We regularly receive the question, not infrequently with a slight panic, why the newly planted palm suddenly starts to become ugly. What should I do? What have I done wrong? Fortunately, in most cases, we can reassure you. It is quite normal that a newly planted palm will decline slightly. This is due to the sudden change of environment. Especially when the change is significant, for instance a freshly imported palm from Spain that is suddenly placed in the cold climate.
Our exemple: a Trachycarpus fortunei
In this article we show you our Trachycarpus fortunei (Chinese windmill palm), which was planted in 2015. This palm was imported just a little bit earlier from north-east of Spain and came here in our garden in clay soil on a draughty North-West-facing site. Of course not ideal, but this species should in principle adapt. Below you will find his evolution from planting to the first signs of new growth!
NB. Of course, this article also applies to species other than Trachycarpus. The main difference will be the growth rate and therefore the time it takes for the palm to grow again. A Washingtonia, for instance, will sooner pick up growth. Because this palm has less leaf than a Trachycarpus, its condition often looks even more disastrous.
Planting – 02/05/2015
During the planting this palm still had a beautiful full crown. Below you can see its evolution in the following year. You can see that the leaflets folded and the leaves hang down more. The whole palm gives a less vital impression. It’s only in april 2018 that we see new compact leaves being formed, 3 years after planting. Still, we have to say that this isn’t the easiest part of the garden with a very dry soil, draft and not that much sunlight.
Following its condition
In order to be able to follow the growth more closely, we drew a line with a waterproof marker over the new leaf in the heart of the palm and the petiole next to it. (red circles). As you can see on the picture on the left, made more than a year after planting, there was still no growth visible since planting. On the picture on the right, took three months later, you can see how the leaf has finally come up and was deployed. The leaflets are no longer folded. In the heart there are also two new leaves (spears).
Conclusion
It took more than a year for the palm to adapt to the new location and to recover its growth. However, during this period we never ceased to water sufficiently, especially on sunny and/or windy days. Even in winter if necessary. We have not provided any fertilizers since planting. In the plant hole we only mixed some bone meal to stimulate root production. Of course, the success of this project is also partly due to the fact that we started with a palm of good quality.
Current status (October 2021); 6 years after planting it is growing really well and is gradually regaining a nice crown of leaves. It has taken many years, but the location is very unfavourable. The palm is in a draught and a large oak tree dries out most of the moisture in the surrounding soil.
© La Palmeraie
Reactie door hans — 27 oktober 2021 15:22 @ 15:22
”It took more than a year for the palm to adapt to the new location and to recover its growth.”
Thank you for your article! I’m curious to learn about the current state of your palm. You’ve posted a picture from 2018 which seems to show that the palm still isn’t doing well. Have things changed since 2018 and should that be the case, how did you do it? We also own 2 windmill palms on a north-western site, just like yours. They were also imported from Spain, in our case in 2020. One of them degraded al lot, the other does OK. Also, the harsh winter of 2020-2021 has damaged them significantly. How do you protect them in winter time, and does a windmill palm need a couple of years to adapt maybe? In our region I see many windmill palms that look much better than ours! Thanks in advance, Hans
Reactie door lapalmeraie — 28 oktober 2021 08:46 @ 08:46
Hi Hans
I just added a new picture to the article for you, taken this morning.
That makes it 6 years later and this Trachycarpus now finally has a nice canopy. Of course, its draughty placement and very dry soil didn’t help in its recovery so normally I shouldn’t take as long. I didn’t really change anything besides the big Gunnera magnicata that was planted 2 meters further and also needed loads of water. I replaced that with a Chamaerops palm that doesn’t need much water at all and therefore leaves more to the Trachycarpus. I also watered slightly more and the very wet spring this year was very helpful as well.
I do not protect my Trachycarpus palms during winter if temperatures don’t go below -12/-13°C, so the last time the needed protection was somewhere in 2012 I guess.
Every palm needs some time to adjust to its new emplacement and from my experience this takes way longer on bigger palms than those planted smaller. Of course I have more palms planted in the garden than only this one in the article. 17 windmill palms to be exact and the most beautiful ones are those planted smaller. Ideally the trunk mesures somewhere around the 1 meter when planted. At this size they adapt quickly, do not degrade or only very little and do pick up growth very quickly.
Please see my virtual garden visit to discover them all. This said, you know the complete site is also available in Dutch, right?
Kind regards
La Palmeraie
Reactie door hans — 30 oktober 2021 14:17 @ 14:17
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Hello, thanks for your response! These are my two windmill palms, situated north-west; planted in june 2020. They do not have much shelter from the cold winds from the east, or the north. Consequently one the palms lost almost of of its leaves in the winter of 2020-2021. It has taken the whole growing season of 2021 to grow back some very small leaves. We think the bad looking windmill has done significantly worse than the other because its root-ball or clod was much smaller than the root ball from the healtier looking palm. We protected the palms with a huge protective sack, sold especially for big plants. We fear that this ”sack” which gave the palms no light for a period of 2 weeks in februari, could have also damaged the palms. Problem is that our palms are already quite big, so one does indeed need a fairly big umbrella to protect them from snow. Can you confirm that covering the crown with a protecive ”sack” could hurt the palm? Also, we think about buying a rubber light string (no led) to protect the trunk. We are worried about the electricity usage though. What is the most cost effective option for protecting the trunk? Best regards, Hans
Reactie door lapalmeraie — 2 november 2021 09:05 @ 09:05
Hi Hans
I see.. They are indeed quite exposed just over the fence. I’m not sure, as it isn’t that clear in the picture, but maybe the palm most affected isn’t protected by a house just on the other side of the fence as is the second palm? Anyways, it is a fact that all the energy after planting goes to the formation of new roots. So having a smaller root ball it is quite logical that it had more difficulties and needed longer to pick up growth afterwards.
I’m not sure about your average winter temperatures up North East but for sure you will have lower temperatures than I do. Just bear in mind that Trachycarpus palms do not like being overprotected. So down to -10°C you are better to leave them be. If you want to limit damage done by cold winds you can temporarily attach the fronts all together. This said, as plants are not warm blooded, they do not suffer from wind chill factor, but cold winds can dry out the plants whenever the ground water is frozen. During frost periods you do not water them of course but on frost free but sunny and/or windy periods keep an eye on the soil and water if needed.
From -10°C and lower you could start protecting the palms indeed. Those thermic bags for plants are quite useful indeed and do not harm the palm if applied only for short terms and during frost. So 2 weeks with negative temperatures is no problem at all but leaving them 2 weeks with 15°C isn’t recommended… I also noticed that whenever fronts were in contact with the bags covered in ice and snow, they did show signs of damage afterwards. Putting a barrier between would even be better. Very handy and effective are those spliced bamboo mats. You simply attach the front all together, turn the bamboo mat around the fronts and stem and secure this in place. Afterwards you put the bag on top and it will do.
As an umbrella for bigger palms I used a beach umbrella. Cheap, lightweight and with a plastic sheet on top, waterproof. However, exposed as are your palms you need quite some fixation in order to keep them in place. So I do not think this is ideal for you.
A heating cable is indeed an option but would only be needed if temperatures drop below -15°C. I use those old Christmas light ropes but those are very hard to find at this day since it’s all LED now. Heating cables used for protecting water pipes are a very nice alternative. MyPalmshop (in your area!) has these as well. Note that it’s especially the top of the palm you want to protect (upper part of the stem and fronts), the lower part of the trunk doesn’t really need that much of a protection.Since you only activate these during very short periods with these extreme temperatures, the electricity usage is negligible.
Kind regards
La Palmeraie
Reactie door Zoki — 26 februari 2023 10:36 @ 10:36
I just had a terrible accident. I ttied to move my Trachycarpus Fortunei to a new spot and I pushed hard the stem and the palm broke in two.
Reactie door lapalmeraie — 26 februari 2023 11:47 @ 11:47
Hi Zoki
I’m so sorry to hear this. As the stem basically dead petioles it isn’t solid enough to use it as a lever to move or push the palm tree around. Once broken there’s no chance it will regrow. The upper part won’t produce new roots either.
Kind regards
La Palmeraie