Wondering if this tree will survive..

[GON]

When we bought this home 11 months ago, this palm tree was laying horizontal. The tree was horizontal in the real estate listing photos.

I assumed the tree had shifted after planting, and grew horizontal. Went to trim some dead branches from the tree today, and to my surprise the tree had a ton of play.

I placed the trunk vertical. Tied down the trunk to a stake, and placed 20 lbs of topsoil in a void at the trunk. I suspect the tree was planted with one side missing topsoil, allowing the collapse.

The question now is- will this tree recover?

 

[97prizm]

Does the inside or roots look like they were brittle or rotted out? If not I'd use a healthy dose of revive or a fertilizer made for trees, and you should be good to go. It'll definitely need support upright for a couple of years if I had to guess.

 

[GON]

Does the inside or roots look like they were brittle or rotted out? If not I'd use a healthy dose of revive or a fertilizer made for trees, and you should be good to go. It'll definitely need support upright for a couple of years if I had to guess.

Never heard of revive. Thanks for the recommendation.

Not sure how to judge the exposed roots..all I can share is the tree was horizontal for at least 15 months, and when I removed some rocks around the trunk I saw roots that appeared to be living, yet not anchored into the ground.

Wild guess is this specie of tree is pretty hardy..but just a wild guess.

 

[SatinSilver]

@doitmyself might know about this tree.

 

[AZjeff]

Find out what the watering schedule is for palm trees. It will vary by time of year and temperature, rainfall, etc. Also apparently there is specific palm tree fertilizer. It looks healthy so if you didn't break the roots setting it up I'd bet it will do fine.

 

[himemsys]

When we bought this home 11 months ago, this palm tree was laying horizontal. The tree was horizontal in the real estate listing photos.

I assumed the tree had shifted after planting, and grew horizontal. Went to trim some dead branches from the tree today, and to my surprise the tree had a ton of play.

I placed the trunk vertical. Tied down the trunk to a stake, and placed 20 lbs of topsoil in a void at the trunk. I suspect the tree was planted with one side missing topsoil, allowing the collapse.

The question now is- will this tree recover?View attachment 293141

https://www.treehelp.com/

I've been fertilizing a very old, dying Elm Tree for a couple of years with Tree Help's Elm Tree fertilizer and this summer it has more leaves than it's had in years. It might actually live a few more years. I was think it would have to be removed by now. It's over 100 years old.

I don't know if they have fertilizer specific to your palm, but it's worth a look.

 

[Pablo]

Are palm trees really trees?

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Are+palm+trees+really+trees?&t=iphone&ia=web

 

[GON]

Are palm trees really trees?

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Are+palm+trees+really+trees?&t=iphone&ia=web

Fascinating- learn something new every day.

And to supplement your post:

Why is Florida not planting palm trees?​

This is an important note about the average palm in southern Florida only absorbing 5 pounds of CO2 per year. Compared to other trees – oaks, mahogany, pines, and cedars – that can sequester more than 3,000 pounds of CO2 over their lifetime, it may be best to exclude palms in favor of more broadleaf trees or conifers.

https://texastreesurgeons.com/blog/2025/01/03/palm-trees-are-not-trees/

 

[Pablo]

Do pines do ok in your desert area? What other drought tolerant trees?

 

[doitmyself]

@doitmyself might know about this tree.

My only experience (a nasty one) with palm trees is removing an over-grown one in a Michigan greenhouse conservatory. Yikes, that stem is like fiberglass particles and required use of respirators and constant wetting during chainsaw use. Our crew all wore Hawaiian shirts for this project!

Since it seems that this was a living plant just sitting sideways with a functioning root system, I think Gon's staking effort might work. My advice is worth what it cost, lol.

 

[GON]

Do pines do ok in your desert area? What other drought tolerant trees?

Most everything in this area requires irrigation, unless one is on a significantly higher elevation. Because of cool nights, and lack of many pests, I suspect most trees will grow in this area if proper conditions are set. I did check into citrus trees, the freezing winter nights prevent most citrus trees from growing.

 

[Pablo]

Most everything in this area requires irrigation, unless one is on a significantly higher elevation. Because of cool nights, and lack of many pests, I suspect most trees will grow in this area if proper conditions are set. I did check into citrus trees, the freezing winter nights prevent most citrus trees from growing.

Pines, oaks, maybe even incense cedar. Yes irrigation. But shade at least.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Palm in the desert sounds silly.

The Palmetto's here, which may be different, have a very dispersed root system - not deep - very wide.

Every grower I have talked to says to make sure you use Palm specific fertilizer. There high potasium and slow release.

Much better than pines or oaks if you have hurricanes. I don't think you have that problem?

 

[GON]

Palm in the desert sounds silly.

The Palmetto's here, which may be different, have a very dispersed root system - not deep - very wide.

Every grower I have talked to says to make sure you use Palm specific fertilizer. There high potasium and slow release.

Much better than pines or oaks if you have hurricanes. I don't think you have that problem?

No hurricanes.... but very high winds.

50 miles from here, there has been significant flash flooding over the past few weeks. A horse racing facility is shutting down for the season due to floods.