A beautiful Phoenix reclinata

[Josue Diaz]

This reclinata is in a front yard near my house. I always look for it when I drive down that street. Glad to see it so well taken care of

[Tracy]

36 minutes ago, Josue Diaz said:

This P reclinata is in a front yard near my house. I always look for it when I drive down that street. Glad to see it so well taken care of.

Nice example.  The trick is keeping the basal suckers down at this age.  Before they get this tall the challenge is those rigid long diminished leaftlets that turn into long barbs.  I know from personal experience.  The crown of mine is lost in an adjacent Spathodea campanulata now, so only when the tree drops all it's leaves can one see the P reclinata, but it still wants to push out basal suckers that have to be "well taken care of" as you say.

[DoomsDave]

Lots of water too, at least in my experience. 

[hbernstein]

As a South Florida gardener, my first instinct is to shudder at the sight of any reclinata.

[idontknowhatnametuse]

Reclinatas are pretty rare where I live, I have only seen them in one place of the city.

[TheMadScientist]

This is a photo of what @Tracy is referring to when discussing "trimming".  This example is more than 40 years old at the San Fernando Courthouse entrance and was "chopped" when seeds, fronds or trunks become a safety concern to visitors that might wish to collect the BIG MONEY FOR PERSONAL INJURIES.