Another reason to plant Sabals in your garden

[Sabal Steve]

I believe this is S. bermudana with S. causarium behind it. I edited this very little, with mostly minor color correction.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Sabal Steve

[Stevetoad]

Love me some sabals

[JT in Japan]

I just ordered 5 for my garden. Supposed to arrive in a week or so...

JT

[Sabal Steve]

I just ordered 5 for my garden. Supposed to arrive in a week or so...

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JT

Nice! Which ones?

[JT in Japan]

I'm not sure how accurate the Japanese are with palm names, but this one, simply called Sabal Palm in Japanese, is supposed to be Sabal palmetto.

Tell me, Steve, what's your view on putting them in the ground in (big) pots? For easier transplanting 5-7 years down the road should I move....

JT

[Sabal Steve]

I'm not sure how accurate the Japanese are with palm names, but this one, simply called Sabal Palm in Japanese, is supposed to be Sabal palmetto.

Tell me, Steve, what's your view on putting them in the ground in (big) pots? For easier transplanting 5-7 years down the road should I move....

JT

I would suspect that Sabal palmetto is the most common Sabal in cultivation. That would make sense. I was never very good about telling Sabals apart as smaller plants, but now that I have a few nice sized ones in 5 gallon pots, I can definitely see some distinctions.

I believe that Sabals transplant well if they have a decent bit of trunk - like 6 feet or so. From what I hear, smaller than that is risky. I planted a 30" boxed Sabal 8 months ago, and it has just started to slowly move. It has about 2 1/2 feet of "trunk". I watered the Beegees(us) out of it and it's just been "stayin' alive".

These are a few of the others at the farm where I got it in Riverside.

They have a powerful root system, and may just obliterate the pots that you plant them in, and it could stunt their growth. I would just plant them in the ground, and bet that they would grow faster as well.

Just get two of each as small plants - they're cheap. Then put one in the ground, and keep the others in pots on cement - just remember to keep stepping up the pot size. Look what the roots were doing to the 24" boxes in the pictures above.

[Moose]

I'm not sure how accurate the Japanese are with palm names, but this one, simply called Sabal Palm in Japanese, is supposed to be Sabal palmetto.

Tell me, Steve, what's your view on putting them in the ground in (big) pots? For easier transplanting 5-7 years down the road should I move....

JT

I would suspect that Sabal palmetto is the most common Sabal in cultivation. That would make sense. I was never very good about telling Sabals apart as smaller plants, but now that I have a few nice sized ones in 5 gallon pots, I can definitely see some distinctions.

I believe that Sabals transplant well if they have a decent bit of trunk - like 6 feet or so. From what I hear, smaller than that is risky. I planted a 30" boxed Sabal 8 months ago, and it has just started to slowly move. It has about 2 1/2 feet of "trunk". I watered the Beegees(us) out of it and it's just been "stayin' alive".

20130813_152958mmmm.jpg

2014-05-05 16.51.38.jpg

These are a few of the others at the farm where I got it in Riverside.

IMG_1188.jpg

IMG_1461.jpg

They have a powerful root system, and may just obliterate the pots that you plant them in, and it could stunt their growth. I would just plant them in the ground, and bet that they would grow faster as well.

Just get two of each as small plants - they're cheap. Then put one in the ground, and keep the others in pots on cement - just remember to keep stepping up the pot size. Look what the roots were doing to the 24" boxes in the pictures above.

Sabals develop their trunks below the soil before thrusting upward.

[Sabal Steve]

I would have to guess S. blackburniana. These are incredible, and would look much better off on their own - like a Bismarckia.

[_Keith]

Back to the title. If this is another reason to plant Sabals in the garden, what was the first reason.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

Yeah, that looks like a blackburniana alright. I bought one from Gary Wood before he closed down.

[Sabal Steve]

Back to the title. If this is another reason to plant Sabals in the garden, what was the first reason.

Maybe I'm just a poor planner...

[Sabal Steve]

S. palmetto

[_Keith]

I

Back to the title. If this is another reason to plant Sabals in the garden, what was the first reason.

Maybe I'm just a poor planner...

I would say because they are one of the most climate diverse palm species out there.

[SailorBold]

I know nothing of Sabals. I had some Sabal 'louisiana' that grew incredibly slow in my old lawn but were removed when the tractor came in... they were still quite small. I am unsure of which one to choose.. I am not sure I would choose palmetto if there was a chance I could grow a more attractive palm. I looked up Sabal uresana once but I read conflicting information in regards to their hardiness so I passed on.

I have a tendency to look over Sabals.. mostly because when I think of them I think of the water they require.

[JT in Japan]

S. palmetto

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Those look really nice, Steve. I could see 5 of them in a row acting as a blind or border at property edge. How old do you think those are?

JT

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

S. palmetto

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I remember going to Florida over 15 years ago when I just started to get familiar with palms and seeing all these "washingtonia" over there. Only thing was, they looked weird, and I thought it was a climate issue. Well, that was before I knew anything about sabals. This is why I still don't have a palmetto, they look so much like washingtonia to the untrained eye. I have almost every sabal known to mankind except palmetto.

Now that I understand there are quite a few forms of palmetto, if I come across one I like I will grow it. The nicest one I saw was in Kona on the leeward side of the Big Island. This is supposed to be a palmetto, but it looks so much nicer than most of the ones I've ever seen:

[Sabal Steve]

S. palmetto

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IMG_2647.jpg

IMG_2600.jpg

Those look really nice, Steve. I could see 5 of them in a row acting as a blind or border at property edge. How old do you think those are?

JT

It seems that there is a lot of variability with the rate that they grow down here. I wouldn't be surprised if they were anywhere between 6 - 20 years old. I say some in far northeast San Diego County (Fallbrook) that were maybe 50% bigger, but they were stated to be almost 20 years old. Water and heat.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Sabal Steve

[Sabal Steve]

S. palmetto

IMG_2634 (1).jpg

IMG_2647.jpg

IMG_2600.jpg

I remember going to Florida over 15 years ago when I just started to get familiar with palms and seeing all these "washingtonia" over there. Only thing was, they looked weird, and I thought it was a climate issue. Well, that was before I knew anything about sabals. This is why I still don't have a palmetto, they look so much like washingtonia to the untrained eye. I have almost every sabal known to mankind except palmetto.

Now that I understand there are quite a few forms of palmetto, if I come across one I like I will grow it. The nicest one I saw was in Kona on the leeward side of the Big Island. This is supposed to be a palmetto, but it looks so much nicer than most of the ones I've ever seen:

I have one tiny one gallon S. palmetto. I'd like to grow and keep it, but if space becomes an issue it would probably be the first one to go.

I'm excited about my S. maritima. I think that the neighbor across the street will accept it. I think that I could also give him a S. yapa, but I'm on the fence about it's water needs.

The other neighbor behind my house always flirts with me. I've planted all sorts of stuff in her yard.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Sabal Steve

[Sabal Steve]

I know nothing of Sabals. I had some Sabal 'louisiana' that grew incredibly slow in my old lawn but were removed when the tractor came in... they were still quite small. I am unsure of which one to choose.. I am not sure I would choose palmetto if there was a chance I could grow a more attractive palm. I looked up Sabal uresana once but I read conflicting information in regards to their hardiness so I passed on.

I have a tendency to look over Sabals.. mostly because when I think of them I think of the water they require.

I don't know that much about the climate in New Mexico, but I would suspect that they would do well. Most of them are drought tolerant, but I agree, and think that they really do need a lot of water if you want to see growth.