Best Type of Palm Trees
 

We just purchased a Designer Home in the Village of Fernandina and was seeking advice on adding a palm tree(s) to the existing landscape that was included with the home. We close on April 8....so there is time for receipt of serious responses.

Thanks for your input.

First, I see this is your first post, so welcome to the forum.

I am by no means an expert here, but some observations. First, the "Best" palm trees is of course an opinion, so answers may vary. Personally I dislike the Queen palms. They are inexpensive so many landscapers put them in. They grow fast, so in a few years they are a constant maintenance cost to trim. Also, they have large seed pods that can fall.

The biggest mistake I commonly see when doing inspections is when they are planted too close to the house. The Palm branches then overhang and sometimes scrape against the siding and roof causing damage. Squirrels, rats, etc will climb up these and get onto your roof. Squirrels can damage your roof plumbing vents, etc. Keep all vegetation well away from your roof.

I think the best palms are those that are slow growing and do not get too tall. They should not be too messy, and be native to this area and of course be "cold hardy". I personally like a Pindo Palm.

Others wiser then I will of course advise you better as to their choices. You are smart to think about this BEFORE planting is done. Good luck and again, welcome!

Frank D'Angelo, ACI

Thank you........some interesting points to consider.

Palm Trees
 

We close in May in Fernandina also and are wondering the same thing as far as palm trees. we are trying to make decisions about what kind of landscaping to add.
Where are you located in Fernandina? We are in section 206 Abana Path.
Exciting isn't it? :wave:

Welcome to Fernandina!! We're on Brassie Terrace, section 215, we closed in January. You're going to love it!

We purchased on Lafayette St. in Section 206. We will close in April by mail and fly down in May to set- up the house (I.e. washer, dryer, dish ware, etc.). Will have to meet to welcome each other to The Villages......

Here in Massachusetts it's cold and cloudy............and anxious to experience that Florida weather.

Best kind of palm IMHO .... Sylvester.

Where are you from in MA?? We came from Attleboro but I grew up in Somerville, husband in Quincy. There is a MA club and also a Southeast MA club. to join when you get here.
We put in 3 Queens for shade around a patio, 1 Sylvester and 1 Pindo. Village Palms did the work and they have a nice nursery on 466 that you can walk around and either pick out what you want or have them pick out what would look best. Thye will do a plan for you and show it to you on a big screen TV and they can pop in changes as you look at it. Very professional and honest people to work with.

Grew up in New Bedford and currently living in Dartmouth, MA.

Will definitely stop by Village Palms and like the ability to view a plan............thanks this is helpful.

Will also look into MA club and SE Mass Club as well.

I agree sylvester

a Sylvester and pindo are cold hearty and cold resistant. Another you should consider is the European Palm. There are many Palms and some are good for ground cover...other taller more picturesque, but whatever you choose make sure it is suitable for our climate. I knew someone who spent big bucks on exotic palms and he lost half of them during the big freeze we had three years ago. Think twice. Plant once!!!

There is a wealth of information online of you search 'cold hardy palms' or 'palms for central florida'. You'll see photos and can begin to decide what appeals to you. Plan on installing a tree when you will BE here for at least 30 days afterward. Newly transplanted palms must be trickle watered every day during that time.

I too have used Village Palms. They installed (among other things) a Sylvester, Chinese windmill palms and Chinese fan palms which are more of a clump/mound than a tree.

Can't say enough good things about Village Palms. They live in The Villages and have done lots of excellent landscaping and decorative features here. They have a nursery you can visit.

There are other good companies as well.... and some door to door guys to be wary of.
If you have the luxury of time, take your camera when you are out in the golf car. For inspiration,we went in and out of established neighborhoods and viewed what others had done. That was fun, a good way to learn the area and allowed us to see how big things get at maturity and how well they hold up over time.
The earlier post about location was right on. You don't want to plant them too close to the roof line.... bad for the house and your fronds will be abraded.

Have fun and let us know how you progress. Welcome to our wonderful Villages!

Hello neighbors . we are behind you on Bokeelia and will coming to stay in our home for the first time the first week of April. Hoping to meet our neighbors and start living the good life!

Jane Garrison

The best palms are the ones that are planted in someone else's yard! They are a constant, messy, expensive maintenance nightmares. They also attract all manner of bugs (including those huge cockroaches) and rodents.

I have lived in Florida for 52 years and I will never, ever have a Palm in my yard.

Well I disagree, Florida is palms.

As far as types that will do well in this area with possible temps in the mid upper 20's there R at least 24 on my punch list, I have half of those,

I do think they are grossly overpriced around here.

I found several dealers that are 40-70% less in price.

Jimbo - did you find anything intereting at the garden sale yesterday???

Oh yes, I think my tailgate was dragging on the way back with 11 palms and other assorted plants.

They are open today also if you want to save over half the $$ they sell stuff 4 here.

Well worth the ride

There must be more than a grain of truth to your statement.

Our neighbors behind us who had two homes before their current one here in TV said that they would never plant palms again for the very reason that you said. I notice that most people in our new village who have lived here before, haven't planted palms.

I hate those huge roaches that live in them.

But they won't hurt you and you can have the pest fellows keep them at bay


But if everyone liked or disliked the same thing, they would only sell vanilla ice cream.

AND as Jimbo says...People just love the look of Palm trees.

Jumbo:

Where was the garden sale held? Is this something that is held quite often or is this sale an annual event only?

Was thinking that to be a real Floridian home you needed a Palm tree or two added to the landscape.

Leu gardens once a year, today is last day

Harry P. Leu Gardens


usually in odd numbers, 3 5 7 9 etc.

if you drive down BV to Brownwood you will not see an even number


.

We've only had palms for six years, so we're not experts like LndLocked! However we find palms to be a beautiful addition to our yard and we wouldn't be without them! We haven't experienced any mess or expensive maintenance nightmares or rodents. We currently have a queen palm, a pindo, and a double sylvester (our favorite). We'll be planting more.

I love those Sylvester Palms. We have them up and down our street and they are a great look.

I like the look of palms too and also like the Sylvester. As far as the rodents climbing the trees and jumping ontot he roof to gain entry, has anyone ever seen the palm trees in Waikiki? Most all of the tall palms there have a sheet metal band around the tree trunk about 12to 18" wide. No one has ever told me why they are there, but I have always assumed it was to keep rodents from climbing past that point. Wonder if something like that would work here?

just to follow up on Leu's garden palms

we pickup (not really 2 young guys did the picking up part)

Canary Island - date palm
mule
pindo
bizmarkias
windmill
sabal causiarum
coontie (6)
rhapis multi
arenga elgleri
Sabal minor
silver saw
c. microspadix
seashore Allagoptera arenaria


need to place them now.

Not only is everything here correct about the taller fast growing palms, but when I sit in my lanai or look out my window I only get the pleasure of seeing a palm tree trunk. I enjoy my neighbor's9-10 foot high palm more than I do my own.

:agree:

Why pay for all the growth (height), 5-8 foot they all grow slow.

[QUOTE=jimbo2012;643560
Why pay for all the growth (height), 5-8 foot they all grow slow.[/QUOTE]

And it's really satisfying to nurture them and watch them grow.

The bands around the palm trunks in Hawaii do work to keep rodents out of the trees. They are made of metal that will not rust. That said, I would rather have bugs and rodents in the palms than in the house. The real answer is to trap or control the invaders before they get established.

make sure you take note of how tall the ones you are contemplating grow. That eye level nice looking palm now may go to 30 feet.

We put in several queen palms. They look very nice and are inexpensive. However, if I had to do it over again I would not choose queen palms. They do get very tall very fast. They require constant trimming otheir fronds to stay looking nice. And they produce seed pods several times a year that if they are not removed before they open you have a mess of almost golf ball sized seeds all around the tree. The seed pods are huge and the seed bunch are equally huge. Queen palms grow at an amazingly fast rate!!!!

They do attract everything. Roaches, ants, mice, squirrels and yes sometimes snakes.

Sylvesteri and pindo and others like them are much, MUCH easier to maintain and do look very "Floridy".

Good luck.

btk

we added a European Fan and they are very easy to take care of and slow growing. Sylvesters are beautiful we planted one in front but they do get quite large. we laso have a chinese fan which is georgeous but gets very large but also slow growing. Good luck smart move asking others

Thanks to all........very informative with many helpful recommendations........when we close on property after April 8th will have to decipher responses and decide which type palm and number to plant. Thanks again to all....much appreciated.

Palm trees and rodents
 

Having moved into Fernandina in April from the Midwest, I was shocked when a neighbor told me that rats live in the dead fronds of palm trees. Thinking that the neighbor didn't know what he was talking about, I recently asked a pest control company representative about it, and he told me the same thing. Unfortunately, on two different occasions I have even seen rats run across cart paths in broad daylight, as well as one run across the road near Spanish Springs in the middle of the afternoon. How can the powers-that-be in The Villages mount a massive campaign to market this place as "Florida's Healthiest Hometown" but continue to allow residents to grow palm trees known to harbor rats? The developer even continues to plant such trees in common areas of The Villages! As a retired registered nurse, I find the practice outrageous. Healthiest hometown? Really? Not by any thinking person's standard!

Never saw one, I have over 30 palms

Just moved here in April . Four posts , All negative about conditions in TV
Hmmmmmmmmm

What the heck would being an RN have to do with being concerned about palm trees and their possible inhabitants? If they live in the trees and not your home how does that bother you? As a practicing RN I don't get the connection. I have seen a few palm rats around TV but nothing to get concerned about.

Where ever there are people and garbage/trash, there will be rats.

Many critters live OUTSIDE of our homes. Depending on where you live, its not just rats....its cockroaches, mice, ants, raccoons, snakes, ticks, mosquitos and a whole host of others. Many of those carry disease - not to mention the e-e-e-w factor. But because they live OUTSIDE does not mean they pose a health threat to us humans who live INSIDE. It may be a difficult balance to understand the difference between concerns about "public health" and all the scary possibilities of disease "out there".

Wait... there are rats in the UP (Upper Peninsula- Michegan) and you mention you hike a lot, so you have been on foot in their territory. You also see hawks, fox and an occasional eagle up there that eat rats and keep their numbers down. We have hawks, coyote and eagles, etc. here too, in fact we have an eagle preserve in TV.
Rats will nest in undisturbed debris. If there were NO palm tress here (just like in the UP) there would still be rats somewhere in the natural areas.

In our 'neighborhoods', should a homeowner have an occasional dead frond on their palm that hasn't been pruned off yet, the frond itself does not pose a risk of a rat taking up residence there.

Should there be an ABUNDANCE of dead fronds, not much activity around and and some sort of food supply nearby (like a palm allowed to be abundant with fruit) or citrus trees with abundant fruit on the tree and laying on the ground.... THAT may provide an attractive hiding/nesting/feeding spot, but those conditions rarely exist in a groomed landscape, as you can see for yourself when you travel about the area.

I have lived here two years now (from Chicago) and am very much into greenery. My eyes are still pretty good and I have seen a total of 4 small rats (VERY small 'mice' by Chicago standards) in all that time and one was in the mouth of a flying hawk.

I was in puzzlement at your post, given the beautiful and very natural area you come from. The UP is considered a pretty 'healthy' area too, people go there to get away from the grime, etc. of the city, as we both know.

It's the same here. For me, TV is my little slice of heaven, critters and all.... I do consider myself a 'thinking person' and overall, I think the 'health' standard here is a pretty high one!
:)

garden guru lives in Fenandina-apparently just moved to TV. SHE is the one concerned about the palm trees and "rats". Not me....I live in the UP of Michigan and live with all matter of creatures and I co-exist with them easily. Garden guru is a retired nurse and was concerned about rats causing health or disease problems. I am a practicing nurse practitioner and I am aware of all the critters that can cause disease. However, I was trying to help garden guru understand that a few rats outside her home does not constitute a health problem such as you can see in squalid living conditions in some cities.