Backyard paradise in North Texas

[tlow 231]

So I've been lurking here and getting involved periodically but haven't officially gotten a chance to say hello.  We're just north of Dallas and build our dream pool and backyard last year (still have more to do) and with that, I've always wanted palms.. We are new to Texas, and where we're from (IL) we'd never be able to have much of anything... so here we are!  We have a little bit of land so I'm doing my best to add palms where possible.  This will serve as my official progress thread as well.

We finished the pool in October, and originally planted five Windmills and three Sabal Texana (small size).  Lost one windmill during the storm, jury still out on the Texana.

Pool area to enjoy the summer heat.  Trachy on the right of picture, and there are five Chamaerops humilis before the waterfall.  They're young but we're patient to watch them grow.  Trachy looks rough but growing a new spear so think we're good.

 

Pygmy Date Palm poolside

Rest of the Trachys.  They took a beating but appear to be doing fine now.

 

 

Small Sabal Birmingham

We cleared out a bunch of stuff from the back of our property that gets great sun and put down 2x Sabal Birminghams and 2x W. Robustas.

3x Pindos, 3x Sabal Majors

Pindo and filiferas

 

 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by tlow

[Swolte 876]

Great, I like the slope on the property. Has a lot of potential for making some winding paths with palms on each side! Looking forward to see what you do with it!

[Chad king NC 112]

Love the pool.  Hope the palms bounce back for you this summer.  Would be a shame to lose anymore.

[tlow 231]

18 hours ago, Swolte said:

Great, I like the slope on the property. Has a lot of potential for making some winding paths with palms on each side! Looking forward to see what you do with it!

Thanks!  It used to be a total mess until we bought it, and I spent nearly every weekend for the last year clearing, pruning, removing the dense crap and burning it all.  It's been a LOT of work but we're at the point where I'm planting and by chance my wife is good with palms... win-win!

18 hours ago, Chad king NC said:

Love the pool.  Hope the palms bounce back for you this summer.  Would be a shame to lose anymore.

Thanks!  It sure would.  Two of the windmills are visibly moving upward, I can see green on the fronds\spears pushing.  Two others are just staying still, or close to it, and haven't kick started yet.  I recognize it's still early but I can't wait for the sun to get here.  I'm excited to see the progress of the S. Birminghams over the years.  I am going to have six in total.

[Jimhardy 474]

Those Robusta will be fun to watch,they grow so fast!

[tlow 231]

1 hour ago, Jimhardy said:

Those Robusta will be fun to watch,they grow so fast!

They aren't my first choice given the weather and if it does dip into the teens I'll need to protect them, and they are at the BACK of my property.. heh.. they may end up fending for themselves.  We'll see but they will get plenty of sun down there.  I'm excited to watch them rocket.

[Jimhardy 474]

One thing thats nice with the Washys is you can use minimal protection efforts and as long as 

they are alive they will regrow their leaves pretty fast,esp where you are..my Robusta would put out like 15 leaves

in a season, more then enough to "party on  Garth"

[tlow 231]

7 minutes ago, Jimhardy said:

One thing thats nice with the Washys is you can use minimal protection efforts and as long as 

they are alive they will regrow their leaves pretty fast,esp where you are..my Robusta would put out like 15 leaves

in a season, more then enough to "party on  Garth"

We are thrilled to have all of these around the property so I will have plenty to document... looking forward to it.  I'm germinating a bunch of things too like Chilean Wine Palm (crossing my fingers) and others so I'm going to make use of our land for palms...

[tlow 231]

Alright so an update on my Texas Sabals... I had three and one was the most developed with it pushing a nice big frond right before the freeze.  The other two were just fronds (not strap leaves but fronds so these must be a few years old at least).  Nothing was coming out of the center.  These were all planted in October...

This was the one pushing the spear.. optimistic on this one as it's now fanning out, and during the freeze and right after, that was a tight spear, not it's fanning... I marked it so I know for sure.  The spear right behind it you can see if getting taller... WOOT!!  I'm so stoked.

These two I'm less optimistic about, but the fronds are still super strong, no wiggling, no pulling, nothing.  I'm "hoping"... hoping... most of it was underground and maybe got through.  They weren't pushing anything to begin with so I am leaving these alone all summer.

This first one, when I look inside of the hole, I have been noticing something getting closer to the top.  It doesn't look like a spear but it's like fiber type material but it goes around the whole center.  I'm puzzled, but clearly, something is coming.. I'm praying it's going to pop a spear here soon.  I'm cautiously optimistic on this one.  Again, the fronds are tight and feel rigid.

It's hard to see, but you can see the little stringy type material coming up in the center if you look hard enough. It's progressively gotten higher up and it's damn near close to being at the surface so I reckon I'll know shortly.

This one has always looked rough and again, feels tight, rigid, figure these two fronds will die but hoping it pushes something out for me here shortly.. I'm being patient as these are supposed to be super slow growing.. the Texas summer should give me an indication if these are alive or not.  This one looks the worst out of the three so we'll see.  While I don't see the same stringy type thing coming up from the center, I've periodically tried to put my finger in there, and it seems like there is less depth that I can go in, so clearly, I think, it's pushing SOMEHING up.....   Fingers crossed y'all for all three to recover.

[tlow 231]

OK so just a little update here on events transpiring over the weekend.  On the worst looking Sabal Texana (above) I have excavated it carefully, observed a huge, healthy looking root system that wouldn't even fit in a 5G container (diameter wise) and replaced it with a brand new Texana.  Looks great and can't wait to see this one start taking off.

Sabal Texana

Here is the previous inhabitant.. huge root system as mentioned and while above ground looks sad and depressing, it's moved to a club med location just down the hill a bit where there's plenty of sun and will get indefinite time to show me whether there is life or not....  Who knows, maybe it'll surprise me and push out a spear.

 

\

Blue Java Banana already on its third leaf... this thing is going to be huge by the time summer is finished!

Edited March 29, 2021 by tlow

[tlow 231]

Because I should document my Chamaerops humilis as well.. Hoping these start growing a bit more with the sun and good weather coming our way.  They were bought as 2yr seedlings and have been in the ground for exactly a month now.  New spears have emerged from them all, so I'm taking that as a great start.

Group of five behind our waterfall.

[tlow 231]

Quick update for the week..

My largest S. Mexicana looks to have weathered the storm and is pushing out the big frond that was half out during the storm and really showing that nice beautiful next spear right behind it.. awesome!  The other two haven't done much but they weren't doing much to begin with after being planted in October.  I'm giving them a while yet to show me anything.

Two of my T. Fortunei are rockin' with half green fronds pushing quickly, and a full (in one case, two) new tight green fronds that are coming from the heart so we're good there.  Two have just not done much so I decided to do some investigating.  One that isn't picture here is all white, looks awful and had two big fronds exposed in the storm, totally white and look bad so I figured I would peroxide it and it foamed like crazy but has started foaming less.  I marked it, and actually the mark has changed so maybe we'll get some progress out of this one too.

This last one had no spear pull or anything, and I didn't see anything coming up so I moved the stuff around that was blocking what looks like a brand new spear.  Again, nothing is pulling on this one, fronds and I can't pull this little guy out so I marked it, got some of the burlap type material out of the way so it can get sun, and gave it a little peroxide for good measure, no reaction.  I marked it, and I swear it moved, but it's probably just my mind playing tricks on me.  Waiting for it to really pop above that mark in a decided fashion.  Once these two recover and move, I will be happy post storm, these are my only two wild cards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2021 by tlow

[tlow 231]

Good news is the S. Mexicana is showing signs of pushing that spear, and fanning out... WOOHOO!

[tlow 231]

I picked up a T. Fortunei Bulgaria and plopped it in the back triangle of the corner of my lot..

Palm corner...

Butia capitata on the left, Trachy Fortunei Bulgaria in the middle, and Sabal Major bottom right.  Getting needle palms tomorrow and will put one in the front right behind the grass to make a nice little area.  North Texas soil BLOWS!!!  So much amending necessary.. ugh.

 

 

Edited April 6, 2021 by tlow

[tlow 231]

So the Trachys are rocking and rolling still.. wow the growth is incredible to watch, even the ones that have white rotting flesh, they're pushing and judging by my marks, they're pushing quick.  I'm actually pretty confident the four will all make a recovery.  How will this trunk look?  Odd?  When will it fill back in and look normal'ish?  One of them didn't get cut and that's the one pushing white stuff up at a quick clip and I felt today there's a spear in there, not rotten that's coming up with it... yay!

 

The backup squad arrived today... I got four Trachy Fortunei in the event these didn't make it.. I'll keep them around a few weeks until we're confident but @Collectorpalms these are the Home Depot 2 pack.. not bad, arrived quick and look great.. 

I'll be spending the next few weeks clearing out our woods at the back of the property, and finding spots for everything else.. Here is the stock so far hanging out in our fenced in 1000 sqft garden.

3x Needles

1x S. Louisiana

4x T. Fortunei

1x W. Robusta

4x W. Filiferas

Planted this one the other day... just got it.. S. Louisiana.. the blue underside of the strap leaves is incredible when the sun hits it!  Can't wait to watch this one grow up

Already has a leaf with 5 fingers

Here's a needle I put in the ground the other day

Today I put in a S. Minor var Emerald Island.. Can't wait to see this one in a few years.. before the animal protection cages went up.  I literally have one of these around EVERY single young palm as something (my guess is a squirrel) has chewed up some in the past, so since these have gone up, nothing has happened.. ugh, what a pain!

Clearing out this back area, but have another 5x S. Minors coming this week that will go in various spots.. I got spots in the front of the property as well that need some nice palms as well!

Edited April 9, 2021 by tlow

[Swolte 876]

Thanks for posting. Great to start with a blank slate!

How do you determine placement of palms? I couldn't do it the way you are when everything is just still so barren. Do you have a masterplan of sorts? 

[tlow 231]

9 hours ago, Swolte said:

Thanks for posting. Great to start with a blank slate!

How do you determine placement of palms? I couldn't do it the way you are when everything is just still so barren. Do you have a masterplan of sorts? 

Well I have a blank slate, but it wasn't always a blank slate..  Here are some pictures from last February before we even owned the place officially.. we have hundreds if not thousands of post oaks on the property, lots of elms and in this back area it was unwalkable with those as well as the junipers.  Just awful.. probably why the place sat around on the market for a little bit but with about now a years worth of cleaning up the woods, property at large, removing about 25 oaks from the vicinity of the house, building our dream pool and backyard, now it's like a new world here.  Long story short, I'm still clearing the back area whenever I have free time and am outside.  My wife has just given me control of this big back area which butts up against the nature trail so I'm thinking of putting some of these S. Minors along the back property line if you will to, in time, create that natural hedge or a view blockage up toward the house.  Right now I have a Robusta, and two S. Birminghams along the back property line but with discovering S. Minors and their affinity to grow in even standing water, or poor conditions, they would be great along some of these depressed spots that water tends to channel through.

Here is what this area looked like while I was here for the inspection last spring.  This is from the middle of the back property, looking back toward the same area you see above.

There are just a few trees down there which were good enough to keep, either living or had good structure so there's plenty of mostly sun areas with patchy shade from them throughout the day... ie... room for palms! 

We're also about to embark on phase two of the backyard which includes our structure, outdoor kitchen, etc but getting a new retaining wall and actually having landscaping around the house.  Right now it's old cinder blocks and weeds!  Easy to maintain, hah.  I'm stocking up on some of these palms to put throughout that as well.  I've got big plans and they involve palms.  My wife already threw her hands up in the air and gave up on this, hah.

I'm open to ideas if anyone has any!

Edited April 10, 2021 by tlow

[Jimhardy 474]

Everything is looking good...nice recovery there too!

If they grow well this year and next you will have a hard time even

finding where they were trunk cut as they do grow out of it quickly

once they get some leaves up, they will look a little stunted at first

but it is actually a nice compact look until leaves recover to full size

which they should easily have done by mid to late summer 

[tlow 231]

On 4/10/2021 at 7:10 AM, Jimhardy said:

Everything is looking good...nice recovery there too!

If they grow well this year and next you will have a hard time even

finding where they were trunk cut as they do grow out of it quickly

once they get some leaves up, they will look a little stunted at first

but it is actually a nice compact look until leaves recover to full size

which they should easily have done by mid to late summer 

Thanks again for your help and giving me that nudge to trunk cut!  The one I did NOT trunk cut for whatever reason is pushing up the same material the other three are, just compact unopened fronds, fresh green\light green material.  It didn't do anything for weeks then magically just blew up and is moving really quick.  Maybe the plant got whiff that saw was out and about and just started going, ha!  Regardless, they're all growing, and quickly.. Can't wait to see what they look like in a few weeks, much less by the end of summer.

[tlow 231]

Couple of updates about what's transpired since last week in terms of planting.

Here is how the back of the property looks now... It's kinda hard to see because I buy everything small and enjoy watching it grow over time.  Back here from left to right

W. Filifera , S. Birmingham, W. Filifera, S. Minor Emerald Island Giant, S. Brazoriensis, S. Minor, S. Birmingham

I'm excited about this back area as it grows out and fills out.. will be awesome back here.

'''

Needle Palm looking toward the back of the property

Another corner of the property, just behind the pool... left to right

Pindo, Needle Palm, T. Fortunei Bulgaria, Sabal Major, Sabal Minor

Another S. Brazoriensis

S. Mexicana which was sold as 15G that almost died during the freeze but is now pushing hard!

 

[PricklyPearSATC 264]

It's gonna be beautiful...

However, you need to be careful with that ox beetle due to your woodland setting....@IamJV taught me to use caliche at the base to prevent them.  I also use that systemic 12 month protection. 
 

[tlow 231]

12 minutes ago, PricklyPearSATC said:

It's gonna be beautiful...

However, you need to be careful with that ox beetle due to your woodland setting....@IamJV taught me to use caliche at the base to prevent them.  I also use that systemic 12 month protection. 
 

I need to get the 12 month systemic protection going.  I haven't seen any ox beetles anywhere around here.  I'm looking forward to things growing up around will.. Will be fun to track the progress year over year.  I just ordered some of the Bonide above and will give it a start on Saturday.

Edited April 15, 2021 by tlow

[PricklyPearSATC 264]

Just now, tlow said:

I need to get the 12 month systemic protection going.  I haven't seen any ox beetles anywhere around here.  I'm looking forward to things growing up around will.. Will be fun to track the progress year over year.

They like woodland/compost organic stuff...They also tend to become more active when their habitat has been disturbed. 
We brought in wood chips from tree trimmers and they loved that stuff......Then I put the woodchips out and about and had no idea.....

The large grubs are decomposers and they thrived in that wood chip pile.  The adults are what kill palms. 

[Reyes Vargas 774]

I hate ox beetles.  They killed a couple of my Livistona decora palms.

[tlow 231]

2 hours ago, PricklyPearSATC said:

They like woodland/compost organic stuff...They also tend to become more active when their habitat has been disturbed. 
We brought in wood chips from tree trimmers and they loved that stuff......Then I put the woodchips out and about and had no idea.....

The large grubs are decomposers and they thrived in that wood chip pile.  The adults are what kill palms. 

Just went and picked this up.. will put it down the next time I will manually water.. we're getting rain today, which is fine.. been dry recently.  Works perfectly because I just planted a couple of things as well.

[tlow 231]

Couple of new additions that will be going in our landscaping once we get the retaining wall done, and cleaned up over the summer... 

2x 3G Sabal Lisas

Sabal Bermudana that will go on the south side of our home, protected by the house and full beautiful sun all day long

Our retaining wall won't be done until probably August or early September.. should I just let these live in pots until next year or is the few months before winter enough time to get them acclimated?  Thanks!

[Swolte 876]

On 4/15/2021 at 12:44 PM, PricklyPearSATC said:

I also use that systemic 12 month protection. 

Please, what do you mean here?

[PricklyPearSATC 264]

5 hours ago, tlow said:

Couple of new additions that will be going in our landscaping once we get the retaining wall done, and cleaned up over the summer... 

2x 3G Sabal Lisas

Sabal Bermudana that will go on the south side of our home, protected by the house and full beautiful sun all day long

Our retaining wall won't be done until probably August or early September.. should I just let these live in pots until next year or is the few months before winter enough time to get them acclimated?  Thanks!

Where did you get them?  I'm always amazed at your finds!  (Or are you keeping them secret?)

[PricklyPearSATC 264]

4 hours ago, Swolte said:

Please, what do you mean here?

It's a systemic drench insecticide that lasts 12 months.   It treated borers.  I ended up buying Dominion D L from Do My Own Pest Control.  It is actually much cheaper.  Both products contain imidocloprid.  Insects are killed, but they ingest first.

I will also put down granules  such as bifen...something pyrethroid based, which is a neurotoxin.  Short lived and may not kill, but it will stun the beetles and may repel them. 

[smithgn 116]

Exciting to see your enthusiasm of clearing out land, getting palms in ground and monitoring them as they grow/recover.  As for the clearing of land, I remember immediately wanting to rid my yard of any nutrient sucking oaks and/or deciduous trees in my yard in order to give my place the greenest and most subtropical look I could.  Although, some larger trees (evergreen) can serve as great protection canopy for any undergrowth/shorter palms. Like in my area, there probably aren't very many evergreen trees but if you have any, they can be valuable. 

 

Excited to see how your Sabal Lisa's grow. One of my favorites. 

On another note, I looked up where Oak Point, Texas is, I see you have a large lake around you. Besides the ridges on your property for microclimates are you closeby to any water that can help with moderating temperatures?

It'll be a long journey with some deaths in your palm family but several years from now, you'll cherish these pictures. You'll see them as they were small and become even more proud once you see the progress as they establish themselves and start to grow horizontally and vertically. Good luck!

[tlow 231]

On 5/6/2021 at 3:51 PM, smithgn said:

Exciting to see your enthusiasm of clearing out land, getting palms in ground and monitoring them as they grow/recover.  As for the clearing of land, I remember immediately wanting to rid my yard of any nutrient sucking oaks and/or deciduous trees in my yard in order to give my place the greenest and most subtropical look I could.  Although, some larger trees (evergreen) can serve as great protection canopy for any undergrowth/shorter palms. Like in my area, there probably aren't very many evergreen trees but if you have any, they can be valuable. 

 

Excited to see how your Sabal Lisa's grow. One of my favorites. 

On another note, I looked up where Oak Point, Texas is, I see you have a large lake around you. Besides the ridges on your property for microclimates are you closeby to any water that can help with moderating temperatures?

It'll be a long journey with some deaths in your palm family but several years from now, you'll cherish these pictures. You'll see them as they were small and become even more proud once you see the progress as they establish themselves and start to grow horizontally and vertically. Good luck!

Thank you so much for the long and thoughtful response!  I have spent the better part of a year removing garbage vegetation and beautifying our property.  I still have many palms to plant and a good chunk will go in our new retaining wall but still have probably 4x S. Minors left to plant out in the back along where water normally runs from the rain and drains constantly from our pool.  They'll like the moisture out there!  The S. Bermudana is probably one of the more "vulnerable" ones but it will go in the retaining wall landscaping, with its back to our house so protecting it from the North winds, and great all day southern sun exposure.  I've always wanted a Bermudana and lucky to have found such a large one!

I'm really not expecting too too many deaths besides the ones that are the least cold hardy, ie my Filiferas and Pindos.  If my S. Mexicana can survive this winter we should be good to go in the future.  The Trachys are already 9-10" with full fronds developing so they made it as well.  I'll be sure to use mulch to overwinter these seedlings while they are growing as the hard work is already done with the cages around every single one of them.  Rabbits are devastating here, ruining years worth of fronds and growth in one nibble.

I'm not really sure what the lake does but it certainly seems to moderate storms as they come across the lake.  Folks around our city and our position get much more rain, wind, and storm damage if you will than us so it's doing something.  It's just my own observations and completely un-scientific but I feel like the trees on the South\North,  and the fact we're a good 15' or more down from the main road which has winds helps the backyard out.  It's a weird setup and not something I thought of when we bought the house but I do notice it.  It's stark when you walk out of the house and it's a little windy, but get up to the top of the driveway and immediately when you hit the street the wind howls and you can feel it.  Again, un-scientific and nothing I can verify but it's got to do something.  Our low during the storm was .9F so we certainly we're spared from cold weather.

I can't wait to see what this place looks like even in just a year..  It's funny because my wife laughs at me and calls me the palm whisperer.. every morning I'll walk outside, look at every single one, check progress, and I love watching even just the little bits of progress.. It has really sped up now that it's getting warmer in the day time and nights are warmer as well... you can see visible growth every single day now.  Our 1.5 yr old boy walks around with me as we look at each one, points at them and just yells.  He's a junior palm nut in the making!  I'll take more pictures and do an update to this thread in due time once I have something more to show because just a few leaves sticking out of the ground.  Everything has brand new spears pushing so things are happy!

Edited May 8, 2021 by tlow

[Swolte 876]

2 hours ago, tlow said:

Our 1.5 yr old boy walks around with me as we look at each one, points at them and just yells. 

Hah, this makes me wonder whether I should have started earlier. My 2.5 year old does nothing but making (and executing) different plans. 

[tlow 231]

OK so need some thoughts from the group.. I really like the way S. Minors look out in their natural setting along creeks and I have a little culvert that runs through the front of our property that gets decent sun and I think would be a great spot to put a couple.  I have 6x S. Minors that I need to find homes for.  Thoughts on dotting a couple through this culvert area?  Specific spots they would look good?  I'm toying with locating one not on the bank but maybe on a flat part more in the culvert.  There is never regular water that runs through here, but during torrential rains it runs for a day or two then dries right back up.  I'm jones'ing to plant these as they are just sitting waiting for a home.

Thoughts?

This area gets pretty dang decent sun too.. I also have a needle that needs a home as well.  I could probably do some pruning of the elms and what not to make room for some of these Minors.

Here is across the driveway where I already have two S. Minors (right two, already putting out nice new spears) and a Needle on the right starting to look really good.  These look south and get sun most of the day through the trees and many hours of full sun.  Again, I think these will look cool when they grow up and look more natural in their setting.

Looking from the other side of the driveway toward this area where I want to put the S. Minors

Edited May 25, 2021 by tlow

[teddytn 928]

On 5/25/2021 at 9:07 AM, tlow said:

OK so need some thoughts from the group.. I really like the way S. Minors look out in their natural setting along creeks and I have a little culvert that runs through the front of our property that gets decent sun and I think would be a great spot to put a couple.  I have 6x S. Minors that I need to find homes for.  Thoughts on dotting a couple through this culvert area?  Specific spots they would look good?  I'm toying with locating one not on the bank but maybe on a flat part more in the culvert.  There is never regular water that runs through here, but during torrential rains it runs for a day or two then dries right back up.  I'm jones'ing to plant these as they are just sitting waiting for a home.

Thoughts?

This area gets pretty dang decent sun too.. I also have a needle that needs a home as well.  I could probably do some pruning of the elms and what not to make room for some of these Minors.

Here is across the driveway where I already have two S. Minors (right two, already putting out nice new spears) and a Needle on the right starting to look really good.  These look south and get sun most of the day through the trees and many hours of full sun.  Again, I think these will look cool when they grow up and look more natural in their setting.

Looking from the other side of the driveway toward this area where I want to put the S. Minors

Man that’s a beautiful spot! On the bank where the grass stops maybe 2 or 3. In the flat of the culvert would be as close to natural looking setting. Wouldn’t have to worry about watering those ones! You could do some really cool things with that area

[Swolte 876]

Great potential!! I am not sure what YOU like but if you ask me, I don't think minors work very well in a formal setting. Since they are mostly bulletproof (they grow in wet as well as dry areas, albeit slower in the latter), I mostly go for their placement based purely on aesthetic reasons.  I personally like to put them around trees as you get that nice effect of stems emerging from green. Of course, the contrast with the deep green leaves is great for most tree stems. 

In your situation,  in the last pic, I'd put one in front of those large trees on the slope of the gully to the left and another one on the bank to cover the side of the bridge to the left.

I borrowed the pic from the internet but I am going for the same effect in my yard with a crepe myrtle. 

[tlow 231]

12 hours ago, teddytn said:

Man that’s a beautiful spot! On the bank where the grass stops maybe 2 or 3. In the flat of the culvert would be as close to natural looking setting. Wouldn’t have to worry about watering those ones! You could do some really cool things with that area

Thanks!  I've spent a lot of effort making it much nicer than it was.  I was thinking where the grass stops as well and one I idea I had was to put one not inside of the culvert, but along the bank if I can find a spot because we get water that runs through here when it rains, but it's dry the rest of the time.  I have a bunch of S. Minors so I kinda want to plant a bunch and experiment.

9 hours ago, Swolte said:

Great potential!! I am not sure what YOU like but if you ask me, I don't think minors work very well in a formal setting. Since they are mostly bulletproof (they grow in wet as well as dry areas, albeit slower in the latter), I mostly go for their placement based purely on aesthetic reasons.  I personally like to put them around trees as you get that nice effect of stems emerging from green. Of course, the contrast with the deep green leaves is great for most tree stems. 

In your situation,  in the last pic, I'd put one in front of those large trees on the slope of the gully to the left and another one on the bank to cover the side of the bridge to the left.

I borrowed the pic from the internet but I am going for the same effect in my yard with a crepe myrtle. 

Perfect.. That was some of the spots I was thinking of as well.  I was going to put one on the other side of the bridge as well, or on that bank somewhere.. maybe a couple.  I am not sure I will get grass ALL the way down there because mowing it would be a nightmare so that's also partly the reason for putting a few minors up along the bank.  Really, I have six S. Minors and I'm itching to plant them.

[tlow 231]

OK so seemed like a good day to put three in the ground along the culvert.. I'm pretty happy with how these turned out.

 

[tlow 231]

OK.. so it's been a few months, and we've had some decent growth so I've decided it is time for some pictures.. Don't mind the chicken-wire around nearly all of my smaller palms as we had two bites this spring (rabbits i'm fairly certain) and I just went nuclear and wrapped everything because I don't want to deal with losses.  We've added quite a bit, and have seen a LOT of growth.. pretty exciting.  This is just the backyard around the pool, so I will have to get out to the front of the property, and the back and take some updates as well.  Needless to say we have quite a few palms.  I have another half dozen sitting in the garden waiting to go into our new retaining wall when that gets finished here in a few weeks.

S. Louisiana - This thing once it got acclimated is a rocket.. it moves QUICK with some big ole' leaves and a blue'ish tint to them.

S. Louisiana again.. same traits.

S. Mexicana (Made it through the storm)  Look at that heel, it's HUGE.

Blue Java Banana.. It's gotten this tall in just a few months and puts out a brand new leaf every 1.5 weeks.  We have a pup too that will be moved up in front of the house in my palm\tropical area once it gets 1' tall.  These are beautiful.

S. Uresana (from steve a).  Beautiful blue color to it

S. Bermudana (also from Steve).  This thing grows quick.  I have another one in a pot that will go into the retaining wall area when completed.

 

S. Birmingham ( I have a bunch of these) finally putting out some new split leaves and moving actually quite well for a Birmingham, but still not as quick as I would like and the others are doing.

S. Birmingham or S. Louisiana (ordered from ebay mystery pack of 9).  I'm leaning toward Birmingham just given growth rates and comparing it to my other Louisiana.

 

Another next to it.

Butia - This one didn't do much for the first couple of months but now is visibly moving daily pushing new spear.  It started moving when the 90F+ weather came.

t. fortunei var bulgaria

Washingtonia Filifera seedling (this one was small, didn't do much, heat came and now it's moving.  Something tried to eat it but it's pushing this spear quickly.

musa velutina - Little banana that is just now starting to push out some nice new leaves.

S. Brazoriensis

S. Minor

Sabal Palmetto

S

Rhapidophyllum hystrix - finally pushing two new spears

S. Birmingham - the first one I planted back in March to replace a death windmill, but it's pushed out the leaf that was partially out, and this is the brand new spear unfolding.  Can't wait for these to all go palmate.

S. Brazoriensis

Butia

Butia - this one has a much bluer color to it than any of my other ones.

S. Mexicana - pushing new spear!

Butia - this one wasn't doing much and in fact I think the intense rains hurt it a bit, but finally, finally spear is pushing and opening.

Another Butia.  Same thing, stood still for a while but heat really got it moving.

W. Filifera seedling... small, but man are they awesome, they look great.  Looks like it wants to go palmate soon!

W. Filifera seedling that is a bit behind its neighbors in age evidently.

S. Palmetto

I'll try to get the rest later.. there are a bunch more yet to chronicle.  Thanks for following along!

[Jubaea_James760 602]

Everything looks great. Your place is going to look amazing in a few years! I can't wait to see 

[tlow 231]

1 hour ago, James760 said:

Everything looks great. Your place is going to look amazing in a few years! I can't wait to see 

Thank you!  I know for the time being they look like little sticks but even by the end of this year we'll get some more structure to them all.  We'll see how they all do over the winter time as I will not be going crazy protecting each and every one of these, it's why I've chosen hardier varieties that I don't need to babysit and zone push.  I'll get the rest later today!