If you lift it out, soil and all, and see if you can see the roots - that might help you decide.

its close if its not yet id say . be better in the ground realy and wrapped in winter .

The moss all over the top of the soil is a sign that it is too wet. Palms need free draining soil and moss does not grow on that. I would say that it does not need repotting as palms do nor need as much space in a pot.

I got advice about this, recently, from the nursery I go to. I was toldthat there should be a large (his sized) hand-span all around between the trunk and the side of the pot...and about the same under the roots...as a rule of thumb...

well thanks nosy / kil / karen /mel all for the comments it has rained a lot lately hence the moss but the pot does drain very well i will try it in a corner that is protected from a lot of rain and let it dry out a bit i have thought of putting it in the ground when i find a suitable spot for it

In summer they take a lot of rain and wetness but winter that leads to frozen roots and they tend to go brown and die back, so I never let them get wet from first frosts till spring. Washingtonias are pretty hardy and yours looks fine.

Gardengadgit...I lost three Trachys this winter (and they're the hardiest) at about the same size as yours and they were in the ground.

That's in a Continental climate...lots of sun, with sharp and sudden periods of below minus, in the winter.

I dug my remaining three up and put them in pots (according to the advice of Monsieur B)...

Please be careful...I don't think it should go in the ground for a while yet...it's not worth the risk... :/

My experience is that young Washingtonias use water fairly quickly in pots, so I wouldn't worry too much about the moss. I would probably wait until next spring to repot this one if it is a W. filifera, but I would repot it soon if it is a W. robusta. It's hard to tell at this stage, but it looks like the latter, or possibly a hybrid, which grows at the same rate.