Need to trim off some windmill fronds; other pics

11 years ago

Like many novice hardy palm growers in the fringe areas, I never expected it to get this big, especially in just a few years. I have guests coming, so need to clip a few fronds. I don't mind pushing the jungle away, but don't want my guests to feel like they need a machete. I give fronds and banana leaves to our local florist. She loves them.

It's companion is a bit smaller because I lost the first one.

Bananas are out of control and need some leaves and pup removed. I use the leaves to wrap food in for steaming or barbecue. Particularly great for Asian seafood dishes.

This grouping of palms along the back side of the back porch are much more manageable and won't be in the way as they get larger. Still, large-leafed sabal minors would've been a better fit. But I didn't know about them, when I got started.

I don't know Latin names, but I was told this is a Peruvian Daffodil. They're reliable potted bloomers every summer with about four or five stalks, a powerful lemon scent, and produces baby bulbs.

Neighbors' variegated cannas. Never dug up, never protected. Biggest clump in town. Thanks for looking.

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Comments (7)

chadec
11 years ago
Everything looks great, that windmill has gotten really big. How tall is the trunk? I would get something to tie up the fronds instead of trimming them.
wetsuiter
Original Author
11 years ago
Chad, I'm guessing about three feet of trunk. Last year I was excited because it was above the porch railing and then taller than me by .end of season. It went nuts this year. I hated to cut any fronds, but I was kind and only took a few of the worse offenders. When the companion gets that tall, I'll have an arch of fronds over the steps. It's such a tight corner, that it'll always have to have a few sacrificial fronds removed.

Thanks.
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islandbreeze
11 years ago
I have a windmill that's in the same predicament planted right next to my front door. I didn't really expect it to survive with minimal protection, but it's doing great and starting to grow in front of the door, so I'll have to start doing the same thing. Everything looks great btw. Your windmills and bananas all look very healthy.
tropicalzone7
11 years ago
Awesome palms and bananas! Those trachys really are getting tall and so are the bananas! I cant wait for my trachy to reach that height one day, right now it's about 3 feet tall.
Thanks for sharing!
-Alex
InsanePalmNinja
11 years ago
My Windmills are small but they look Really good those... Really I haven't done Anything there out in wind those but they love my Area I Picked for them those.
jacklord
11 years ago
Similiar issues here. I just lopped off two large fonds from my Pindo. They were at ground level and I tired of maneuvering the mower around them. Looks better now.

And I just extracted 4 banana pups with more waiting their turn.

Nice spread Wetsuiter.
wetsuiter
Original Author
11 years ago
Chad, I measured the trunk as just about 30". The freaky thing is that the newest frond has a petiole measuring 52" from trunk to hastula! It gets a great deal of sun there, but not all day, so that likely makes it stretch. If it had shorter petiole, it wouldn't be so out of control. I planted windmills there because I always liked the look of Victorian porches in Key West lined with palms. I got tired of hauling potted tropical palms and hibiscus in every winter. With our relatively mild winters windmills do very well. I just underestimated how well or how fast. This season alone the top of the tallest frond just barely topped the railing and now touches the ceiling. I was hoping they'd keep just above railing level for a few years. A sabal minor would've been a much better choice in the long run. Unfortunately, I'll have to keep this one trimmed up.

Glad you like Alex. We're really lucky with what we can grow here.