Bismarck straightening

[Walter John]

Hi folks

My big Biz took a huge lean recently courtesy of rains and wind and loss of soil so I have roped her to a bangalow nearby. Hoping this works and corrects this palm's standing.

[F Zipperbaum]

Wal, why not just root prune one side and straighten it?

[BigFrond]

It's better if you use an old hose line than the rope.  The rope will damage both the bungalow and the bismark.  I used the hose line on one of my royals and there is no damage at all.

[Kris]

Dear Wal  

it is a painful sight to see my beauty

leaning to one side.

Please keep us posted when things go

normal.And even i feel that you should

avoide ropes or binding wire stuff on our

loved ones.if possible place some angle/

metal shaft near-by and bind it with a

cycle tyre or puntured cycle tube to

the plam to get the desired leverage.

Wishing that blue baby all well.

Love,

Kris.

[redant]

I'd just support it in it's new state, not try to straighten it. I have a big one that did this from Frances, Jeanne and or Wilma. It's dealing with it and looks like when it gets big you will never notice.  There is a large one just down from my office. Had about 10ft of clear trunk. The hurricanes gave it a huge push to an angle, now it's growing straight again. It actually looks very cool. Maybe I'll shoot a photo at lunch.

[MattyB]

Nice wranglin' Wal!

[bgl]

Wal,

We had a similar incident here five years ago. We had just purchased an adjacent acre, and had a big D-9 bulldozer clearing it. A tall tree fell in the wrong direction and hit one of my Bismarckias nearby, causing it to take a serious lean. We cut up the trunk of a tree in 2-3 ft/60-90 cm long pieces (about 6-8 inches/15-20 cm in diameter) and used those to prop up the Bismarckia, attempting to push it in the right direction, and keeping it in place. The advantage with this approach (as opposed to a rope) is that we could just leave those supporting tree trunks there more or less indefinitely without the need for any future adjustments. As a matter of fact, one of them is still there, but I could probably remove it by now. The others have just fallen to the ground by themselves over the years and the Bismarckia is doing just fine now. The lean is pretty much undetecable at this point so the solution worked just fine.

Bo-Göran

[Davidl]

Wal if I was going to straighten it up I would saturate the ground and then try. You might have to do a little and wait awhile (maybe a month) and try somemore. When the soil is wet the roots seem to move in the soil easier. Well maybe people might think im crazy but it works for me if the palm is not to big.Also remove that mulch before you try it will hinder I think.

[glbower]

Hurricane Charley blew my bismarck into about a 30 degree lean. It was still firmly rooted, so, keeping in mind that bismarcks don't like their roots disturbed, I left it alone. Twenty-eight months later, it has straightened itself up to the point that it is nearly vertical. Keep it from falling any further, but I wouldn't worry about straigtening it.

[Walter John]

Thanks for the tips and thoughts, I will seriously consider removal of the rope tomorrow. It did concern me that I had to shove it into a position (root disturbance).

Darn, I'm not sure what to do.

[redant]

Here is the big bent bizzie. Hard to get a good picture to show how bent it is but it's significant.

[redant]

another angle

[glbower]

I have some cocos that look like that, but I think I like my bizzies better straight.

[Patrick]

Hey wal! I had a Brahea edulis do the same thing on me at about that size due to winds. It was literally on it's side. I propped it up and it's stronger than ever- your bizzie will secure itself in no time. It's fortunate that it's a smaller specimen so you're not dealing with a trunk like redant was (what a doosey!). I would agree with the wet soil bit and also the garden hose. Good luck!

[Dypsisdean]

Wal, or another Aussie,

Nothing to do with the thread, but what's a 'bangalow?'

Is that like Aussie for 'bungalow?'

[Scott]

(Dypsisdean @ Dec. 07 2006,21:59)

QUOTE

Wal, or another Aussie,

Nothing to do with the thread, but what's a 'bangalow?'

Is that like Aussie for 'bungalow?'

Thanks for asking Dean, I've seen it here before, but often wondered.

Wal good luck with your Bismarck. That is a nice piece of wranglin'!

[DoomsDave]

Wal:

The Bizzie'll be fine, so far, no trunk, so it'll just grow up straight.

BUT, on the other hand, figure out why it leaned, and correct it.  Maybe dirt's not packed enough around the base, pack some dirt in there.

Let us know what you find out.

dave

[gsn]

Bangalow is one of the common names for Archontophoenix cunninghamiana !

[BigFrond]

(Scott @ Dec. 08 2006,01:02)

QUOTE

(Dypsisdean @ Dec. 07 2006,21:59)

QUOTE

Wal, or another Aussie,

Nothing to do with the thread, but what's a 'bangalow?'

Is that like Aussie for 'bungalow?'

Thanks for asking Dean, I've seen it here before, but often wondered.

Wal good luck with your Bismarck. That is a nice piece of wranglin'!

  You guys did not pay attention or may have not listen to Wal's videos.  I'm sure DypsisDean may have heard the "bungalow" reference before.  Anyway, the pronunciation is more like "BAANGALOW" from Wal's famous videos.  

[Dypsisdean]

Well, my question is still not really answered. At least not clearly enough for me.

I know what a Bangalow Palm is. I'm wondering from where does this common name come from.

Is 'bangalow' simply the Aussie pronounciation of 'bungalow', or does it have some other origin or meaning?

I always assumed it was connected to 'bungalow' somehow, but I don't know why I thought that, other than the similarity.

[Kris]

(Dypsisdean @ Dec. 09 2006,01:28)

QUOTE

Well, my question is still not really answered. At least not clearly enough for me.

I know what a Bangalow Palm is. I'm wondering from where does this common name come from.

Is 'bangalow' simply the Aussie pronounciation of 'bungalow', or does it have some other origin or meaning?

I always assumed it was connected to 'bungalow' somehow, but I don't know why I thought that, other than the similarity.

Even Iam Very Curious to know ?

Love,

Kris.

[Walter John]

I answered this a long time ago (on the old posts). No it is not aussie for bungalow. Here in Australia we do actually spell words correctly, how we say them or pronunciate them is another matter.

A.cunninghamiana is an australian palm first and foremost. It is NEVER referred to in it's homeland as "king" palm, yeech, ugh, throw up.

It's origins are from mid eastern New South Wales to mid and slightly above eastern Queensland.

In New South Wales there's a place called, you guessed it, "Bangalow". This place name is of aboriginal origin and either they named the palm thusly or because the place was covered in bangalow palms, somebody named it thusly. Bangalow is the most common name for this palm in Australia..but wait...there's more. In Queensland it was named the piccabeen palm after the aboriginie term for vessel or pikki.

The only king here mate is Wally Lewis. Look up "wally lewis king" on the web.

A.cunninghamian (Bangalow or Piccabeen)

A.alexandrae (Alexander or just plain Alex)

[Dypsisdean]

Wal,

Thanks for the explanation.

[Walter John]

(Dypsisdean @ Dec. 09 2006,16:25)

QUOTE

Wal,

Thanks for the explanation.

No worries Dean, do you think americans will ever use Bangalow or Alex ot Mount Lewis ? They wrap up them all up under "king". Pretty damn confusing if you ask me, way too general a term. I think it is too entrenched and many nurserymen and plant selling stores do wear blinkers, anywhere in the world.

[PALM MOD]

(Wal @ Dec. 09 2006,10:29)

QUOTE

(Dypsisdean @ Dec. 09 2006,16:25)

QUOTE

Wal,

Thanks for the explanation.

No worries Dean, do you think americans will ever use Bangalow or Alex ot Mount Lewis ? They wrap up them all up under "king". Pretty damn confusing if you ask me, way too general a term. I think it is too entrenched and many nurserymen and plant selling stores do wear blinkers, anywhere in the world.

Sorry Wal,

I have never ever heard it refered to here as 'Bangalow.' And I doubt it ever will.

BTW --- I noticed you capitalized 'Bangalow,' 'Alex,' and 'Mount Lewis.'

Yet you failed to do so with 'americans,' or 'king.' Anything subliminal going on there?  

[DoomsDave]

Well, a bangalow's pretty kingly, if you ask me.

Tall, stately, with that glorious clean head of leaves.  Plus it's a lot easier to spell for Americans, who are truly spelling challenged if my observations are correct.

I like to call the A. alexandrae the "Big Al" after Al Capone, n'yah, 'shee?

Dave