Lowest Maintenance Palms by Climate

[ahosey01]

Provide a brief description of your climate and specify what you think is the most low maintenance palm in your conditions.

Here in AZ, I believe it is Washingtonia filifera.

Edited March 19, 2021 by ahosey01

[Trustandi]

In WA, z8B  we have cool & wet winter, mediterranean summer.  The winner is Trachycarpus fortunei. 

[sonoranfans]

I have several palm species that are very close.  If maintenance includes trimming and/or hauling away big leaves as well as fertilizer and water, I'll say Dypsis pembana, if I dont have to haul the leaves away its a tie with roystonea regia.  Beccariophoenix alfredii, sabal causiarum and borassus aethiopum are close there, I still have to trim them, but not so many leaves to carry away as royals.  I have not had to treat for deficiencies in any of the above.  As I see it, feed and water is one aspect, and yard maintenance including trimming old leaves and/or hauling them away etc is another.  As big as those royal leaves are, I dont hav to trim them and that is a bigger issue as palms get tall.  I don't like getting stabbed in trimming so I consider that a maintenance penalty for the thorny ones.  I would say bismarckia was in there as mine is self shedding, but i had one that died of palm weevil attack and the mainentainance of cutting it down at 25' and hauling it away makes the "maintenance risk" profile higher than the others.  If a palm makes me worry about deficiencies, it's just not a low maintenance palm in my book.  I grew palms in arizona for 10 years, washingtonia filifera was the easiest and best looking palm under marginal care.  People with brown thumbs can grow gorgeous filiferas in the phoenix area, best looking filiferas Ive ever seen as public landscape trees.

[ahosey01]

59 minutes ago, sonoranfans said:

I have several palm species that are very close.  If maintenance includes trimming and/or hauling away big leaves as well as fertilizer and water, I'll say Dypsis pembana, if I dont have to haul the leaves away its a tie with roystonea regia.  Beccariophoenix alfredii, sabal causiarum and borassus aethiopum are close there, I still have to trim them, but not so many leaves to carry away as royals.  I have not had to treat for deficiencies in any of the above.  As I see it, feed and water is one aspect, and yard maintenance including trimming old leaves and/or hauling them away etc is another.  As big as those royal leaves are, I dont hav to trim them and that is a bigger issue as palms get tall.  I don't like getting stabbed in trimming so I consider that a maintenance penalty for the thorny ones.  I would say bismarckia was in there as mine is self shedding, but i had one that died of palm weevil attack and the mainentainance of cutting it down at 25' and hauling it away makes the "maintenance risk" profile higher than the others.  If a palm makes me worry about deficiencies, it's just not a low maintenance palm in my book.  I grew palms in arizona for 10 years, washingtonia filifera was the easiest and best looking palm under marginal care.  People with brown thumbs can grow gorgeous filiferas in the phoenix area, best looking filiferas Ive ever seen as public landscape trees.

This is a good analysis. I also think Phoenix dactylifera is a good contender here if you’re very close to the water table.  This is particularly true out by Bullhead City and Lake Havasu and Parker. Those are naturalized all over out there and look great.

Edited March 19, 2021 by ahosey01

[sonoranfans]

1 hour ago, ahosey01 said:

This is a good analysis. I also think Phoenix dactylifera is a good contender here if you’re very close to the water table.  This is particularly true out by Bullhead City and Lake Havasu and Parker. Those are naturalized all over out there and look great.

yes #2 is dactyliferas, in the phoenix area they love the dry heat, better looking than the florida ones or coastal california ones I've seen.  Agreed, dactylifera wants all that heat and with a litte consistent drip irrigation can be at its best.  

[mxcolin]

Washingtonia Robusta here seems to grow like weeds. Needs very little attention, loves the blazing hot sun.

[Merlyn]

Most palms are pretty low maintenance.  For me the lowest maintenance is B. Alfredii, with a reasonably fast growth rate in terms of size gain, but not a large number of fronds per year.  Caryota Mitis is initially zero maintenance but a pain when trunks flower and die.  Sylvestris are low maintenance but thorny and dangerous to trim.  My queens take more time per palm due to the rapid growth, proximity to the house, and large length of the fronds.  

The lowest maintenance plants are my cycads.  I mostly ignore them, and they just keep chugging along...

[96720]

Royals are hands down the easiest all you have to do is take the fronds to the trash when they hit the ground no climbing to cut fronds no pulling little seedlings if you don’t get the seed pods cut off promptly no stickers to get stabbed with no Washingtonias or phoenixes for me second would be Bismarckia because they also drop their fronds 

[Merlyn]

10 hours ago, 96720 said:

Royals are hands down the easiest all you have to do is take the fronds to the trash when they hit the ground no climbing to cut fronds no pulling little seedlings if you don’t get the seed pods cut off promptly no stickers to get stabbed with no Washingtonias or phoenixes for me second would be Bismarckia because they also drop their fronds

That's true, pretty much all "self-cleaning" palms are really low maintenance.  As long as there's nothing valuable underneath, just let the fronds fall and then go pick them up at your convenience!  Royals can be a pain, just from the size and weight of the fronds.  When they are 30' tall and you've planted other cool stuff under them, the random BOOM in the middle of the night could be nerve-wracking. 

In general, any palm hardy to a zone below where you live is going to be pretty low maintenance.  The exception of course is trying to grow desert types in a tropical area, or vice-versa.  So for me, growing Bottles/Spindles/Coconuts in a borderline 9B/9A area is a hassle of burned fronds in the winter, extra fertilizer and fungicide, wrapping them up on cold fronts, etc.  But a Butia is a plant-and-forget kind of palm, requiring really no supplemental irrigation or fertilizer.  Chop off a couple of fronds once a year and that's about it.

I forgot an honorable mention for most-irritating-to-maintain...Phoenix Roebellini.  It's a slower grower, but pruning the fronds is way more stabby than the bigger Phoenix like Sylvestris or Canariensis.  The thorns on the big ones are easy to see and easy to avoid.  Roebellini thorns hide in among the dried out leaflets and stab you when you are least expecting it!  And the thorn stabs hurt for several days and have a high chance of infection.

[aegean]

zone 8b/9a northern Greece.

While I agree that W. filifera grows like weed, T.fortunei is definitely easier to prune. Much smaller, no thorns. More cold hardy.

[Palmfarmer]

Mexican highlands. I have to go with Filifera CIPD and Regular date palm. Few palms can survive 9 months without much rain.

[PricklyPearSATC]

Sabal minor, mexicana and palmetto perform the best here.

Minors are native to the county next to us.  (30 miles away)
Mexican and palmetto showed some freeze damage after the big freeze. However, this damage is mostly cosmetic. 

Med fan palm, filiferas normally do quite well here.  (Although filiferas need to be sited well for drainage) 
I've heard CIDPs will recover. (CIDPs are limited in cultivation due to their massive size) 

Does not do well:  Butia...They are cold hardy, but hate our soil. 

[96720]

Butias also hated our last summer but royals loved it