The Arctic air finally inched over the mountains and  into  my area  . I was relatively mild until this morning when I got down to 15F  . My Washy might have survived 15F but I see some other cold , like 14F possibly for Sunday morning  coming down , and I want to be on the safe side .

So here is my protection scheme that takes about 2 men 2 hours to complete , and it gets harder every year as the palm keeps going skyward  . It's pretty self-explanatory but there are a few hints in the paragraphs below that might help  .

First I cut off the fronds so I can get the Xmas lights high on the trunk , then the trunk is wrapped with  Incandescent Xmas   lights and covered   with a layer of blankets .

Last year I made the mistake of not securing the blankets properly and cold air was allowed in , but luckily  only after the cold snap had passed . Another thing I forgot to do this year was to leave 1 light at the very top exposed . By exposing 1 light I would know that the lights were working . I can tell if they are working now but that would be at night when I can see the bright Xmas light through the blankets . That would mean trying to fix the lights when it is dark outside . It's easier just to look at the top of the palm during the day and see that 1 light on  . Then I know everything is fine . I like to mulch the bottom to keep the air sealed at the bottom too . 

One other thing to think about is squirrels . If you don't seal the blankets up well and wrap them tightly  the squirrels will get in and chew up the light wires  . That happened last year , again , luckily after the cold had passed on . 

There is some green on the fronds and the petioles are green but 22F a couple times really bronzed them out . I counted the large fronds and it put on 25 fronds last year . We needed a taller ladder for the very top for the first time this year .

Will

Excuse the duplicate  picture  second from the bottom . I wasn't able to erase it ?

 

You can see frond damage on my Trachys , and that 1 Palmetto has tip burn if you look   right below the ladder .  That damage happened last year when I had that quick drop 6F before they had hardened off . I might leave those dead fronds on the Trachys as a skirt or cut them off , or leave a couple with a skirt and a couple without a skirt ? 

 

 

 

My favorite picture of it last fall  :

Edited January 17, 20242 yr by Will Simpson

Your protection dedication and the way of doing it is always impressive! 

23 minutes ago, ZPalms said:

Your protection dedication and the way of doing it is always impressive! 

Thanks , but we have it down pretty good now after protecting it for at least 5 times  , but I still make mistakes like not  leaving a lightbulb  at the top . It's only a 2 hour job , and piggybacking  that  taller ladder to the ladder below it worked well  ( the ladder below it  was the only ladder we used in the past but now the palm is too tall for it it .    )  

It really was an easy job this year thanks  to that  skilled crew  . 

Will

Very nice. Reminds me of a totem pole. Hope it will ward off the spirits of cold!

What's the height of the trunk now ? Man you really love that palm . I expect the palm to survive if it gets down to let's say 10F for a brief period of time.  Few years back we had a winter with lows of 9F , it killed a lot of Robustas but not all. 

Good job on protecting that palm. I guess that is what is required to keep it alive in your area? 

I feel unworthy.

That.... truly is dedication my friend.

Impressive 🌴🌴🌴🌞🌞

Seriously I'm here wondering what will I do, in a couple of years, with my 4 feet tall Trachycarpus 🤦🤦

7 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Good job on protecting that palm. I guess that is what is required to keep it alive in your area? 

Thanks ; I need to protect it 6-7 out of 10 years I'm estimating . 

12 hours ago, MarcusH said:

What's the height of the trunk now ? Man you really love that palm . I expect the palm to survive if it gets down to let's say 10F for a brief period of time.  Few years back we had a winter with lows of 9F , it killed a lot of Robustas but not all. 

I've kind of felt safe with it to 16F without protection  , but it might be more hardy . I'm seeing g a 14F for Sunday morning so I'll be ready if it gets a little colder than that .

I think the trunk is over 20 feet and with the fronds it might be pushing 30 feet . I'll measure it next year with the fronds on it .

Will

3 hours ago, Alex Zone 5 said:

That.... truly is dedication my friend.

Impressive 🌴🌴🌴🌞🌞

Seriously I'm here wondering what will I do, in a couple of years, with my 4 feet tall Trachycarpus 🤦🤦

Thanks .

I have protected my Trachys before , although I don't think I needed  to , but I put those Xmas lights in and amongst the petioles , and then I took shirts , rags , and other small items of clothing and wedged the clothes in and around the petioles close to the trunk  . The good thing about my Washy is that in a year it can put out 25-30 fronds , but a Trachy isn't that fast so you want to keep the fronds on the palm . That makes it harder to protect a Trachy  . If you're in a place that gets a lot of single digits or negative temperatures  I guess you have to  protect the whole trunk and crown , and that is truly hard to do . 

Will

 

13 hours ago, Swolte said:

Very nice. Reminds me of a totem pole. Hope it will ward off the spirits of cold!

It is toasty under there . I think that that protection adds about 20 degrees . 

Will

4 hours ago, Leelanau Palms said:

I feel unworthy.

Those guys have done that job about 6 times before so they are pros . It gives me peace of mind knowing that no matter what happens later in the winter that palm will be fine . It's good that I only have to put on the protection once a winter . I'll leave it on until late February our maybe later towards April . By leaving the protection on longer I can force some extra growth on it in the early spring .

Will

29 minutes ago, Will Simpson said:

I've kind of felt safe with it to 16F without protection  , but it might be more hardy . I'm seeing g a 14F for Sunday morning so I'll be ready if it gets a little colder than that .

I think the trunk is over 20 feet and with the fronds it might be pushing 30 feet . I'll measure it next year with the fronds on it .

Will

It's amazing to me how you're able to protect a 30 foot palm . What do you think at what height you have to let nature take over ? 

I'm out on scaling ladders like that. I think I'd plant them in say 5 year successions and cut down the unmanageable tall ones as needed. 

3 hours ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

I'm out on scaling ladders like that. I think I'd plant them in say 5 year successions and cut down the unmanageable tall ones as needed. 

I wouldn't like to get up that high either but those guys don't seem to mind . He only needs that regular style taller ladder for the very top , and he uses the tripod type ladder , that is very stable and  safe , once he  gets down from the very top of the trunk a few feet . 

There is a point at which I'm not sure I can protect it . I keep hoping that it slows down in trunk growth but even without fertilizer or water it keeps on adding 1-2 feet a year . 

Will

 

Any reason you don’t do heat cables versus incandescent c9’s? NIM doing c9 for my BxJ, JxB, and one other Butia now but I’m going to go to heat cables as they are cheap, work well, and less of a chance of the bulbs resting on growth and burning it.  Nice work though.

It's important to note that the Washingtonia Filifera has been noted to be a lot hardier than the Washingtonia Robusta variety.  Filiferas can be like teflon.

Edited January 21, 20242 yr by RFun