Planting royals as a double

[Gottagrowemall]

Recently I got two more royals for my jungle and im still deciding where to put them. I’m the meantime I remember seeing these royals planted as a double and loved the look.

Would you recommend this? Im worried their size would become an issue in the future and I’ve really never seen one grow curved.

[Johnny Palmseed]

I would not recommend it. They will grow with a slight curve but will grow upright after a short time. Because the trunks are so wide, I don’t think it will give the look you expect or want. From observation I believe that most palms when grown together distance themselves by a few feet and then grow vertically. When you have narrow trunks like Veitchia or Archontophoenix, it looks graceful due to the ratio of curve to trunk width. And they continue to have slight variations as they grow where as the royal looks like a straight line up. When you have a wide trunk palm like the royals, it will just look distorted at the bottom and then be vertical. Some palms, queens especially do not look good when planted this way. The trunk distorts as if to give the palm more rigidity. It will flatten itself along the sides and will develop a pronounced ovoid shape. Other palms do this as well but it is not as visually apparent. If the pictured palms continue to grow equally, the crowns will be mashed together, losing the characteristic form. And you always have the risk of one of them overpowering the other. Then you could end up with just one good palm with a weird curve at the bottom.

[SeanK]

Generally, palms with thin trunks will look OK as doubles and triples. Royals get too big to fit that rule. Each royal will fill it's own space in the landscape. Plant Christmas Palms or P.roebellinis as multiples.

[kinzyjr]

My lot is pitched in with @Johnny Palmseed and @SeanK - palms with trunks that thick typically don't look good planted that close to each other.  Planting them in a group is OK given enough space, but make sure if you lose one that it doesn't ruin the aesthetic look in the portion of the lot you're landscaping.

[Johnny Palmseed]

2 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

My lot is pitched in with @Johnny Palmseed and @SeanK - palms with trunks that thick typically don't look good planted that close to each other.  Planting them in a group is OK given enough space, but make sure if you lose one that it doesn't ruin the aesthetic look in the portion of the lot you're landscaping.

Exactly. Plant a double royal. Both grow for some time. One dies and is removed. The remaining one now looks like a distorted ”J”. This can (and does) occur with thinner trucked palms but the end result is not as visually striking.

[Gottagrowemall]

38 minutes ago, Johnny Palmseed said:

Exactly. Plant a double royal. Both grow for some time. One dies and is removed. The remaining one now looks like a distorted ”J”. This can (and does) occur with thinner trucked palms but the end result is not as visually striking.

That makes a ton of sense thank you

[Jim in Los Altos]

I personally love the look of multi-trunked Royals. If you have the space, they can look quite dramatic . 

[Gottagrowemall]

5 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

I personally love the look of multi-trunked Royals. If you have the space, they can look quite dramatic . 

Did you see these in person? The pic looks a little distorted or fake. Planting them as a double like that seems to dwarf them too a little bit which I would like.

[Jim in Los Altos]

1 hour ago, Gottagrowemall said:

Did you see these in person? The pic looks a little distorted or fake. Planting them as a double like that seems to dwarf them too a little bit which I would like.

It’s an old picture I saved off the internet several years ago. It’s real as far as I know. If we’ll fed and watered, most palms will grow as well in groups as singularly. Some actually grow better in tight groups than out in the open as a single.  

[TomJ]

In the city of Huatulco there are many multi planted Royals.

I thought they looked amazing. 

So I put this in the ground two years ago.

[redant]

I have several doubles and triples,  they look great that way. I will say that for the best results they need to be done at Seedlings or very early age otherwise u end up with 2 telephone ples next to each other, they don't bend enough.

[Gottagrowemall]

5 hours ago, redant said:

I have several doubles and triples,  they look great that way. I will say that for the best results they need to be done at Seedlings or very early age otherwise u end up with 2 telephone ples next to each other, they don't bend enough.

Mine are 30 gallon probably 14 feet tall. Just starting to trunk. Is that probably too big?

[96720]

I have 4 planted as doubles and triples the hard thing is getting the crownshaft off when they are so close I like the look of palms planted that way but the only crownshafted palm that grows very well here is royals so that is what I have!!!

Edited November 14, 2022 by 96720
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[ruskinPalms]

One of the new developments here near me has planted several (big) royal multiples as part of grand front entrance. Unfortunately they were planted close to Ian and Nicole so they have been beat to hell. Will be interesting how they finally turn out. 

[redant]

16 hours ago, Gottagrowemall said:

Mine are 30 gallon probably 14 feet tall. Just starting to trunk. Is that probably too big?

yes, that will not at all work.