Palm watering how to minimise run off

[palm789]

2 days ago I watered my palms near the roots I left hose there for 15 minutes, noticed most water ran off from its root area, I'm in UK so have palms like windmill, chamaerops etc, I'm not sure how much water went into that clay soil down to the roots because of the run off, how to I stop the run off? and should i try watering again? Or is that too much? 

[Palm Tree Jim]

Perhaps a drip system?

Slow and allows the water to permeate the ground with no run off. 

[SeanK]

Aerate. Use a garden fork and perforate the soil around the palm.

Mulch. Saturate the mulch and let it drip into the soil.

[Tomas]

You do not mention how big and established your palms are. It could be that your palms do not need any supplemental water in the UK. Once established, Chamaerops is very drought resistant.

You can limit the flow of water with faucet, so that the water can be absorbed instead of running off.

In a dry climate, a basin can be useful https://laidbackgardener.blog/2019/08/10/a-watering-basin-for-new-plantings/

 

[Fusca]

Creating a basin as suggested in the above link is quite easy and effective with clay soil.  Mulching around the basin area with organic matter will improve the soil and subsequently the drainage as well over time.  I also use a 5-gallon bucket with a 3/8" hole drilled in the bottom as a simple drip system that can be moved around to different palms.

[Tracy]

On 6/15/2023 at 8:05 AM, palm789 said:

2 days ago I watered my palms near the roots I left hose there for 15 minutes, noticed most water ran off from its root area, I'm in UK so have palms like windmill, chamaerops etc, I'm not sure how much water went into that clay soil down to the roots because of the run off, how to I stop the run off? and should i try watering again? Or is that too much? 

I can't address how much water in your soil these species require but will second the recommendations for slow irrigation in that type of soil to allow water to penatrate.   If you get a lot of rain in winter, beware of using basins with palms that don't like cold wet roots.  I don't know if the species you identified will be susceptible to rot in winter with wet cold roots but perhaps others with experience growing those species can advise if that is an issue.