mission district near Hwy 680 and Washington Blvd. A few miles from this place there are four trunking Chrysalidocarpus decaryi in someone’s front yard. These two species have been considered impossible for the Bay Area due to the long cool wet winters, and they just might show up often over many of the local z10a microclimates in the future.

[WaianaeCrider]

I feel for you.  At 82 and the wife at 84 not sure how much longer we can stay here on O`ahu w/out family.  The 2 acres are really hard to maintain, but I keep at it.  The wife dosen't do yard work.

If we ever move it's gonna be WAY UP NORTH probably to N.Carolina where youngest daughter and grandson live.  Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[BayAndroid]

7 hours ago, daxin said:

Berkeley/Oakland hills host a great collection of wonderful exotic gardens that are taking full advantage of the local frost-free zone 10a microclimate, but I think the main reason might have been the strong symbiotic gardening community there, including many many very adventurous gardeners, designers, nurseries, and the UCBG. It is kind of ironic that in terms of private gardens with a great PALM collection, that area is not all that impressive. Darold in SF, Jim in Los Altos, David in San Jose, Ben in Clayton, Edith in Atherton, Dick Douglas in Walnut Creek for example, are some of the greatest Bay Area palm gardens IMHO. I think this might come from the smaller lot size in general over that region, and the abundance of other exotic plants as distractions. @Darold Petty @Jim in Los Altos I’d love to hear your thoughts on this observation.

For z10a microclimates in the Bay Area, I got to see a 15’ tall in-ground Manila Mango tree in Fremont last week. It is in the Mission district near Hwy 680 and Washington Blvd. A few miles from this place there are four trunking Chrysalidocarpus decaryi in someone’s front yard. These two species have been considered impossible for the Bay Area due to the long cool wet winters, and they just might show up often over many of the local z10a microclimates in the future.

My wife likes Mango, so that's a possibility I've been considering. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

11 hours ago, daxin said:

Berkeley/Oakland hills host a great collection of wonderful exotic gardens that are taking full advantage of the local frost-free zone 10a microclimate, but I think the main reason might have been the strong symbiotic gardening community there, including many many very adventurous gardeners, designers, nurseries, and the UCBG. It is kind of ironic that in terms of private gardens with a great PALM collection, that area is not all that impressive. Darold in SF, Jim in Los Altos, David in San Jose, Ben in Clayton, Edith in Atherton, Dick Douglas in Walnut Creek for example, are some of the greatest Bay Area palm gardens IMHO. I think this might come from the smaller lot size in general over that region, and the abundance of other exotic plants as distractions. @Darold Petty @Jim in Los Altos I’d love to hear your thoughts on this observation.

For z10a microclimates in the Bay Area, I got to see a 15’ tall in-ground Manila Mango tree in Fremont last week. It is in the Mission district near Hwy 680 and Washington Blvd. A few miles from this place there are four trunking Chrysalidocarpus decaryi in someone’s front yard. These two species have been considered impossible for the Bay Area due to the long cool wet winters, and they just might show up often over many of the local z10a microclimates in the future.

Daxin, My neighbor has three different Mango varieties growing well on a south facing fence near their big driveway on their 2/3 acre. I had a nice fruiting Manila Mango that snapped at its base during a storm. The weight of the fruit, the rain, and the wind were too much for it. I may try again in a different part of my yard. Never tried a C. decaryi. 

[peachy]

1 hour ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Daxin, My neighbor has three different Mango varieties growing well on a south facing fence near their big driveway on their 2/3 acre. I had a nice fruiting Manila Mango that snapped at its base during a storm. The weight of the fruit, the rain, and the wind were too much for it. I may try again in a different part of my yard. Never tried a C. decaryi. 

Save your tears about not having a decaryi.  They are very common here and in reality, even in places with the perfect climate, they are among the ugliest palms there is.

Peachy