13 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Well this weekend has been trialsome. -1.2C yesterday morning complete with blown away frost cloth, then 75kmh westerly winds took down a tree onto my shadehouse destroying my Dypsis onilahensis collection. 😔

I will rebuild though. Black shadecloth goes in. One less tree to bother me again.

Bad luck! We worry about freeze damage before it happens, but forget there are plenty of other hazards that can damage or take out palms, hail, wind, falling trees, extreme heat etc.

Dodged that one, it seems. Bottomed out at -2.3C which matches my lowest of 2024. It didn't go below freezing until 3am however and warmed quickly once the sun came up. That will be no worse than the -1.9C earlier in the month which apart from Alexandre had nothing covered for.

Now have a full day sun to put some heat into the housebricks, driveway etc's thermal mass. Should make a difference. Yesterday was the dreaded cold sunless day forecast to clear at dusk.

22 hours ago, Tyrone said:

All the best mate. A forecast like that would have me leaving for at least the sub tropics. 0C at 10pm!!! Wow. I’ve never experienced that before. You’ve done your best. Just don’t do what I did the other day and not check to see if your frost cloth is still attached and working. You could get an outdoors gas heater set up near your most tropical palms. That works. I’ve done it. If you do do it make sure the gas tank gets some of the heat from the heater because it will freeze up solid and stop the gas supply to the heater. I’ve learnt from experience.

My memory was a little off, it was 0.4C by 10:15pm, 0 by midnight, pretty close. That frost bottomed out at "only" -2.3C though. My R.Baueri were very small them, coming through that with zero damage I realised they probably were going to be viable.

Gas heater is a step too far for me, would not bother to grow anything that needed that drastic level of action. It would have to be something really one off like thinking was facing a 1 in 50 or 100 year freeze to go that length.

The problem with being up a zone would be, could not help trying to grow the next level of sensitive palms, and so if/when a one in 5 -10 year freeze came , would be in the same position
My ridiculous contraption against the odds survived the day and needed minimal adjustment for tonight. I was wondering if the "sail" would take off and be over the road somewhere by time got home from work. Those poles are 3.6m long, the palm is over 3m tall now.

On 7/26/2026 at 8:41 PM, Tyrone said:

Well this weekend has been trialsome. -1.2C yesterday morning complete with blown away frost cloth, then 75kmh westerly winds took down a tree onto my shadehouse destroying my Dypsis onilahensis collection. 😔

I will rebuild though. Black shadecloth goes in. One less tree to bother me again.

Jeez, sorry to see that Tyrone. Those bloody pine trees have been a menace, but not an easy job to get rid of them either. Would be nice to have them lopped and chipped but you'd need deep pockets I guess.

Hopefully there are some survivors under there, keep us appraised.

13 hours ago, cbmnz said:

My memory was a little off, it was 0.4C by 10:15pm, 0 by midnight, pretty close. That frost bottomed out at "only" -2.3C though. My R.Baueri were very small them, coming through that with zero damage I realised they probably were going to be viable.

Gas heater is a step too far for me, would not bother to grow anything that needed that drastic level of action. It would have to be something really one off like thinking was facing a 1 in 50 or 100 year freeze to go that length.

The problem with being up a zone would be, could not help trying to grow the next level of sensitive palms, and so if/when a one in 5 -10 year freeze came , would be in the same position
My ridiculous contraption against the odds survived the day and needed minimal adjustment for tonight. I was wondering if the "sail" would take off and be over the road somewhere by time got home from work. Those poles are 3.6m long, the palm is over 3m tall now.

Your contraption looks great and your Rhopalostylis looks awesome.

Yeah a negative 2.3C would have me out with the gas heater and probably another wood fire and an industrial fan to distribute the hot air. I’m trying to still create canopy so if I have to do that once a decade maybe twice I’m ok with that. The majority of the garden is built to withstand those sort of temps. My marginal stuff will go in the most protected area close together for that reason. If I get stupid and plant a marginal out in the freezer then that’s my stupid fault if they die.

I hope winter will ease off for you now.

11 hours ago, Jonathan said:

Jeez, sorry to see that Tyrone. Those bloody pine trees have been a menace, but not an easy job to get rid of them either. Would be nice to have them lopped and chipped but you'd need deep pockets I guess.

Hopefully there are some survivors under there, keep us appraised.

Yeah the place has been testing me lately. I got the outside nursery panel back up again yesterday just before sundown. Will cable tie frost cloth back up today. The weekend is project “rebuild greenhouse”. Ahhh it needed some love anyway. Will re establish the guy wires and stitch in new black shade cloth.

Never grow Pinus radiata.

Not what I wanted to see when I woke and read the temperature this morning. A single coarse word came to mind. For my station that has been running since Dec 2016, smashed my low temp record by 0.7C. That's nature, winters seem to be getting milder and milder, barely go below 0 until 1st July and then this week happens.

However, especially now I've had a chance to look for damage, realising that a single reading at one point on the section does not tell the whole story.

It was so ridiculously still last night it was a 100% radiation event and the temperature likely varied over distances of metres. So far, seems anything under some canopy did surprisingly well. The most exposed bungalow seems to be the main casualty, I'm used to it getting a bit ratty by spring then quickly growing out the damage. This year looks like it will hardly have any green left until the next spear opens in spring.

Low was -3.4, did thaw quickly, warmed all the way up to 15.6 in the afternoon.

1 hour ago, cbmnz said:

Not what I wanted to see when I woke and read the temperature this morning. A single coarse word came to mind. For my station that has been running since Dec 2016, smashed my low temp record by 0.7C. That's nature, winters seem to be getting milder and milder, barely go below 0 until 1st July and then this week happens.

However, especially now I've had a chance to look for damage, realising that a single reading at one point on the section does not tell the whole story.

It was so ridiculously still last night it was a 100% radiation event and the temperature likely varied over distances of metres. So far, seems anything under some canopy did surprisingly well. The most exposed bungalow seems to be the main casualty, I'm used to it getting a bit ratty by spring then quickly growing out the damage. This year looks like it will hardly have any green left until the next spear opens in spring.

Low was -3.4, did thaw quickly, warmed all the way up to 15.6 in the afternoon.

Brutal. Hopefully that's the worst of it for you this winter.

Come on spring!

3 hours ago, cbmnz said:

Not what I wanted to see when I woke and read the temperature this morning. A single coarse word came to mind. For my station that has been running since Dec 2016, smashed my low temp record by 0.7C. That's nature, winters seem to be getting milder and milder, barely go below 0 until 1st July and then this week happens.

However, especially now I've had a chance to look for damage, realising that a single reading at one point on the section does not tell the whole story.

It was so ridiculously still last night it was a 100% radiation event and the temperature likely varied over distances of metres. So far, seems anything under some canopy did surprisingly well. The most exposed bungalow seems to be the main casualty, I'm used to it getting a bit ratty by spring then quickly growing out the damage. This year looks like it will hardly have any green left until the next spear opens in spring.

Low was -3.4, did thaw quickly, warmed all the way up to 15.6 in the afternoon.

That is painful stuff. The high pressure zones seem to be dominating the pattern this year. I hate them. I’d rather cloud and a bit of rain drizzle at this time of year. Has it been a dry July for you this year? It has been here.

What’s the bet your Bangalow will grow out of it eventually.

15 hours ago, cbmnz said:

Not what I wanted to see when I woke and read the temperature this morning. A single coarse word came to mind. For my station that has been running since Dec 2016, smashed my low temp record by 0.7C. That's nature, winters seem to be getting milder and milder, barely go below 0 until 1st July and then this week happens.

However, especially now I've had a chance to look for damage, realising that a single reading at one point on the section does not tell the whole story.

It was so ridiculously still last night it was a 100% radiation event and the temperature likely varied over distances of metres. So far, seems anything under some canopy did surprisingly well. The most exposed bungalow seems to be the main casualty, I'm used to it getting a bit ratty by spring then quickly growing out the damage. This year looks like it will hardly have any green left until the next spear opens in spring.

Low was -3.4, did thaw quickly, warmed all the way up to 15.6 in the afternoon.

-3.4 is harsh. I also see Chch had -4.5 or something the other night. I'd have quite a bit of solid damage here on various things like puka, and palms if that happended here in Dunedin, but most are in protected positions. We got down to +0.8 27 june, and again to 1.2 26 July which was bad enough. Appreciate you sharing your experience on here as I have found it very helpful. Hope any damage at your end can grow out quickly!

That’s growing palms for you, I just shrug of winter, i could hardly call my winter a real winter. Mind you though my Calyptrocalyx micholitzii thinks different about it then I do!

On 7/28/2026 at 8:54 AM, Tyrone said:

Yeah the place has been testing me lately. I got the outside nursery panel back up again yesterday just before sundown. Will cable tie frost cloth back up today. The weekend is project “rebuild greenhouse”. Ahhh it needed some love anyway. Will re establish the guy wires and stitch in new black shade cloth.

Never grow Pinus radiata.

We had discussed the investment in the tree lopping project, it hurts when you do all that work only to have it smashed to bits by a falling tree, I have so many large gum trees on my property it’s bound to happen again for me . At least you get a chance to rebuild with a little hindsight, good luck!

12 hours ago, happypalms said:

We had discussed the investment in the tree lopping project, it hurts when you do all that work only to have it smashed to bits by a falling tree, I have so many large gum trees on my property it’s bound to happen again for me . At least you get a chance to rebuild with a little hindsight, good luck!

One more tree down is one less to bother me in future. We did get a tree lopper in to take out 2 live trees near the shadehouse back in 2024 and one near the house. The trees nearer the house are half the size. None are an issue near the house. But those 3 trees to cut down cost me a trip to Europe. This tree that came down was healthy and a long way from the shadehouse. But even though it was healthy, it had grown up in a forest not on its own. So now it’s gone there are no more trees in that area. They’re all gone. It’s still not over yet. There are still more trees dying after the floods of 2021. Those pine trees have all grafted their roots together. I know that from digging new plants in. So if one trees gets a fungus or bacteria they pass it to the next. However it has slowed way down now.

44 minutes ago, Tyrone said:

One more tree down is one less to bother me in future. We did get a tree lopper in to take out 2 live trees near the shadehouse back in 2024 and one near the house. The trees nearer the house are half the size. None are an issue near the house. But those 3 trees to cut down cost me a trip to Europe. This tree that came down was healthy and a long way from the shadehouse. But even though it was healthy, it had grown up in a forest not on its own. So now it’s gone there are no more trees in that area. They’re all gone. It’s still not over yet. There are still more trees dying after the floods of 2021. Those pine trees have all grafted their roots together. I know that from digging new plants in. So if one trees gets a fungus or bacteria they pass it to the next. However it has slowed way down now.

Not cheap cutting down trees , hindsight is a wonderful thing. I have a white cedar tree that’s next to go when the funds are available. The pines get so tall as well, so a lot of distance is covered in one falling.

And there nothing better than a trip to Europe, I was fortunate enough to stay with a family in Budapest for 6 weeks. There’s always next year for a Europe trip, for me now give me the South Pacific islands, at least they have tropical palms.

On 7/29/2026 at 1:44 AM, Tyrone said:

That is painful stuff. The high pressure zones seem to be dominating the pattern this year. I hate them. I’d rather cloud and a bit of rain drizzle at this time of year. Has it been a dry July for you this year? It has been here.

What’s the bet your Bangalow will grow out of it eventually.

Other seasons it has looked decent again by Christmas.

On 7/29/2026 at 1:44 AM, Tyrone said:

That is painful stuff. The high pressure zones seem to be dominating the pattern this year. I hate them. I’d rather cloud and a bit of rain drizzle at this time of year. Has it been a dry July for you this year? It has been here.

What’s the bet your Bangalow will grow out of it eventually.

Other years it has looked fine by Christmas. Once at least two new healthy fronds open, it distracts the eye from any remaining damaged ones. I tend to think that it would be hard for an overnight radiation freeze, sandwiched by double digit (C) temperatures the day before and after to completely kill an otherwise healthy and established bungalow. No hurry to see that theory tested however.

It's hard to see in the early morning light in the rush to get to work, but it looks like it still has some green remaining, which will help. Good news is that from what I can see, a near neighbour's ones look fine. They (house and palms) are on isolated small rise in an otherwise flat area - they sit about 6-8m higher. Glad for that, as for some angles from home, their now sizable and flourising bangalows form a nice background/horizon that complements the view of my own palms. I know that place has sold since the people that planted those palms were there. New owners could be forgiven for not taking into account that this was the worst feeze in 10 years and not wanting to look at damaged palms for a few months.

So far, my two other bungalows and everything else looks untouched but won't really know till the weekend to see in broad daylight. I still have pepper plants that look just the same as they did in mid summer (they are against a north facing wall of house and were covered as well).