Would this look dumb?

[NickJames]

Washingtonia robusta in red, Sabal palmetto in brownish. 

would this look dumb?

It’s basically two identical triangles with the Washingtonia located slightly uphill. 

I would put something low in center of Triangles.  

[DoomsDave]

Hmmm. Interesting start! It won’t take long for the washies to rocket ahead…

[NickJames]

16 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

Hmmm. Interesting start! It won’t take long for the washies to rocket ahead…

I’m just trying to figure out relatively bulletproof stuff to fill up the areas of the front outside my septic tanks and drain field. I hate all the grass lol. 

[NickJames]

With no drawing on it

[DoomsDave]

8 minutes ago, NickJames said:

With no drawing on it

Hhhmmmm lots of thoughts but maybe @iDesign might have some pretty pictures for concepts.

[HiwaKika]

I would do one clean multi cycad or something ...

 

[Fusca]

2 hours ago, NickJames said:

I’m just trying to figure out relatively bulletproof stuff to fill up the areas of the front outside my septic tanks and drain field. I hate all the grass lol. 

I'd go with Roystonia regia (not multiples) if that area stays damp - royals love extra water.  Maybe not bullet-proof but close enough I'd think if I'm remembering your location in Florida correctly.

Edited February 5 by Fusca

[Merlyn]

@NickJamesI think it'd look really dumb if you made some big red cardboard boxes and put lime green astroturf on the top.  Ohhhhhh, you meant those to be palms.   

My first thought was something taller-ish towards the driveway, lower stuff in the center with one tall/rocket grower in the center, then taller stuff to the right side on the photo.  That sort of frames the front door, which is I guess already blocked by the Pindo?  Maybe Arenga Engleri on the right?  Allagoptera Arenaria in the middle?  Elaeis Guineensis is fast growing and pretty hardy here, taking minimal damage in the last two years of 24-30F freezes.  Copernicia Baileyana or Fallaensis?  Beccariophoenix Alfredii?  I think those would all be reliably hardy in your spot.

If you want bulletproof I'd avoid Washies.  They are super-susceptible to Fusarium, I've seen entire rows of them die in a matter of weeks. 

[Billy]

7 minutes ago, Merlyn said:

Maybe Arenga Engleri on the right?  Allagoptera Arenaria in the middle?  Copernicia Baileyana or Fallaensis?  Beccariophoenix Alfredii?  

This^^^

[PalmatierMeg]

Two Washies and 4 Sabals are a lot of palms to pack into your front yard - eventually. They might look OK for a few years but eventually will take over, esp. the Washies. I also agree that Washies are prone to wilt and invasive. They will drop seeds like nobody’s business (if they survive) and you will spend much of your free time pulling up seedlings. Wilt did me a favor taking mine out. Not to mention they are way over planted. There are so many better palm choices, as mentioned above.

[kinzyjr]

@NickJames

If you want to set the area apart and keep the landscape hardy to typical conditions, my suggestion is use Silver Bismarckia nobilis and Silver Serenoa repens with a couple of landscape boulders in an ovoid-shaped bed.  In this design, I'd go with stone mulch of some kind.

This is roughly what the footprint could look like:

[Palmfarmer]

How about a Kentia in the center? 

[kinzyjr]

4 minutes ago, Palmfarmer said:

How about a Kentia in the center? 

Howea forsteriana would probably only perform well in this setting if the center was a mature live oak and there were no angles were direct sun would reach it.

[Palmfarmer]

2 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

Howea forsteriana would probably only perform well in this setting if the center was a mature live oak and there were no angles were direct sun would reach it.

I thought Kentias could handle direct sun a lot better in Humid Climates. I got one planted between two Washies and it does great. 

[kinzyjr]

34 minutes ago, Palmfarmer said:

I thought Kentias could handle direct sun a lot better in Humid Climates. I got one planted between two Washies and it does great. 

Almost all of them here in my area under canopy.  I think @PalmatierMeg has similar experiences.

[SeanK]

IMHO, the heights of plants should correlate to the heights of architecture. I've seen many robustas in Houston in small lots with a ranch style house. Look terrible. Architecture and landscaping need to be designed and scaled together.

Also, less is more. For passers-by to appreciate your yard, less plants looks better. A mix of pinnate vs. palmate, scaled for the house. Then add color by way of flowering shrubs.

Edited February 6 by SeanK

[awkonradi]

I like kinzyjr's Bismarckia and Serenoa idea.

[NickJames]

6 hours ago, HiwaKika said:

I would do one clean multi cycad or something ...

 

Chinese balloon spotting? Lol

[iDesign]

10 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

Hhhmmmm lots of thoughts but maybe @iDesign might have some pretty pictures for concepts.

Only since I was paged... 

I would lay things out very differently if it were my yard. I'd put my largest palms on the far right, in the back row.  Since both Bismarckia & Beccariophonix were mentioned, I'll use those in my mockup (since it's one of my all-time favorite combinations). 

One of the goals for me is to "erase' my neighbors, so that's another reason to put the largest stuff at the perimeter. I'd also add a multi-trunk palm at the edge for a similar blocking effect, and to give variety against the single-trunk palms (I used lutescens in my mockup - which I *think* is common in your area, but definitely confirm).

In front of the large palms goes the smaller plants. Serenoa reopens looks like a great choice based on internet photos. Then add lots of colorful tropical plants. The plants in my photo are just random ones that popped up when I typed "zone 8 tropical landscape". Doesn't matter all that much which plants you add... just pick non-green ones with a lot of COLOR.

Arenga Engleri  looks awesome in internet photos, and would make for a nice bushy addition (again, I'd probably use it as a neighbor-blocker, which is why I put it in the corner). Lots of other plants mentioned above would also look great, but I personally think you should limit any huge "monster" palms to the back & sides of the yard.

As for the grass, I would lose the grass on the right side first (since a planter in that area would give a neighbor-blocking advantage). Then I would expand the planter near the house... probably with small to mid-size tropical plants. If I later want to get rid of more grass, I'd expand the planters (but again, keeping the tallest palms near the back. Rather than make palm "islands" in the grass, I'd try to put the grass in a large swath with curved lines at the edge (makes it easier to mow as well). If it were me, I'd probably expand both planters even more than what is shown in the photo... almost to the point where the grass is just a "path" to the backyard.

Landscape boulders would also be a nice addition - either as a border to the planters or as large feature rocks.

That's just what I would do... there are no set "rules" 😉

[amh]

11 hours ago, NickJames said:

With no drawing on it

Where is the property line?

[JLM]

9 hours ago, HiwaKika said:

I would do one clean multi cycad or something ...

 

LOL


Personally, i like the sound of @kinzyjr's idea. You could plop some smaller flowering plants in there and it would make a rather colorful statement having the silver/blue palms above with green/colorful flowers below.

[Josue Diaz]

2 hours ago, iDesign said:

Only since I was paged... 

I would lay things out very differently if it were my yard. I'd put my largest palms on the far right, in the back row.  Since both Bismarckia & Beccariophonix were mentioned, I'll use those in my mockup (since it's one of my all-time favorite combinations). 

One of the goals for me is to "erase' my neighbors, so that's another reason to put the largest stuff at the perimeter. I'd also add a multi-trunk palm at the edge for a similar blocking effect, and to give variety against the single-trunk palms (I used lutescens in my mockup - which I *think* is common in your area, but definitely confirm).

In front of the large palms goes the smaller plants. Serenoa reopens looks like a great choice based on internet photos. Then add lots of colorful tropical plants. The plants in my photo are just random ones that popped up when I typed "zone 8 tropical landscape". Doesn't matter all that much which plants you add... just pick non-green ones with a lot of COLOR.

Arenga Engleri  looks awesome in internet photos, and would make for a nice bushy addition (again, I'd probably use it as a neighbor-blocker, which is why I put it in the corner). Lots of other plants mentioned above would also look great, but I personally think you should limit any huge "monster" palms to the back & sides of the yard.

As for the grass, I would lose the grass on the right side first (since a planter in that area would give a neighbor-blocking advantage). Then I would expand the planter near the house... probably with small to mid-size tropical plants. If I later want to get rid of more grass, I'd expand the planters (but again, keeping the tallest palms near the back. Rather than make palm "islands" in the grass, I'd try to put the grass in a large swath with curved lines at the edge (makes it easier to mow as well). If it were me, I'd probably expand both planters even more than what is shown in the photo... almost to the point where the grass is just a "path" to the backyard.

Landscape boulders would also be a nice addition - either as a border to the planters or as large feature rocks.

That's just what I would do... there are no set "rules" 😉

I came to say virtually the same thing. I would avoid the island effect and instead plant in areas that would accentuate your house rather than hide it. The only area i might add another large palm might be next to your driveway closest to your house, and perhaps extending the plantings that are along the property line to hide your fence. 

[HiwaKika]

3 hours ago, NickJames said:

Chinese balloon spotting? Lol

You should notify DeSantis or TMZ.

Your yard needs a centerpiece. I see massive multi-trunk cycads at nurseries and wish I had a spot for one but I have other trees there instead (shade trees not palms).  There's just something so awesome about them and prehistoric. The bigger the better for that resort look. One thing massive and graphically clean but not super tall. I personally never liked the cluttered chaos look with Doris Day flowers. I do like giant pieces of driftwood and stone, which I forgot about, and they're simple and clean too. But those items are based on availability and budget. I also appreciate green grass and wouldn't cut away a 20' planter unless you dislike maintaining a lawn. That's another thing, you gotta mow and water so you need access around whatever you plant. 

[NickJames]

1 hour ago, amh said:

Where is the property line?

Nearly the entire photo is my property. The bald cypress which is the far most right planting is mine. 

[NickJames]

[amh]

19 minutes ago, NickJames said:

This really clears up a lot. you'll what to avoid planting over the septic area, but some tall palms along the property line and driveway would look great. Once you have your perimeter planned, you could add smaller palms and other tropical. Your original idea isn't bad, but it would take up too much space. 

[amh]

38 minutes ago, HiwaKika said:

You should notify DeSantis or TMZ.

Your yard needs a centerpiece. I see massive multi-trunk cycads at nurseries and wish I had a spot for one but I have other trees there instead (shade trees not palms).  There's just something so awesome about them and prehistoric. The bigger the better for that resort look. One thing massive and graphically clean but not super tall. I personally never liked the cluttered chaos look with Doris Day flowers. I do like giant pieces of driftwood and stone, which I forgot about, and they're simple and clean too. But those items are based on availability and budget. I also appreciate green grass and wouldn't cut away a 20' planter unless you dislike maintaining a lawn. That's another thing, you gotta mow and water so you need access around whatever you plant. 

A mature Macrozamia communis or Macrozamia moorei would make a great centerpiece.

Edited February 6 by amh

[HiwaKika]

46 minutes ago, amh said:

A mature Macrozamia communis or Macrozamia moorei would make a great centerpiece.

Yes, but a multi-trunk. Think of it as a giant sculpture.  Can't find a perfect pic but something like this ...

[NickJames]

Hi, everyone! I appreciate all the feedback so far!!

Just some notes to explain a couple things:

-I do have the septic drain field to be mindful of. I consider that very far right nitida to be the front corner of the septic field. 
 

-most of the planting area in question is technically City ROW. This area is also technically a swale. As some of you know, this area was inundated for weeks following Hurricane Ian because of the City’s pond pumped outfall a few blocks away failing and surging into my neighborhood. There is an extremely low chance of a sidewalk being installed (EXTREMELY LOW) and a chance every decade or so that it could have standing water. 99.999% of the time it is bone dry sand. The idea behind the identified species was: they were relatively inexpensive for large (20 feet) specimens that could be moved and/or replaced should either of the things stated above become an issue. Our street is filled with very large trees, such as crepe Myrtle and live oak, that are literally right off the road so i definitely wouldn’t be the worst culprit.  

will review all comments!

[byuind]

 

1 hour ago, NickJames said:

Hi, everyone! I appreciate all the feedback so far!!

Just some notes to explain a couple things:

-I do have the septic drain field to be mindful of. I consider that very far right nitida to be the front corner of the septic field. 
 

-most of the planting area in question is technically City ROW. This area is also technically a swale. As some of you know, this area was inundated for weeks following Hurricane Ian because of the City’s pond pumped outfall a few blocks away failing and surging into my neighborhood. There is an extremely low chance of a sidewalk being installed (EXTREMELY LOW) and a chance every decade or so that it could have standing water. 99.999% of the time it is bone dry sand. The idea behind the identified species was: they were relatively inexpensive for large (20 feet) specimens that could be moved and/or replaced should either of the things stated above become an issue. Our street is filled with very large trees, such as crepe Myrtle and live oak, that are literally right off the road so i definitely wouldn’t be the worst culprit.  

will review all comments!

Just to make sure (construction guy in me here) you are NOT intending to plant over the immediate area around the septic tank, correct? The one thing about palms and Ficus that I know from years of seeing damage is the following:

 

1.) roots from these monocots do like to wander and they seem to find their way into wet spaces extremely well (same for dicots actually) will grow right up the drain pipes and that will require a treatment that COULD kill the entire tree.  The outlets seem to be very susceptible to this.

 

2.  septic systems eventually need to be replaces. Make sure you don't plant something that you would have to tear up and shed many tears about. There are also times when the whole drain field may need replacement too. This is not as common but is also directly affected by standing water (i think you mentioned you are fairly dry there) and tree damage. I know we dont normally thing of palm tree roots as destructive, but the sheer amount of soft roots filling water rich pipes can be fairly catastrophic. 

Now you may have neither of these issues now or later - always a possibility. 

Just wanted to put the above out there though

 

 

[PalmatierMeg]

21 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

Almost all of them here in my area under canopy.  I think @PalmatierMeg has similar experiences.

Howeas (both species) hate FL’s summer humid swelter. I lost almost all my canopy to Ian and I fear my forsteriana and belmoreana (esp.) will end up dead come hot weather. These are palms that are adapted to cooler weather esp at night.

[NickJames]

5 hours ago, byuind said:

 

Just to make sure (construction guy in me here) you are NOT intending to plant over the immediate area around the septic tank, correct? The one thing about palms and Ficus that I know from years of seeing damage is the following:

 

1.) roots from these monocots do like to wander and they seem to find their way into wet spaces extremely well (same for dicots actually) will grow right up the drain pipes and that will require a treatment that COULD kill the entire tree.  The outlets seem to be very susceptible to this.

 

2.  septic systems eventually need to be replaces. Make sure you don't plant something that you would have to tear up and shed many tears about. There are also times when the whole drain field may need replacement too. This is not as common but is also directly affected by standing water (i think you mentioned you are fairly dry there) and tree damage. I know we dont normally thing of palm tree roots as destructive, but the sheer amount of soft roots filling water rich pipes can be fairly catastrophic. 

Now you may have neither of these issues now or later - always a possibility. 

Just wanted to put the above out there though

 

 

Right, correct - not planting where it’s an issue. Hence my limited space and quandary here  

my system is brand new since house is new so fingers crossed for no new drain field for decades. I’m on a pumped system with a dosing tank so I basically have a mini lift station under my yard. I already had to replace the pump after a year. The drain field pipes are very shallow due to the health department’s specifications for my area. Ironically, my swimming pool was constructed without the need for regular sump pumping (they did not hit water when they dug down the 6 feet) so I think the health department was being a little overcautious in requiring the drain field elevation to be above the tanks. 

[iDesign]

My scaling is probably way off, but here's a Quick & Dirty mockup of your original plan for comparison. I personally think these palms are too similar to each other. If going with a central "island" layout, I like some of the other suggestions on this thread myself... including the funky multi-head cycad.  

[iDesign]

Just for one more consideration though... What if you were to put plants on the perimeter (similar to my original layout), but move the border in enough to steer clear of the problematic issues. Here in Southern California, water management is not a major concern (for obvious reasons), but I have seen some nice landscapes that included a "dry creek bed" with rockwork... which I think also doubles as a water overflow area. Perhaps you could do something like that on the right?Here is Version #2 of what I might consider if it was my home (but I couldn't touch the far right area). 

Version with grass more of a "pathway"...

And a less extreme version with only the right side changed from grass to planter...

Again, the "central island" layout could also work fine. Just playing around with a "perimeter" idea (and having some Photoshop fun).

[Allen]

41 minutes ago, iDesign said:

Just for one more consideration though... What if you were to put plants on the perimeter (similar to my original layout), but move the border in enough to steer clear of the problematic issues. Here in Southern California, water management is not a major concern (for obvious reasons), but I have seen some nice landscapes that included a "dry creek bed" with rockwork... which I think also doubles as a water overflow area. Perhaps you could do something like that on the right?Here is Version #2 of what I might consider if it was my home (but I couldn't touch the far right area). 

Version with grass more of a "pathway"...

 

And a less extreme version with only the right side changed from grass to planter...

 

Again, the "central island" layout could also work fine. Just playing around with a "perimeter" idea (and having some Photoshop fun).

Wow nice work!

[ruskinPalms]

I’d steer clear of the Washingtonias since they will need expensive trimming unless you like the skirt look. If looking for bullet proof in your area, think native. I would go with 3 to 5 appropriately spaced Sabal palmettos and under plant with Zamia integrifolia and/or blue form of Serenoa repens.

[sonoranfans]

On 2/5/2023 at 9:49 AM, NickJames said:

Washingtonia robusta in red, Sabal palmetto in brownish. 

would this look dumb?

It’s basically two identical triangles with the Washingtonia located slightly uphill. 

I would put something low in center of Triangles.  

I think symmetry is often a mistake in landscaping, it tends to shrink the appearance of the property and the mind becomes perhaps too familiar.   That is just my preference though.  The other is I would intersperse the palmettos and washies as they would not interfere in the crown area and can be placed a bit closer if desired for a multi height canopy.  I guess you are selecting these due to cold hardiness and speed of growth amd if long term residence isnt the goal getting tired of symmetry doesnt matter I suppose..  Sabal uresana in there would be nice, if 9a is the cold hardiness  limit.  Sabal causiarum would work too and those self shed eventually.  

[redant]

Without going into to many things, super tall palm in front of a single story house looks awful, and washies are just terrible palms. Hell I'd go with queens over them. Stacy's input is great, she clearly has an eye for this. The center should stay open.

[redant]

I'll add that knowing your taste for coconuts track down some mules or decent size alfredii. I wish I had experimented with more obscure stuff. 

[Merlyn]

On 2/7/2023 at 10:35 PM, iDesign said:

Version with grass more of a "pathway"...

I like this version, it's pretty much what I did on my post-septic-drainfield front yard.  There's probably less overall grass square footage, and the border can be done with smooth contours so it's easy to mow and edge.  And it gives you two spots to play with for a mixup of different plants.