Do you have any "non-native" trees in your lawn? Palm trees, etc? Would you grow palms if you know they would survive? (Kingsport: house, live in) - Kingsport - Johnson City - Bristol - Tennessee (TN) -The Tri-Cities area - City-Data Forum

Tennesseestorm · 10-07-2007, 09:37 PM

I am wondering about some trees that some folks may have planted here in their landscapes... anything that is rare so to speak, or out of range?

To some, "palm trees" in northeast Tennessee may sound crazy, but I have a few planted that have thrived over the years. I have been on tree forums and have talked to some in this area with palms, but never actually seen any out planted in landscapes while just out driving on the roads. I live in a rural area, at a dead end road, so most people do not see my trees. It was when I went to a "hardy palm" tree website that I became interested in trying to plant palms. I love the tropics, but with ill grandparents that I help out with, travel is not really in my vocabulary, so I thought I would being the tropics here... LOL.

Out of the hardy palms I have heard of, I have tried two... a Windmill palm, as well as a Sabal Birmingham palm. I am soon going to plant Needle palms. The Windmill palms are supposed to be able to withstand temperatures as cold as around 0° without damage and down to about -5° before damage occurs. Seems like cold wx like that is rare around here, so I thought I would give it a whirl. The Windmill (pictured below) has flourished. It survived TWO record lows of 8° at my house last winter. No damage at all. I also have a Sabal Birmingham, it has survived the cold well too (hardy to -2°), but its in some poor soil, so I am going to move it in the spring. I tried out a Washingtonia palm, but it was the least hardy of the Washingtonia palms, (only hardy down to 22°) and needless to say, it perished.

I also have Southern Live Oaks, (yes, the ones like you see way down south in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida), that I have had for two years (since they were seedlings) and they have thrived as well. They are only about 3 ft. tall at this point. I also experimenting with some Spanish moss that I have draped on my Willow Oak tree. I am going to bring most of it in this winter, but I am going to leave some out and see how it handles the cold. Now I know that my Windmill palm and Live Oaks have a chance of perishing if they have not well established if for some reason we have an extremely bitter cold spell... one like we have not seen in many years. Hopefully we will not see temps cold like that again. The Needle palm is the hardiest of palms.... they have been known to survive as cold as -25°... with that said, I am sure there would be no problems here at all with that, as our coldest temps on record was like, what, -21° back in 85'? I doubt we will see temps that cold again.

I also have planted Longleaf pines (pretty rare around here) and Slash pines - another rare pine. Both have flourished as well. I also have several Loblolly pines, which are native to here, but you do not see to many. The highest concentration I have ever seen in this area of Loblolly pines is along the 11W area, between the west side of Kingsport and Church Hill. There are tons of these along 11W and even alot of them on the 11W area between Bristol and Kingsport. Strange not too many others around in this concentration.

I have also planted Spanish Daggers, Spanish Bayonets, both of which have thrived as well.

I think it would be neat to see more palms and other trees that are out of range that actually will survive here (at least a good chance) in more areas where people going down the roads can see.

Anyway, here are some photos of some things I have planted here that you do not see much of....
Windmill palm...

Longleaf pine... (this is a zone 7a tree and we are on the border, so these would be fine here in my opinion.... these have the longest needles of ANY pine tree. I know of 4 other of these in Bristol.. one house along 421 has them and a house up on Lee Highway in Bristol has one.....

Spanish moss...

One of my Live Oaks, still trying to survive the drought... notice the drought stricken grass around it!

I had some Camellias, but the drought dried them up..

Anyone else have palms, or non-native trees planted that they would like to share photos/info on?

Thanks!

crazykimmie · 10-09-2007, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tennesseestorm

I am wondering about some trees that some folks may have planted here in their landscapes... anything that is rare so to speak, or out of range?

To some, "palm trees" in northeast Tennessee may sound crazy, but I have a few planted that have thrived over the years. I have been on tree forums and have talked to some in this area with palms, but never actually seen any out planted in landscapes while just out driving on the roads. I live in a rural area, at a dead end road, so most people do not see my trees. It was when I went to a "hardy palm" tree website that I became interested in trying to plant palms. I love the tropics, but with ill grandparents that I help out with, travel is not really in my vocabulary, so I thought I would being the tropics here... LOL.

Out of the hardy palms I have heard of, I have tried two... a Windmill palm, as well as a Sabal Birmingham palm. I am soon going to plant Needle palms. The Windmill palms are supposed to be able to withstand temperatures as cold as around 0° without damage and down to about -5° before damage occurs. Seems like cold wx like that is rare around here, so I thought I would give it a whirl. The Windmill (pictured below) has flourished. It survived TWO record lows of 8° at my house last winter. No damage at all. I also have a Sabal Birmingham, it has survived the cold well too (hardy to -2°), but its in some poor soil, so I am going to move it in the spring. I tried out a Washingtonia palm, but it was the least hardy of the Washingtonia palms, (only hardy down to 22°) and needless to say, it perished.

I also have Southern Live Oaks, (yes, the ones like you see way down south in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida), that I have had for two years (since they were seedlings) and they have thrived as well. They are only about 3 ft. tall at this point. I also experimenting with some Spanish moss that I have draped on my Willow Oak tree. I am going to bring most of it in this winter, but I am going to leave some out and see how it handles the cold. Now I know that my Windmill palm and Live Oaks have a chance of perishing if they have not well established if for some reason we have an extremely bitter cold spell... one like we have not seen in many years. Hopefully we will not see temps cold like that again. The Needle palm is the hardiest of palms.... they have been known to survive as cold as -25°... with that said, I am sure there would be no problems here at all with that, as our coldest temps on record was like, what, -21° back in 85'? I doubt we will see temps that cold again.

I also have planted Longleaf pines (pretty rare around here) and Slash pines - another rare pine. Both have flourished as well. I also have several Loblolly pines, which are native to here, but you do not see to many. The highest concentration I have ever seen in this area of Loblolly pines is along the 11W area, between the west side of Kingsport and Church Hill. There are tons of these along 11W and even alot of them on the 11W area between Bristol and Kingsport. Strange not too many others around in this concentration.

I have also planted Spanish Daggers, Spanish Bayonets, both of which have thrived as well.

I think it would be neat to see more palms and other trees that are out of range that actually will survive here (at least a good chance) in more areas where people going down the roads can see.

Anyway, here are some photos of some things I have planted here that you do not see much of....
Windmill palm...

Longleaf pine... (this is a zone 7a tree and we are on the border, so these would be fine here in my opinion.... these have the longest needles of ANY pine tree. I know of 4 other of these in Bristol.. one house along 421 has them and a house up on Lee Highway in Bristol has one.....

Spanish moss...

One of my Live Oaks, still trying to survive the drought... notice the drought stricken grass around it!

I had some Camellias, but the drought dried them up..

Anyone else have palms, or non-native trees planted that they would like to share photos/info on?

Thanks!

I'd like to see the pictures as we plan to move to TN in 6 months and I would love to landscape with some Palms as I'm in FL now and have a very tropical yard!!! KOI Pond, Tiki Hut and plenty of folage and palnts!!!

Tennesseestorm · 10-10-2007, 02:53 PM

Yeah, the hardy palms should be OK, but not sure about some of that other.

Tennesseestorm · 11-01-2007, 10:05 PM

Whats strange is that I FINALLY seen someone else growing some palms outside here in the area. It was on HWY. 394 between Bristol and Kingsport (as you head toward HWY. 11W on HWY. 394). I glanced up at a house and seen some tropicals outside. One of the palms looked like a good size and looked healthy.

Joe P · 11-06-2007, 06:14 PM

After spending 16 years in Tampa if I never see another palm tree that will be perfectly fine with me.

Troyv1 · 11-07-2007, 12:07 AM

FYI, It is a very bad idea to plant non-native plants in an area with such beautiful native habitat. Many areas in East Tennessee and West North Carolina prohibit them since they bring diseases and bugs that damage local vegetation.

pamperedrachel · 11-07-2007, 06:44 AM

I agree with Joe P.... everytime we leave Florida, I get so excited when I don't see any more palm trees.

mbmouse · 11-07-2007, 07:27 AM

What worries me about planting non native trees and such. Has anyone seen the Kudzu issue over in Western NC and spreading this way? That was someone from the orient who wanted to bring a little flavor of their home here to the states, now it is ruining our native vegetation, undergrowth and trees.

Tennesseestorm · 11-07-2007, 09:15 PM

These trees are sold in Kingsport @ a well-known green house and are supposedly free of diseases and bugs.

I am curious, what are these "places" you are referring to? They prohibit people from planting what they want on their own property?

The only really "non-native" plant I have is the Windmill palm and Live Oak. The Longleaf pine is native to areas just slightly south of here and zoned a "7A" tree, which we are on the border of. The Live Oak is native to the southeast USA and I doubt they will cause any harm, since they are nothing more than an Oak tree, which there are many of around here.

If you are referring to trees that are non-native to the USA, I fully agree with that, but these trees are well known to other areas of the southeast.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Troyv1

FYI, It is a very bad idea to plant non-native plants in an area with such beautiful native habitat. Many areas in East Tennessee and West North Carolina prohibit them since they bring diseases and bugs that damage local vegetation.

Tennesseestorm · 11-07-2007, 09:19 PM

There is already a bunch of that here in Bristol in many areas. Been like that here for a few years. Along 381 (exit 3 I-81 area) in Bristol is overrun with it in one spot. Gate City HWY in Bristol VA also has thick patches of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbmouse

What worries me about planting non native trees and such. Has anyone seen the Kudzu issue over in Western NC and spreading this way? That was someone from the orient who wanted to bring a little flavor of their home here to the states, now it is ruining our native vegetation, undergrowth and trees.