Needle and Windmill Palms

9 years ago

All,
I have had two Needle Palms in the ground for three winters now; the last winter being quite harsh. Four occasions of below zero (-7 the worst) this past winter, moving blankets with a set of 35 miniature lights on both trees. They came through unscathed; not one brown leaf blade!
This year in March 2014 I planted five 7-8 foot Trachycarpus fortunei/Wagnerianus hybrids. They are remarkable to say the least. This winter they will be protected by heating cables, bubble wrap and 2" thick styrofoam boxes cable securely to the ground. I will post pics and methods as the fall and winter approaches.
Just outside of Pittsburgh.

This post was edited by papalmguy on Sun, Aug 24, 14 at 16:48

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Comments (8)

bradleyo_gw
9 years ago
Where in Pittsburgh are you? I'm in North Huntingdon. You should also check out these other boards.

http://members3.boardhost.com/HardyPalm/

http://members3.boardhost.com/MIDWESTPALMS/

http://members6.boardhost.com/spanish2/
tropicalzone7
9 years ago
WOW, beautiful windmill palm. It looks great going into winter. I hope you have a lot of success overwintering it. Definitely try to make sure that your protection doesn't overheat your palm since I have had my palms overheat with even less protection than that.
Good luck! I'm sure your neighbors are impressed!
-Alex
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papalmguy
Original Author
9 years ago
I live in New Kensington; the neighbors are all in disbelief and I intend to prove all of them very wrong.
I have managed to overwinter Cordyline australis, a Fig (Chicago Hardy) and the two Needles. If I can manage last winter I can manage any winter.
papalmguy
Original Author
9 years ago
Alex, Thanks for the advice; the palms were an expensive investment and I intend to monitor them very closely.
tropicalzone7
9 years ago
I think you definitely can prove them wrong! At that size, protecting them is a bit more challenging, but seeing them green after a cold winter will be even more rewarding!
Keep us updated!
-Alex
papalmguy
Original Author
9 years ago
Gathered all of the remote thermostats needed to monitor the inside climate of the boxes this winter. Plans are to have all materials gathered and assembled by mid-October. If anybody is on a mission to make this work its me!
papalmguy
Original Author
9 years ago
Did a dry run on building the Styrofoam enclosures. I think this method will work fine.
Here is a photo of what it look like. It took about an hour to erect; of course I cut and constructed the panels ahead of time so they just had to be erected in place.
Sorry about the pic being side ways.
dbarron
9 years ago
I could be wrong, but I think you can stop worrying about the needles, they seldom get tip burn, unless frozen and windy (at least for me). If they have snow cover, they're fine, of course...but in Oklahoma snow cover was rare and some winters I'd get some leaf burn...but not a whole lot.