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Washingtonia protection - Pacific Northwest style.


Chester B

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We’re lucky here our winters don’t get too cold but we do have a issue with moisture. Because of this certain palms that are hardy to our minimum temperatures don’t do well like Washingtonia palms. This year I purchased a new Washingtonia robusta and I am helping it along through winter, I created this little structure using some plastic panels from an old greenhouse. It will still allow airflow to prevent mold and fungus and it has a sloped roof to help drain off the rain.  This is the highest level of protection I have ever done for any of my plants.

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You will need to invest in some taller lumber for next year!

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Zone 8b, Csb (Warm-summer Mediterranean climate). 1,940 annual sunshine hours 
Annual lows-> 19/20: -5.0C, 20/21: -5.5C, 21/22: -8.3C, 22/23: -9.4C, 23/24: 1.1C (so far!)

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Sweet set up. I am doing something like that but I am using a popup greenhouse thats 3'x3' x 4'.  It protect the palm from rain, snow, wind and also give a few degree's of heat.  

I hope yours does good for you.  It looks like we'll just get a lot of rain this winter so it's should be fine.  Wind will go through it but that shouldn't bother the washy. 

BTW are those clear plant trays for the top?

 

Edited by Paradise Found
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1 hour ago, ShadyDan said:

You will need to invest in some taller lumber for next year!

It was a lot taller and wider than I thought when I actually went to assemble it

1 hour ago, Paradise Found said:

Sweet set up. I am doing something like that but I am using a popup greenhouse thats 3'x3' x 4'.  It protect the palm from rain, snow, wind and also give a few degree's of heat.  

I hope yours does good for you.  It looks like we'll just get a lot of rain this winter so it's should be fine.  Wind will go through it but that shouldn't bother the washy. 

BTW are those clear plant trays for the top?

 

Those are polycarbonate panels from greenhouse.

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Yours will be probably more effective than mine, and easier to set up. 

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1 hour ago, Chester B said:

Yours will be probably more effective than mine, and easier to set up. 

I think everyone has tried the umbrella protection once...lol.

You can see part of the greenhouse popup. I took it off since its raining and the plants don't need protection right now.  The plants in this area will all be protected any time it goes below 25F I'm using the cacti to see if that spot is dry enough and protected. 

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Edited by Paradise Found
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2 hours ago, Chester B said:

Yours will be probably more effective than mine, and easier to set up. 

There is nothing wrong with yours, just keep an eye on it when it snows or ice storm and you'll be fine. 

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@Chester B a protection idea I dabbled with in the past involved the plastic fence sleeving and 4x4s.

I used a post hole digger and dug down somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-4 feet then set my sleeves in place. Filled the sleeve in with a bit of gravel for drainage then set the posts. 

Granted, 4x4s may be overkill but this overall method allows for quick post size changes as the tree grows while using a designated footprint. Walls and ceiling can obviously be anything and during the summer you can either cap the sleeves or put something decorative in like a solar light. 

Screenshot_20211105-151322_Instagram.jpg

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Nice technique.  For mine here in the north of England I don't do anything to keep the rain off and it seems not to mind, but then again I think we don't get as cold.  The humidity is constantly high, very rarely below 85% in the winter months.  I agree with @ShadyDan you are going to need bigger posts!

Eventually there is nothing you can do but cross your fingers, because they quickly get too big to protect.  The one I planted in 2007 in Ashland is a monster now:

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The only protection this gets is a layer of leaf mulch around the base to prevent the roots from freezing.  Ashland is not very rainy though, so we never contemplated a cover.

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Manchester, Lancashire, England

53.4ºN, 2.2ºW, 65m AMSL

Köppen climate Cfb | USDA hardiness zone 9a

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Wow, that is big.  I thought Ashland was pretty cold - zone 8a, but I guess that extra winter sun and lack of rain makes all the difference.

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On 11/5/2021 at 1:37 PM, DAVEinMB said:

@Chester B a protection idea I dabbled with in the past involved the plastic fence sleeving and 4x4s.

I used a post hole digger and dug down somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-4 feet then set my sleeves in place. Filled the sleeve in with a bit of gravel for drainage then set the posts. 

Granted, 4x4s may be overkill but this overall method allows for quick post size changes as the tree grows while using a designated footprint. Walls and ceiling can obviously be anything and during the summer you can either cap the sleeves or put something decorative in like a solar light. 

Screenshot_20211105-151322_Instagram.jpg

Screenshot_20211105-151310_Instagram.jpg

 

That is real slick. Exactly was I have in mind for future plans. I was going to add 1" panels of insulation board which also have a reflective film on one side. That would brighten up the interior on our dull dreary days. Well done.

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On 11/12/2021 at 2:51 PM, Las Palmas Norte said:

 

That is real slick. Exactly was I have in mind for future plans. I was going to add 1" panels of insulation board which also have a reflective film on one side. That would brighten up the interior on our dull dreary days. Well done.

Thanks! Unfortunately it was very short lived because the hoa put the kibosh on it but I've kept the idea in my back pocket for another day. The insulation panel would be a great addition; if you rigged up a grow light and a simple heat source (c9 bulbs maybe) you could grow damn near anything... size permitting of course. It doesn't show it in my photo but I had a simple hinged door built into one of the plywood walls so I could easily inspect how things were going as well

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Finally got around to taking some pics of these. I found the two in the first picture about a month ago and from google street view over time it looks like they both grew to that size from much smaller. 

There are also 3-5 more that I know about but were not on my route for these so that will need to be later. One of them looks to be bigger than the two in the first picture.

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There are a few planted here and proof that we had a very good summer.

I took this first pic back on March 29th

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And here it is again on November 20th

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The rest

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And since this thread is about protection, this looks to be one of the options

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