By Bert64
United Kingdom
Good evening, i digged a hole for my new Fortunei palm and filled it up with water but how do i know if the ground is good and what do i need to do before i plant the Palm
- 22 Sep, 2016
Answers
Yes Bamboo, its says on the label Trachycarpus Fortunei, i filled it with water to see if it drained good enough or maybe i have to put something on the bottom or making holes, i want the best for the Palm. On the bottom 50cm deep there is clay with stones, the water stayed there for about an hour.
23 Sep, 2016
If the stones are loose and easily moving around in the hole you dug, that shouldn't be a problem, but if they are forming a solid layer you cannot penetrate, then you need to get a garden fork and disrupt the layer, removing any larger, bulky stones. You should be able to insert a garden fork into the hole at the bottom and have the tines penetrate the clay that's there, so as long as you can do that, it should be fine. Its probably worth incorporating some composted animal manure or good garden compost you've made yourself into the soil you will back fill with - when you plant the palm, ensure the soil around it is at the same level as when it was in the pot, but with the rootball not sticking out of the soil. 50 cm deep is down to subsoil, and clay subsoil is not uncommon in the UK, depending on the area where you live.
If the topsoil is also heavy clay, you'd do better to dig over an area a minimum of 4 times as large in width as the spot you want to plant the palm, mixing in composted manure through the whole area, then dig the hole for the palm. Water takes the line of least resistance, so digging a hole in heavy soil and planting something in it creates a well or sump into which water will run if the surrounding soil is undisturbed and is very heavy.
The other thing to note is, the spot you're planting in doesn't look very wide from front to back, and these palms put out long stems and leaves, so it needs to be a minimum of 2 feet away from the fence behind, preferably 4 feet, if there's enough space.
23 Sep, 2016
Thanks very much Bamboo, your a big help ☺
23 Sep, 2016
I hope i did well, the best compost for Palm trees on the bottom and enough space for the leafs, only a bit messy and muddy on top as i dont know what to do now
23 Sep, 2016
The soil isn't something you need to worry about,though I am wondering why you dug a hole and then filled it with water...
I'm more concerned about the palm itself - you called it a fortune palm, which I take to mean Trachycarpus fortunei, but that doesn't have this amount of white hairs or beard down the trunk - T.wagnerianus has something of a beard, but I'm inclined to think this might be the Old Man Palm, botanical name Cocothrinax crenata, which isn't hardy outdoors in the UK. Does your palm have a named label with it?
22 Sep, 2016