The right side of my property is bordered by chain link and a neighbor who loves his grass and Adonidia palms ... One great thing about this neighbor is he waters his 'prized possessions' everyday. I think this helps all of my palms that border his property, since I water these palms the least of any in my collection. I will start it off with my Coccothrinax cupularis. This is a rare palm and choice in every sense of the word.

There are a few in this group that get a little more water than the rest. My Hemithrinax ekmaniana and Pseudophoenix lediniana are part of my low water group of palms, but they are a bit further from the neighbor's yard so they get some supplemental water.

There are also a few palms that get less than the rest of the palms I don't water. My swale palms on the right get almost no water other than what falls from the sky--the hose just doesn't reach out this far. Gaussia attenuata, Coccothrinax alexandrii, and Gaussia princeps. Princeps seems to be the least happy, in the form of turning a bit yellow, but otherwise performing well. I will note, the alexandrii was very small when planted and is doing very well considering the lack of water.

ps. sorry for the Adonidia in the background!

I got this Coccothrinax barbadensis as a volunteer at MBC. I am a volunteer, it was a volunteer, we both liked palms and besides from it being one of the less attractive species in the genus, my wife likes it and so it will never be removed. I have it next to the cupularis so when clients/visitors come by, they can see the difference between a nice palm and a seriously nice palm.

My cupularis is next to a simple Buccaneer palm; I grew this from a seedling and I can tell you this is one slow palm! I have developed a personal relationship with it--both of us growing together for so long... to the right of the Buc' is an encephalartos, my neighbor, Jody(virtualpalm) gave to me. Love thy neighbor!

Moving down the line...

Copernicia rigida blue form. This, if you know, is it.

A recap on the first three palms.

and a little backdrop, with my feature palm/first ever planted on my property: Copernicia gigas

ALAS there is not such thing in my climate and soil. BTW I fear that your palms commit water-hijacking lol.

ALAS there is not such thing in my climate and soil. BTW I fear that your palms commit water-hijacking lol.

Water-hijacking is one way of puting it... but for one thing, his grass gets most of the water and what is left goes to my palm's roots. That, and wouldn't it be a small price to pay for looking at these water-hijackers, everyday?

BY ALL MEANS, wish I had such a neighbouring garden to my own.

Waters his grass everyday? Perfect recipe for a shallow root system and fried grass if he ever stops watering it, not to mention a waste of water, don't you guys have restrictions over there?

Waters his grass everyday? Perfect recipe for a shallow root system and fried grass if he ever stops watering it, not to mention a waste of water, don't you guys have restrictions over there?

Palmdude--first off, why would we have any current water restrictions? And second off, why would I ever narc on a neighbor? Third off, who cares about grass and even moreso, who cares about grass they don't own? He can water all he wants even during a restriction time--I would not want him to call on me

And what is this about a shallow root system? Grass has deep root systems? Off topic, but the first I have heard of such.

The topic heading of "palms I don't really water" fits all my around 300 spp. in Puerto Rico. However the subtitle "drought tolerant" means the palms I'm a bit nervous about trying which means most of the ones in your lovely photos. The ones that grow easily in California may not like the rainfall I get.

I'm still planning where and how to place my new Copernicias and Pseudophoenix and coccothrinax where it's alkaline, dry and sunny with room for their eventual size. I think I'll need to amend the soil with marble chips maybe?

If only I could access some of the open pasture next door (minus the palm eating cows of course!).

The topic heading of "palms I don't really water" fits all my around 300 spp. in Puerto Rico. However the subtitle "drought tolerant" means the palms I'm a bit nervous about trying which means most of the ones in your lovely photos. The ones that grow easily in California may not like the rainfall I get.

I'm still planning where and how to place my new Copernicias and Pseudophoenix and coccothrinax where it's alkaline, dry and sunny with room for their eventual size. I think I'll need to amend the soil with marble chips maybe?

If only I could access some of the open pasture next door (minus the palm eating cows of course!).

Cindy, for one thing I am not in California and the palms I have shown, may or may not do well in California. Secondly, for the sun loving Caribbean species, granite or marble chips will do no good--that is the wrong ph and rock. You will need dressings of lime or dolomite, though in full sun positions, you shouldn't have a single problem with any of the palms I have--YOU ARE IN THE CARIBBEAN!

andrew, I'm not suggesting you turn in your neighbor, we do have water restrictions where I live and most people try to respect those guidelines.

Since you don't like grass in the first place I won't hold it against you for not knowing anything about the proper way to grow and maintain it. Some homeowners are unaware that an irrigation system should be adjusted seasonally, and failure to adjust for seasonal changes will usually lead to overwatering. Overwatering will harm long-term turf health because it greatly increases disease susceptibility and thatch buildup and leads to a shorter root system, which reduces the turfs overall stress tolerance and ability to survive with less water. Additionally, overwatering promotes the growth of certain weed species such as dollarweed and sedges.

Since you never heard of that before you heard it here first!

As I have clients with all types of landscapes, most of which include turf, it's important not only for me to know how to maintain their grass properly but also to educate my clients on Florida friendly practices, you would be doing your neighbor a service by sharing this information and yes water IS a precious resource in Florida that should be used wisely, you might not care but plenty of us other people do!

Nice Little babies you have growing there by the way, keep up the good work.

Edited May 7, 201412 yr by Palmdude