Some happy palms in the North Bay

[NorCalWill]

When palms have the right soil and climate, they can really thrive.

The photos I’m sharing here are of a landscape that I designed for a client in Sebastopol, CA, USDA zone 9a. It sits on 5 acres of apple orchard with a Redwood grove  backdrop overlooking the rolling hilIs of Sonoma County.  I began this project in 2013. Several palms, such as 4 tall Washingtonia robusta, a Brahea edulis, and 2 Trachycarpus fortunei were pre-existing at the start of the project. The idea was to create a palm garden rather than a palm collection, so just a few more palms were added, but many companion plants to add interest and color. A few cycads have also been introduced to the garden with good results. 

The soil here is a wonderful sandy loam that seems to contain all the nutrients that the palms need, however, it is also home to a seemingly endless number of gophers. Remarkably they haven’t killed any palms.
 

No palm fertilizer has ever been used in this garden, and everything is on minimal drip irrigation.  Summers are warm and sunny in the daytime with cool nights. Winter is cold and wet.
 

The Syagrus romanzoffiana here amazes me, and I’m not much of a fan of Queen Palms.
 It was planted 10 years ago from a 5 gallon pot, and with minimal water and no fertilizer at all, it is one of the healthiest looking Queen Palms I know of (I can only hope it has been eating gophers).

[Jim in Los Altos]

Very nice! How old was the Brahea edulis when planted, Will? 

[Harry’s Palms]

Very nice garden and well planned. The only palms I’ve lost to gophers , and I have a constant battle with them , is Bismarkia and Howea . They don’t mess with the others too bad , or enough to hurt them. Fortunately the gophers are all down on my hill not around my garden by the house. That Butia is gorgeous, have you ever observed it during a full moon? They glow! Same with the Armata , if that’s what it is . Harry…..and I like Queen Palms!

[Fusca]

9 hours ago, NorCalWill said:

The Syagrus romanzoffiana here amazes me, and I’m not much of a fan of Queen Palms. It was planted 10 years ago from a 5 gallon pot, and with minimal water and no fertilizer at all, it is one of the healthiest looking Queen Palms I know of (I can only hope it has been eating gophers).

Great job Will!  Everything looks great!  What I have noticed with queen palms in Texas is that the ones with thicker trunks like this one are more tolerant of extreme cold snaps.  I doubt that this area sees the extreme lows that 9a Texas has experienced recently but it's likely to survive whatever cold might happen.  Pretty amazing appearance for having minimal irrigation and zero fertilizer!

[NorCalWill]

41 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Great job Will!  Everything looks great!  What I have noticed with queen palms in Texas is that the ones with thicker trunks like this one are more tolerant of extreme cold snaps.  I doubt that this area sees the extreme lows that 9a Texas has experienced recently but it's likely to survive whatever cold might happen.  Pretty amazing appearance for having minimal irrigation and zero fertilizer!

Thanks Fusca, yes, I am amazed at how green the Queen is, with no yellowing that is commonly seen with this palm. There is one old yellow/brown leaf way down at the bottom that needs to be cut off, but otherwise, it' remarkably healthy. There are only three 2gpm emitters around it that run twice a week for 20 minutes from May to November. As far as nutrients, it may be getting something from decomposing apples in the nearby orchard, but the orchard isn't fertilized either.

[NorCalWill]

3 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Very nice garden and well planned. The only palms I’ve lost to gophers , and I have a constant battle with them , is Bismarkia and Howea . They don’t mess with the others too bad , or enough to hurt them. Fortunately the gophers are all down on my hill not around my garden by the house. That Butia is gorgeous, have you ever observed it during a full moon? They glow! Same with the Armata , if that’s what it is . Harry…..and I like Queen Palms!

Thank you Harry. There are literally a dozen gopher tunnels surrounding that Queen Palm!

Yes, silver and white foliage and flowers make for a nice moonlit garden. And that is indeed Brahea armata poking out of the Lantana.

[ChrisA]

Need some Gopher snakes in that yard to eat some of those gophers!

[NorCalWill]

9 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Very nice! How old was the Brahea edulis when planted, Will? 

Thanks Jim. The age of the Brahea edulis is unknown. I saw a photograph of the house that was taken about 3 decades ago and that palm is about 2/3 the size that it is now.

[NorCalWill]

34 minutes ago, ChrisA said:

Need some Gopher snakes in that yard to eat some of those gophers!

There are gopher snakes, owls, hawks, bobcats, coyotes, and domestic cats roaming the property and still the ground looks like swiss cheese.

[daxin]

Is this a Cycas revoluta X debaoensis hybrid? IMHO，this picture really stands out for the well-grown big rare specimen, roomy setting, beautifully shaped large container that has just the right proportion, plus the wonderful contrast between the dark backdrop and the bright lacy fronds.
 

Bravo Will, this is awesome 👍

[Harry’s Palms]

Yes , I also have all the predators for the gophers but no avail! I had a Coopers Hawk sit on a fence waiting for the gopher , but the predators are vastly outnumbered. Harry

[Harry’s Palms]

12 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

Very nice! How old was the Brahea edulis when planted, Will? 

Not to hijack this thread but this one is 25 years from 4” band. HarryFrom last winter , not as big as the one in the picture above , and in SoCal. I would guess at least 40 years?

[Jim in Los Altos]

26 minutes ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Not to hijack this thread but this one is 25 years from 4” band. HarryFrom last winter , not as big as the one in the picture above , and in SoCal. I would guess at least 40 years?

That’s probably about right. I planted mine as a seedling in 1990 so it’s 35 years old. 
 

[SeanK]

Wow. An amazing garden, all the way to the Queen. The Jelly palm has such striking color.  I cannot believe that someone invested in Braheas! Typically we see robustas as the fan of choice. The owner has impeccable taste.

[NorCalWill]

9 hours ago, NorCalWill said:

Thanks Fusca, yes, I am amazed at how green the Queen is, with no yellowing that is commonly seen with this palm. There is one old yellow/brown leaf way down at the bottom that needs to be cut off, but otherwise, it' remarkably healthy. There are only three 2gpm emitters around it that run twice a week for 20 minutes from May to November. As far as nutrients, it may be getting something from decomposing apples in the nearby orchard, but the orchard isn't fertilized either.

2GPH emitters, not gpm..

[NorCalWill]

5 hours ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

That’s probably about right. I planted mine as a seedling in 1990 so it’s 35 years old. 
 

That’s an incredible Brahea you have there.

I’ll see if I can track down the old photo of the one in my posting with a more accurate date. 

[NorCalWill]

7 hours ago, daxin said:

Is this a Cycas revoluta X debaoensis hybrid? IMHO，this picture really stands out for the well-grown big rare specimen, roomy setting, beautifully shaped large container that has just the right proportion, plus the wonderful contrast between the dark backdrop and the bright lacy fronds.
 

Bravo Will, this is awesome 👍

Thanks Daxin, you have good eyes, it is

C. revoluta x debaoensis with Sedum being backlight by the afternoon sun