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Opinions - Washingtonia, stay or go?


AZPalms

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So my volunteer Washingtonia is growing along unattended in a corner of my yard. It’s about 4/5 years old I’d estimate. I’ve let it be and even nurtured it along a bit. Personally, it if it stayed at its current height it would be perfect but we all know that isn’t the case. 

So, do I remove now when it’s still “manageable” to take out and replace with something else. Or do I leave it be and let it sweep the sky’s? 

I have little motivation to take it out, other than the future trimming requirements. 

9C15D915-2D22-4146-866C-3CAE14A3329F.jpeg

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11 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Filifera = stays

Robusta or filibusta = off w/it's head

:greenthumb:

She’s looking pretty Filibusta! 

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8 hours ago, AZPalms said:

So my volunteer Washingtonia is growing along unattended in a corner of my yard. It’s about 4/5 years old I’d estimate. I’ve let it be and even nurtured it along a bit. Personally, it if it stayed at its current height it would be perfect but we all know that isn’t the case. 

So, do I remove now when it’s still “manageable” to take out and replace with something else. Or do I leave it be and let it sweep the sky’s? 

I have little motivation to take it out, other than the future trimming requirements

 

You forgot to replace future with perpetual.

My opinion:

logmatic-wedge-axe-uses-a-slide-hammer-t

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5 year high 42.2C/108F (07/06/2018)--5 year low 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)--Lowest recent/current winter: 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)

 

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9 minutes ago, AZPalms said:

She’s looking pretty Filibusta! 

That's why they make Hawaiian Tribal Masks.. so she can't see you while you break out the chain saw, lol.  At her height, she'll make an excellent Tiki regardless..:innocent:

Edited by Silas_Sancona
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10 hours ago, AZPalms said:

So, do I remove now when it’s still “manageable” to take out and replace with something else. Or do I leave it be and let it sweep the sky’s? 

I have little motivation to take it out, other than the future trimming requirements. 

You can still l get by leaving it a little longer, but in the long run better not to wait much more.  I'm battling my neighbor's pair of robusta daily as they drop seeds in my yard every time the wind blows because they are planted just on the other side of the fence.  They are much too high to trim myself and the neighbor's don't have much interest in having them professionally trimmed.  Besides, the space could be used for something far more interesting.

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33.0782 North -117.305 West  at 72 feet elevation

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I vote for salvation :)

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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32 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

I vote for salvation :)

Nein!

 

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5 year high 42.2C/108F (07/06/2018)--5 year low 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)--Lowest recent/current winter: 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)

 

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Take it out ASAP. Soon it will be nearly impossible to remove the root system. In the not to distant future, all you will be able to do is chain saw it at ground level and leave the roots so you'll never be able to plant in that spot again.

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Remove 

They’re everywhere on the skyline in western palmy places. 
 

Use the space for a deserty Brahea maybe

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Let's keep our forum fun and friendly.

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23 minutes ago, Mangosteen said:

Take it out ASAP. Soon it will be nearly impossible to remove the root system. In the not to distant future, all you will be able to do is chain saw it at ground level and leave the roots so you'll never be able to plant in that spot again.

Hear, hear!!

Been there, done that,  got the T-shirt!

Edited by GottmitAlex
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5 year high 42.2C/108F (07/06/2018)--5 year low 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)--Lowest recent/current winter: 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)

 

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3 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

..Or  the bluest Sabal uresana you can find. Should be common here, rarely see any.

This!

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5 year high 42.2C/108F (07/06/2018)--5 year low 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)--Lowest recent/current winter: 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)

 

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Plan now to reduce your hassles later.

Simplify your future life. 

 

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Cheers Steve

It is not dead, it is just senescence.

   

 

 

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I planted five Washingtonia many many years ago when I didn't know better. I wish I knew better. There are hundreds of palm species that grow here that would have been better. Just glad it was only five of them that I planted. They're certainly not ugly of course and are tall enough now that they are visible from blocks away and shed their own leaves now. I'd replace your's with a nice Brahea edulis or armata, Bismarckia, Livistona, Sabal, or a host of other possibilities. 

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Jim in Los Altos, CA  SF Bay Area 37.34N- 122.13W- 190' above sea level

zone 10a/9b

sunset zone 16

300+ palms, 90+ species in the ground

Las Palmas Design

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22 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Filifera = stays

Robusta or filibusta = off w/it's head

:greenthumb:

 

12 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

..Or  the bluest Sabal uresana you can find. Should be common here, rarely see any.

Listen to Silas either =) 

I vote Filibusts stays if not S.Uresana would be a wonderful replacement 

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T J 

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What happens when something that grows all over the place appears in the yard.

..No regrets.:mrlooney:

Aww.. Aint that a purtty lil' Canary:wub:
3995840_02152011301331.jpg.3c1a9b6e1524fb0694fdc8d552f60b46.jpg


Be gone with you, bleep-n' local Horticultural atrocity!..
959142101_02152011251329.thumb.jpg.9c9113cc22755d6ca9a72859b3fbf4ad.jpg

No regrets:winkie:

 

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If you live west of the Mississippi, the answer is to always remove Washingtonia.  I have hundreds of palms and almost as many species in my yard, and not one of these.  They're everywhere around me, so why do I need one?

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Ben Rogers

On the border of Concord & Clayton in the East Bay hills - Elev 387 ft 37.95 °N, 121.94 °W

My back yard weather station: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/hdfForecast?query=37.954%2C-121.945&sp=KCACONCO37

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6 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

What happens when something that grows all over the place appears in the yard.

..No regrets.:mrlooney:

Aww.. Aint that a purtty lil' Canary:wub:
3995840_02152011301331.jpg.3c1a9b6e1524fb0694fdc8d552f60b46.jpg


Be gone with you, bleep-n' local Horticultural atrocity!..
959142101_02152011251329.thumb.jpg.9c9113cc22755d6ca9a72859b3fbf4ad.jpg

No regrets:winkie:

 

Wrap that thing up and ship it to sc, I'll throw ya cash for the shipping :D

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Remove it and replace with brahea,bailey,filifera,or bismarck.The space is too valuable for a weed tree.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

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Mesa, Arizona

 

Temps between 29F and 115F each year

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I never really understood the General dislike for these palms; must be because I live in Miami where they’re common but not necessarily a weed. The crown can be cleaned up once a year and the trunk can either be stripped or cleaned up as well. A new shopping center near me has gone for the natural trunk look and I’m really digging it. 
 

if your garden could use some height, I’d leave it; they’re beautiful palms, my guess is people have a problem with cleaning up once it reaches for the sky. For many years you will be able to do the cleanup on your own. 
 

I have a “thing” for Cocos and Washies, so that’s why my vote would be , keep it! 

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1 hour ago, Jocam019 said:

I never really understood the General dislike for these palms; must be because I live in Miami where they’re common but not necessarily a weed. The crown can be cleaned up once a year and the trunk can either be stripped or cleaned up as well. A new shopping center near me has gone for the natural trunk look and I’m really digging it. 
 

if your garden could use some height, I’d leave it; they’re beautiful palms, my guess is people have a problem with cleaning up once it reaches for the sky. For many years you will be able to do the cleanup on your own. 
 

I have a “thing” for Cocos and Washies, so that’s why my vote would be , keep it! 

I’m surprised they’re not “weeds” there. Here they grow in the cracks of sidewalks and any other place that doesn’t get mowed regularly. And a lot of them aren’t maintained, making them eyesores. Some people love them, some hate them. Personally I’m not a fan of Washingtonias. The same can be said about queens. A lot of people on here hate them. Personally I like them. Different people find different things attractive. 

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11 minutes ago, Jeff985 said:

The same can be said about queens. A lot of people on here hate them. Personally I like them. Different people find different things attractive. 

I agree I dislike myself every now and then you see well grown queens that I could live with but mostly super common and not taken care of here. Coming from SoCal queens and washies are weeds and I would never own one but when you see boulevards lined with sky scrapers or the ones around Dodger stadium you can help but enjoy them. To have one in your yard it's not worth the real estate or the maintenance imho :interesting:

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T J 

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4 hours ago, Jeff985 said:

I’m surprised they’re not “weeds” there. Here they grow in the cracks of sidewalks and any other place that doesn’t get mowed regularly. And a lot of them aren’t maintained, making them eyesores. Some people love them, some hate them. Personally I’m not a fan of Washingtonias. The same can be said about queens. A lot of people on here hate them. Personally I like them. Different people find different things attractive. 

I think it may have to do with the amount of rain we get. The city of Miami and Miami-Dade county invest millions of dollars annually mowing public roads, parks etc. They cannot stop mowing basically, so any seedlings are probably destroyed. 

Queens also get a lot of negative press lol. But I bet most of these people would love to have one if they were easy to maintain because once properly done so, those palms can look beautiful too. 

washigntonias can look good left alone though, depends on what look the owner is aiming for and where they are planted. Some of my neighbors have ones where they only clean up the trunk and leave the crown untouched. Other neighbors clean up the trunk and do a hard prune on the crown annually.  I think they compliment tall trees and coconuts. 

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These are outside my workplace. Unfortunately, once they get to a certain height, they easily become victims of lighting strikes here in South Florida....  you can see a victim in one of these pictures. 

AA958F48-646A-43AF-9ABE-EF08400A300A.jpeg

B3BF3D8F-1BA9-43C6-8C0C-841E7BB4A860.jpeg

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(trigger warning) I prefer groupings of tall lime-green pure robusta (or nearly so) to queen palms, even well grown ones. Best tropical look for zone 8b/9a imo. Queen palms have odd proportions imo and usually look top heavy. W. filifera is ugly ugly ugly and so is Sabal palmetto :P (S. mexicana and the Caribbean species are significantly better looking).  Not a fan of Brahea, which range from ratty to ugly Washingtonia look-alike. Have to agree that most Livistona look nice and Bismarckia is stunning.  Please don't lynch me haha 

Jonathan

Katy, TX (Zone 9a)

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2 minutes ago, Xenon said:

(trigger warning) I prefer groupings of tall lime-green pure robusta (or nearly so) to queen palms, even well grown ones. Best tropical look for zone 8b/9a imo. Queen palms have odd proportions imo and usually look top heavy. W. filifera is ugly ugly ugly and so is Sabal palmetto :P (S. mexicana and the Caribbean species are significantly better looking).  Not a fan of Brahea, which range from ratty to ugly Washingtonia look-alike. Have to agree that most Livistona look nice and Bismarckia is stunning.  Please don't lynch me haha 

I don’t even know where to start... Robusta= disagree. Filifera, brahea = agree. Queens, palmetto =  disagree. Livistona, depends on the variety. Everyone loves bismarkia. Anyone who says they don’t is simply wrong. 

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24 minutes ago, Jeff985 said:

I don’t even know where to start... Robusta= disagree. Filifera, brahea = agree. Queens, palmetto =  disagree. Livistona, depends on the variety. Everyone loves bismarkia. Anyone who says they don’t is simply wrong. 

I have yet to find a person who doesnt love a bizzie. I use to be against fan palms in general but Bizzies converted me then I fell in love with Sabal Causiarum. Was just at Maas nursery and there shade grown Palmettos are absolutely stunning all stretched out =) Livistona Chilensis are much better looking then any washie , just ones opinion 

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T J 

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I agree on the Chinese fan palm, I current have a double which are about 25 years or so. I planted a W.Robusta on the other side of the property in an area I think could use so “height”. 

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Calling any palm ugly is absurd unless it's not taken care of or diseased. I would remove the palm before it becomes too messy. Not because it is ugly, which it certainly is not. 

Los Angeles, CA and Myrtle Beach, SC.

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That looks like a Filibusta hybrid that is very Robusta dominant. I certainly wouldn't dig it out as I am a big fan of Washingtonia's in general. Especially Filibusta hybrids and Filifera. But I can't speak for everyone. Some people aren't a fan of them. 

I think the Filifera dominant hybrids are the best looking Washies IMO. It would be criminal to rip out a Filifera dominant hybrid of that size. But your one looks very Robusta dominant. It could even be a pure Robusta. I know quite a few people don't like Robusta's and I'm not hugely keen on them myself.

But if it was me, I would just leave it. I think it's still a pretty nice looking, ornamental palm. It's in pristine condition as well.  :greenthumb:

 

Dry-summer Oceanic climate (9a)

Average annual precipitation - 18.7 inches : Average annual sunshine hours - 1725

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6 hours ago, Jeff985 said:

I don’t even know where to start... Robusta= disagree. Filifera, brahea = agree. Queens, palmetto =  disagree. Livistona, depends on the variety. Everyone loves bismarkia. Anyone who says they don’t is simply wrong. 

When i first saw one im like, "Ewww what is that blue looking sabal looking garbage over there in that corner. But they look somewhat like butia to me so it began to grow on me lol

Palms - 4 S. romanzoffiana, 1 W. bifurcata, 2 W. robusta, 1 R. rivularis, 1 B. odorata, 1 B. nobilis, 2 S. palmetto, 1 A. merillii, 1 P. canariensis, 1 BxJ, 1 BxJxBxS, 1 BxS, 3 P. roebelenii, 1 H. lagenicaulis, 1 H. verschaffeltii, 9 T. fortunei, 1 C. humilis, 2 C. macrocarpa, 1 L. chinensis, 1 R. excelsa

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17 minutes ago, JLM said:

When i first saw one im like, "Ewww what is that blue looking sabal looking garbage over there in that corner. But they look somewhat like butia to me so it began to grow on me lol

That’s funny. I didn’t like them at first either. The first few I saw were planted in the open all alone. But when I saw one planted in a landscape with a bunch of green palms and red ti plants, the large bizzy with its massive gray canopy really stood out and made a statement. After that I had to have one... Which led to another one. 

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