Does anyone know how to take proper care of Mexican Fan Palms? (landscape, growing)
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Whenever I see these palms, they always look have dead, with brown tips sometime before the leaves are fully sprouted. I know there is also a California Fan Palm variety, which I believe is taller and thinner. But sometimes I see these in front of commercial buildings/business and they look like a different variety; they are fuller, more robust.
Location: somewhere close to Tampa, but closer to the beach
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..1979,..the California fan palm, while similar to the Mexican ( Robusta ) species, differs in having a wider trunk, as well as foliage which seems to weep a little more..i also believe it is a little more frost tender then it's Mexican cousin..Still, you could give it a try if you were looking to work with a specimen..
.....Check out Jungle Music Palms and Cycads, there is a ton if info on species of palms which readily endure colder areas of the country..Plus, ive yet to find a site with as much up to date..knowladgeable info..Im looking to head down there soon to get my hands on the Red form of Hyophorbe indica..the only species in that genus which can tolerate an occasional brief frost..The other two species are both very iffy,..even in southern Ca.. but, they're just as beautifull
..1979,..the California fan palm, while similar to the Mexican ( Robusta ) species, differs in having a wider trunk, as well as foliage which seems to weep a little more..i also believe it is a little more frost tender then it's Mexican cousin..Still, you could give it a try if you were looking to work with a specimen..
.....Check out Jungle Music Palms and Cycads, there is a ton if info on species of palms which readily endure colder areas of the country..Plus, ive yet to find a site with as much up to date..knowladgeable info..Im looking to head down there soon to get my hands on the Red form of Hyophorbe indica..the only species in that genus which can tolerate an occasional brief frost..The other two species are both very iffy,..even in southern Ca.. but, they're just as beautifull
si33, do you recognize these palms? I thought these were California Fan Palms, and the shorter squater palms were the Mexican Fan palms? You don't see these tall palms in most of Texas or over the border.
Location: somewhere close to Tampa, but closer to the beach
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..The pictures you posted are the mexican species..and ive seen them planted in costal areas of Texas..In fact..there is a section of highway between Corpis Christi and Brownsville/South Padre Islnd. where this specise lines the center divide for miles..
This species is often refered to as the Calif. species chiefly because of it's exceptional popularity here..also, most of the Tall examples of the Mexican species you'll see picts. of wher planted 40-60+ years ago...
My grand parents had a couple planted just outside their drive way when i was younger...I can remember standing beneath them when in 5th grade..They're now around 40-50 feet tall..and its been 23 years since they were roughly 10 feet tall..I'll bet they will be approaching 75 feet in another 10 years I also believe that an area's climate can influence how fast or slowly these palms will grow..
The palms in the photo look like Washingtonia Robusta to me...(I have a lot of these...some in pots, some approaching 70 feet).. They're natives of NW Mexico (Sinaloa, Sea of Cortez area) and are extremely common in Southern Cal. The only OTHER thing they could be IMHO, is Washingtonia Filifera, a close relative, native to the oases of Southern Cal. They look similar when young, but the "Filifera" is much stockier, shorter, not as generally attractive, and is subject to fungal disease on the coast. Not NEARLY as common, but sometimes seen inland.
To make things MORE complicated, these two can be crossed, resulting in a 'hybrid'. I have ONE palm about 40' tall that was given to me in a lard can years ago. I BELIEVE it's a cross between these two.
Not sure what you mean by "looking dead", 1979..these look like very healthy plants to me.
Not sure what you mean by "looking dead", 1979..these look like very healthy plants to me.
What I meant by looking dead, is that many times the leaves don't last very long, and many of these plants don't seem to develop a nice green canopy. If you notice on some of the new shoots sprouting from the top, often the tips are turning brown before they are even fully opened. The layer of fronds beneath them as well have a lot of "brown" on them, sometimes the tip, 5 or 6 inches of the frond are dead looking. When these particular plants are not pruned, they develop thick layers of dead fronds that don't seem to detach from the stalk very easily and accumulate. While it may be disease, or a watering issue, it seems so many of them look unhealthy, particularly in El Paso where I'm used to seeing them. I think these look awful.
Location: somewhere close to Tampa, but closer to the beach
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1979,..what i believe you are refering to is the natural " thatch " that these, as well as many other species of fan-leaved type palms develop..and this is a natural process..also..both species are represented in the photo you provided..the mexican species are the smaller ones on the left
In natural settings,..both species of Washingtonia form this,..sometimes all the way to the ground..When a fire comes along,..it clears out all of the accumulated dead material..but does not destroy the meri stem ( crown of the tree/growing point )..this is part of their evolutionary genetics..
Any tip burn you may notice is probabally due to the excessive heat these trees often endure as this also occures sometimes in their native areas..
In landscape situations, people will spend a fair amount of money to keep the dead fronds from accumulating..which is one big reason i prefer "crown shafted " feather-leaved palms. most of which regularly shed dead material instead of holding on to it..A few exceptions to this rule include Coconut, queen palms ( also noted on the far left in the picture ),and Date palms.. all of which technically are not crown shafted..all of these species tend to hold dead foliage longer,but do shed it better than most "fan" palm species..
Those species with crown shafts include King palms, most Dypsis, all Hyophorbe species, Adonidia, Roystonea ( Royal palms ), and Dictyosperma album ( Hurricane palms )..among dozens of others..Many are also restricted to warmer areas ( zones 8b-12 )..these are the "typical" palms people think of when they picture a picture of paridise..
The "skirt" is just dead fronds hanging down. Rats love them.
I love those trees. But keeping them trimmed when they get tall is just one huge headache. More than a few men have been killed when they try to climb up the tree and trim them from the inside. To be safe you have to bring in a cherry-picker (as illustrated) which is major bucks for the average home owner.
And the brown, leafy things hanging above the dead leaves are the dead seed/date fronds. Every Fall meant going out and trying to sweep the sticky things up before they got tracked across my carpeting Lol. Huge mess.
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