It would be easier to answer your question if we knew what climate you were in, and what species the palms were... Here in southern California, most palms about that height are pretty well established in their pots and are probably something cheap and easy to grow. The latest recommendations by D Hodel on planting established larger palms (the common ones... he did not do any research on really costly, tropical or rare species for obvious reasons) was NOT to amend the soil in any way. Just dig a hole, only slightly larger than the pot, and drop it in, backfilling in with the same soil you dug out of the ground (unless it was asphalt or concrete etc.). THen amend the topsoil or mulch it heavily. This procedure allowed for the fasted and easiest growth continuance of the planted palms, and that larger holes or amended soil only slowed the palms down, and sometimes had more serious consequences (palms fell over, rotted eventually before establishing, etc.).

I'm in Salem OR, 97303. My first home I moved into last summer, it's in a flood zone of the Willamette River as there was an insurance debacle during the loan process. In Salem/Keizer's "Flood of 96" the houses crawl space took on a few inches of water. So I suppose the soil is sandy from being close to the river?

I'm at work right now and don't have a pic, but our palms are fan shaped. Looking at pics of palms, it's similar to or could be:
Cabbage Palm Tree �" Sabal palmetto
California Fan Palm Tree �" Washingtonia filifera
Mexican Fan Palm Tree �" Washingtonia robusta
Windmill Palm Tree �" Trachycarpus fortune

Thanks for the reply :-)

My guess is you do not have Sabals as large Sabals on the west coast would be pretty rare and pricey, though no necessarily on Florida. Washingtonia filiferi would not likely do well in your climate, so my guess is W robusta or Trachycarpus, with W robusta being a LOT cheaper for 5'. But you can always tell by gripping the petiole below the leaf and running your hand back towards the leaf base... if your hand has been sliced open like a knife, it's a Sabal... if your hand has been ripped out like a cheese grater, then it's a Washingtonia. If neither, it's a Trachycarpus. OK, don't actually do that, but you get the idea... Washingtonias have large, hooked, extremely sharp teeth on their petioles, while Sabals have no teeth whatsoever, but tend to have very sharp-edged petioles... Trachycarpi have dinky, blunt, relatively harmless teeth and the petioles are very skinny.