In order for your new palms to flourish we recommend planting them in a raised bed to allow proper drainage. Windmill palms especially do not like standing water or as we say “wet feet”.
Raleigh, North Carolina and surrounding areas like Clayton are known for heavy clay so ensuring your palms are happy and healthy we recommend planting them high and backfilling soil around the root base. Your palms will thank you for it and it will prevent root rot.
Here is another example of planting higher to allow for good drainage…
Your palms will be nice and happy planted like this! 🙂❤
FERTILIZER
-We use a slow release granular fertilizer every spring thats specifically designed for palms. You can find them online or any big box store around Raleigh, Durham, or Fayetteville. They also have fertilizer spikes you can press in the ground around the base of the palm, just make sure you read the instructions before applying it.
-Fish emulsion fertilizer is also a great organic and natural option for your palms and they love it! Its high in nitrogen which palms like and it will not burn the roots like a synthetic fertilizer would if you apply too much. Fish emulsion adds nutrients to the soil which will give your palms dark green fronds! We use fish emulsion at Paisley’s Palms as well!
SUN OR SHADE?
Both! The great thing about Windmill palms or Sabal minors they can grow virtually in full sun or mostly shade. I can tell you the more sun they get though, the faster they will grow! Palms are very adaptive to their environment and depending on the conditions you will see elongated fronds in the shade and shorter stiffer fronds in the sun! 🌞
PRUNING
Only prune off completely brown fronds. Over time it is completely normal and natural for the lower fronds to turn brown because as the tree grows it sucks out the nutrients in older fronds in order to produce new ones. Its a beautiful thing! 🌴
Still have questions??
Call us at 919-702-4208
We are here to help!