Why aren't there more palms in Atlanta?

[vlc]

Why aren’t there more palm trees in Atlanta? The city doesn’t seem to plant them in public spaces, even though there are cold-hardy palms that could easily survive our winters. For example, there are Windmill Palms in Piedmont Park, but that’s the only public space I can think of with palms. Most of the others are found on private properties like restaurants, homes, or mosques.

So, why doesn’t the city plant more diverse greenery instead of just rows of bushes in small clumps? It feels a bit repetitive, especially since our climate could support more tropical plants like palms. Even yuccas, which are native to this area, are surprisingly rare in public spaces. Is there some reason why Atlanta and its residents don’t embrace a more tropical vibe?

[FlaPalmLover]

Perhaps because it's landlocked and nowhere near a beach? IMO, it would just seem pretentious. Atlanta is its own vibe.

[SeanK]

2014 was a bad year. 10°F, 12°F, snow. Took out Butia, Chamaerops, even some b/b palmetto. ATL to CLT is prone to ice storms. After that, no more cold-hardy palms at the big-bix stores. 

Trachycarpus is found mostly on older properties. Millennials don't like to garden here. They buy big houses on small lots with HOAs.

[vlc]

1 hour ago, SeanK said:

2014 was a bad year. 10°F, 12°F, snow. Took out Butia, Chamaerops, even some b/b palmetto. ATL to CLT is prone to ice storms. After that, no more cold-hardy palms at the big-bix stores. 

Trachycarpus is found mostly on older properties. Millennials don't like to garden here. They buy big houses on small lots with HOAs.

Trachycarpus fortunei seems to do fine in the area, I was just curious why the city doesn't plant it, it's always in residential areas, but never in public spaces aside from the mentioned Piedmont Park.

[SeanK]

2 hours ago, vlc said:

Trachycarpus fortunei seems to do fine in the area, I was just curious why the city doesn't plant it, it's always in residential areas, but never in public spaces aside from the mentioned Piedmont Park.

My personal experience has been that P&R planners are just anti-palm. No matter if we suggest GA natives.

[vlc]

7 hours ago, SeanK said:

My personal experience has been that P&R planners are just anti-palm. No matter if we suggest GA natives.

Who is P&R? I wonder if we could group up and make a movement to push them into planting more of what we enjoy? I have tried this in the past and it works, especially if multiple people come with that idea. There is a business called Atlanta Palms, that would also benefit if the government bought and planted their palms in public spaces. I'd say it's worth a try.

[kinzyjr]

37 minutes ago, vlc said:

Who is P&R?

Parks and Recreation.

[Jubilation]

In my opinion palms in landscaping here usually aren't done well. They're mostly windmills that stand out awkwardly with no other complimentary plants or cohesive design to bring the area together. This is just my opinion.

A big issue is many palms besides our natives and trachys die. I am thinking of 2 different neighbors with palms and their plants have died - one of them has lost butias repeatedly even after replacement (looks like they might have some winners this year though!).

Atlanta also prides itself its tree cover of oaks, pines and so on and palms wouldn't really fit most parks here.

Though I said all of that I would still love to see more palms used in private landscaping and think they could be used in some parks as fun and unique focal plants like at some of the public water parks.

[vlc]

1 hour ago, Jubilation said:

In my opinion palms in landscaping here usually aren't done well. They're mostly windmills that stand out awkwardly with no other complimentary plants or cohesive design to bring the area together. This is just my opinion.

A big issue is many palms besides our natives and trachys die. I am thinking of 2 different neighbors with palms and their plants have died - one of them has lost butias repeatedly even after replacement (looks like they might have some winners this year though!).

Atlanta also prides itself its tree cover of oaks, pines and so on and palms wouldn't really fit most parks here.

Though I said all of that I would still love to see more palms used in private landscaping and think they could be used in some parks as fun and unique focal plants like at some of the public water parks.

I've seen some Windmill palms in the Piedmont park that have not died over the years, same with residential areas and I have even seen Sabal Palmetto downtown Atlanta, next to a Smoothie King on 1572 Piedmont Ave. That palm has been there for a decade. So yes, palms can and absolutely do survive the winters here, if they are planted correctly and have insulation of a wall or another tree. 

Now I would love to know your thoughts on other complimentary plants that go well with palms?

[Jubilation]

1 hour ago, vlc said:

I've seen some Windmill palms in the Piedmont park that have not died over the years, same with residential areas and I have even seen Sabal Palmetto downtown Atlanta, next to a Smoothie King on 1572 Piedmont Ave. That palm has been there for a decade. So yes, palms can and absolutely do survive the winters here, if they are planted correctly and have insulation of a wall or another tree. 

Now I would love to know your thoughts on other complimentary plants that go well with palms?

Yeah agree I said trachys and sabals do great.

For complimentary plants I think the lush tropical vibe is best! Our native yuccas like you said, elephant ears, big ferns, pineapple guavas etc. Some other natives that could be used: coral honeysuckle or cross vine, viburnum, purple mulhy grass. If you have a pond maybe native pitcher plants (Sarracenia) as accents. Its fun concept to get creative with  

I wanna sabals around town and saw palmettos too if there are any

[SeanK]

10 hours ago, Jubilation said:

In my opinion palms in landscaping here usually aren't done well. They're mostly windmills that stand out awkwardly with no other complimentary plants or cohesive design to bring the area together. This is just my opinion.

A big issue is many palms besides our natives and trachys die. I am thinking of 2 different neighbors with palms and their plants have died - one of them has lost butias repeatedly even after replacement (looks like they might have some winners this year though!).

Atlanta also prides itself its tree cover of oaks, pines and so on and palms wouldn't really fit most parks here.

Though I said all of that I would still love to see more palms used in private landscaping and think they could be used in some parks as fun and unique focal plants like at some of the public water parks.

I agree 100%. I think public spaces could start with Needles and minors, working them in with Fatsia j., Pittisporum, azaleas, and rhododendrons.

[vlc]

7 hours ago, Jubilation said:

Yeah agree I said trachys and sabals do great.

For complimentary plants I think the lush tropical vibe is best! Our native yuccas like you said, elephant ears, big ferns, pineapple guavas etc. Some other natives that could be used: coral honeysuckle or cross vine, viburnum, purple mulhy grass. If you have a pond maybe native pitcher plants (Sarracenia) as accents. Its fun concept to get creative with  

I wanna sabals around town and saw palmettos too if there are any

I have already raised the concern for multiple cities in the north Atlanta area about the lack of native Yucca plants in the area. They told me they would bring up the topic with arborists and try to push planting more Yuccas in the area.

For palms though, I would probably need a stronger case. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. I would love to see more diverse and tropical plants in this area, I love the pines and Magnolias as well, and I think palms would just add to the beauty.

[Jubilation]

Wish I could edit my original response to be a bit more inclusive.

2 hours ago, vlc said:

For palms though, I would probably need a stronger case. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

I wish I could have heard what was argued, do you recall what points you said to them? My approach would focus on these points:

• Native Palms: They are low-maintenance, support local biodiversit AND visual diversity.
• Exotic Palms: These add a tropical unique flair, are low-maintenance and can't disrupt local ecosystems non invasive

I also have a thread on the cold palm forum about finding hardier saw palmetto populations. Saw palmettos are great conversation pieces for native and conservation enthusiasts, even though they're not native to Atlanta. They support many species and have medicinal properties. Other palms like Sabal minor are valuable for birds and animals, and Rhapidophyllum hystrix are just awesome looking and underutilized. I think pointing out palms are found in the ATL metro (s. minor and r. hystrix) would be a way to warm people up just like they opened up to the idea of yuccas.

Yuccas are all over my area so interesting to hear they had to be proposed. Funny how many don't see the beauty around us.