2007-10-27

Palms away!

We volunteered to help the city plant palm trees along Rosecrans Blvd today - us and about 100 teens from high school service clubs. Palm trees are an improvement over nothing, and probably ideal from a city maintenance point of view. These have a look that makes me want to say Queen palm, but I'm not certain of that. Overhead power lines preclude taller, more majestic trees.

Planting of the boxed palms was through holes cut in the sidewalk and then dug into our heavy soil. Backfill was 1 sack of soil amendment and the rest sand (perhaps 1:10 to 1:20 organic:sand). I didn't feel that this was a very good mixture, but I have to assume that someone else has researched before investing in dozens of large boxed palms.

One web resource recommends a mixture of about 55:45 organic: inorganic split for _potting_ soil. Another web resource states that palms thrive in rich soil. A third calls for well drained soil - sandy peat (10-20% muck or peat). I do know they they do well in our regular garden soil - any number of neighbors have planted them, presumably without soil amendments.

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