Do palms and protea mix?

[los osos osos]

Hi. I'm thinking about planting a beautiful 5ft California palm in my front yard. Problem is the location I like is about 5 ft from a nice mature protea Lecadendron. Will the palms roots affect or kill my protea as they grow out? Thanks and any help is appreciated 

[Josue Diaz]

I see proteaceae planted near palms in the Los Osos/Morro Bay/San Luis area and they seem to do fine. Protea are sensitive to fertilizers, though, so keep that in mind when you go to fertilize your palms. 

 

Edit to add, being a washingtonia, I don't think you will ever need to fertilize it. 

[Kim]

Leucodendron won't like too much water, but it seems you are not going for a palm needing a lot of extra water, so should be fine. And 5 ft. distance in Los Osos should be more than sufficient distance. 

[peachy]

As the prior people said, Proteas don't like too much water or any fertiliser so as long as your palm requires similar conditions I cannot foresee any problems.  If your palm does need the occasional feed, you can always foliar feed it as  long as none of the sprays hits the proteas.

Peachy

  

[happypalms]

They most certainly do go well in the tropical garden! 

[gyuseppe]

2 hours ago, happypalms said:

They most certainly do go well in the tropical garden! 

Richard this is really a beauty, I think of our creator who created all the plants for the pleasure of our eyes

[happypalms]

21 hours ago, gyuseppe said:

Richard this is really a beauty, I think of our creator who created all the plants for the pleasure of our eyes

They most certainly are! 

[richnorm]

Love those Telopeas and should try again.  Leucospermums have gone well for me but also tricky to find just the right spot.

[happypalms]

On 12/14/2025 at 7:29 AM, richnorm said:

Love those Telopeas and should try again.  Leucospermums have gone well for me but also tricky to find just the right spot.

Drainage drainage and more drainage, they are so prone to soil problems especially fungus. My conditions are perfect for growing them and i still lose the odd one to fungus, tip though don’t replant in the same spot if one has died there before! The telopia is the Sydney variety: