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Anyone growing palms in Charlotte NC


Patrick in Charlotte

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Just purchased my first house here in Charlotte NC and am anxious to plant some palms in the ground. I would love to hear from others who may have experience growing them he in the queen city. I live in south Charlotte and my lot is the last lot before crossing into South Carolina. I see Home Depot is selling Washingtonia Robusta. It would be awesome to grow one but not sure they are hardy here or if they would like the red clay we have for soil. I can't wait to what others have experienced. Have a great weekend everyone!

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Charlotte NC is USDA 7a, that's borderline for even the hardiest palms but people do it by providing winter protection. Try this website: http://www.chillypalmtree.com/. You'll see the usual cast of characters such as certain sabals, the needle palm, Chinese windmill palm and pindos.

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I live in Raleigh and I think that we are both 7b zones. There are quite a few palms that you can grow without winter protection, and some that you might have to protect for a few nights in the winter if the temps fall down into the low teens etc. Some that might need protection for higher teens etc.

Palms that I grow without protection are Trachycarpus fortunei, Sabals (some are more cold hardy than others), Needles, Butias, Chamaerops humilis and cerifera. I grow other palms that I do protect on some nights in the winter. It all depends on how much you want to do that as to growing some other palms that are usually a zone or two higher. Research it and you will see quite a few articles written about the more cold hardy palms here. Good luck!

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You might also want to look in to Chamaedorea radicalis and Chamaedorea microspadix. While not 7a hardy, many people have had success with them here in Atlanta. Their small size makes them easy to protect, and also allows them to be planted in zone 8 microclimates near buildings, porches, etc. There is a C. Microspadix outside the conservatory at the Atlanta botanical gardens that has been there for many years.

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Patrick,

There are a number of avid palm growers/zone pushers in your area. Kahili is one of them, though she's a couple hours away. I've inserted a link that will allow you to focus in on a local group. Palmtalk has a global audience whereas the link takes you to a local, cold hardy palm group. I still use both though I moved to FL from Mooresville, NC back in 2005. I'm not going to make a big list here because it'd basically be the same as Kahilli's. But, bottom line, you should be able to create a nice palm scape in your area even though the number of species (especially trunking species) is more limited than say, in Columbia SC.

Your red clay is a mixed blessing, as is every soil. Trachycarpus love it, but it can be tight for many palms. The best way to amend it long-term is to add as much organic matter and gypsum (Calcium sulfate, NOT lime) as you can. If you do that, the red clay will become a fantastic soil for growing almost anything.

http://members3.boardhost.com/HardyPalm/

Land O Lakes FL, a suburb on the North Side of Tampa, FL

Summers are great, 90f/32c in the day & 70f/21c at night with plentiful rain & sun

Winters are subtropical with occasional frosts and freezes. Tropical cyclones happen.

We have a few Royal palms in the warm microclimates but Coconuts freeze.

I am a Kayaker, Hiker, Bicyclist, and amateur Photographer that loves the outdoors.  

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Welcome to the forum Patrick!

Follow this link to the official USDA map http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ type in your zip and you will see that your zone is not 7a. Charlotte zones range from mostly 7b to 8a in the southern parts of town (such as the 28277 zip code).

As has been said before there are plenty of palms you can grow. Especially with the kind of summers you have and with those cold spells being usually very short.

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Patrick -

Great advice above. One additional thought: join the Southeastern Palm Society and attend some of the meetings. There will be lots of people there with experience growing palms from Delaware and Virginia to Tennessee, Georgia, and North and South Carolina. Plants will be for sale at the meetings.

Website: www.sepalms.org

Good luck and enjoy the palms.

Joseph C. Le Vert

Augusta, GA

USA

Zone 8

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Patrick,

Certainly there are a few speies that you can grow in Charlotte.

I recommend you focus most of the landscaping on 3 (S.minor, T.fortunei, Needle Palm) that are fully cold-hardy.

One or two of S.palmetto or maybe a jelly palm. The problem with these two is that they will require some type of canopy and/or protection. Cold won´t be a problem so much as the ice storms that plague the I85 corridor.

I also recommend a membership in the (http://www.sepalms.org/ ) as you will get to visit private gardens and meet people with similar interests..

Best of Luck

Los Niños y Los Borrachos siempre dicen la verdad.

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  • 7 years later...

I have been growing a windmill, sago, and Mediterranean fan pam for the past 2 years.  all look great.  the windmill grew so much this past year... the other 2 are very slow.  I cover the fan palm and sago with a blanket at night in winter when it is below or near freezing.  do you think they will keep trucking on?  my next palm I want a palmetto or pindo.  which of those two would stand a better chance?  again, I will keep covering my less cold tolerant ones with a blanket on cold nights.  hoping that does the trick to keep them alive forever

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