Caring for my palms

[MichaelHijinx 0]

I moved into a house and want some advice on taking care of my palms.

I have 2 queen palms on a hillside. The ground has been eroding around the base. I'm about to build a retaining wall to level out the ground, but want to ask if I should do something about the existing damage. 

I think the other 2 are canary date palms (please let me know if I'm incorrect). The little one sprouted up, so I assume it grew from a seed that fell. I'm concerned about how close the big one was planted to the concrete, it is now overlapping it. Also the angle of the ground it is planted in and it's proximity to the house. I don't think the previous owner considered how big it would grow. Its at a slight angle, Will it be able to straighten up & not be a problem? 

Thanks in advance for any advice. 

[awkonradi 398]

Hi Michael,

Welcome to PalmTalk!  Yes, you have two queen palms, and two Canary Island date palms (CIDP).  All four palms look healthy.  I don't see any "damage" to any of them.  All four palms would enjoy some watering through the coming hot and dry summer months in Folsom, and especially your two queen palms.  I would expect your leaning CIDP to curve towards vertical as it grows, but it looks like some of its fronds may contact the house.   You can trim any contacting fronds to clear the house, without hurting the palm.  I think the walkway next to the CIDP won't hurt the palm.  I will let others wiser than me comment about the likelihood of that palm hurting the walkway.  Regarding your planned retaining wall, I think putting that in will not hurt your queen palms, as long as you do not pile dirt too high around their trunks.  I will let others wiser than me comment about how high it would be OK to pile dirt around them.

Edited May 10 by awkonradi

[Jim in Los Altos 3,267]

Your queens will be fine and actually benefit from adding a few inches of soil. They will produce lots of stabilizing new roots into that new soil. Keep them well watered and a palm specific fertilizer would be beneficial since queens are heavy feeders.