Palm trees in Wa.

[wiley_p]

Ihadacashier at the market the other day ask about palm trees, she wanted to know if they are suposed to turn brown inthe winter. I asked if it was just the bottom, and she said it was the whole tree. It was planted in September I supect poor stock or planting depth but having not seen it and Knowing nothing about palms except what they look like, are they deciduous?

 

[rbtree]

I'd suspect transplant shock, and the browning exacerbated by the cold clear weather we had a while back. To do well in our climte, palms need an area protected from the cold and wind.

Palms are dicotyledons, not real trees. The terminal bud at the top is where all the growth happens. Fronds die out from the bottom up.

We just saw a yard on Cougar Mt that was all palms and other similar material. Man was it out of place.

 

[wiley_p]

Shoot dont know why I didnt ask you earlier. Thats what I thought was planting problem/stock, I told her that they only grow at the top and fronds underneath are dead, but she said the whole thing was dead. The only time I've really seen palms was in SoCal and when I was in town on R&R I was a little too tuned up to be observing the growth habits of city trees.

 

[rbtree]

Oops, I shoulda said they are called monocotyledons...duh.