New here. Working on Tropical back yard in Middle TN

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 7:11 am

What is the most cold hardy palm? I don't care how tall it grows as long as its the most cold hardy.

Pics of progress soon.

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 7:58 am

This swimming pool is temporary. This is a 12' x 39" soft wall. This fall or next spring I am changing it to 15' x 48" metal wall. The corner will have a rock water fall built up it and going into the pool. The surround and railing area of the pool will be covered by large flat stones. It should appear to be inground when finished.

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 8:27 am

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 8:38 am

I am hoping my neigbor to the rear will let me plant a row of large Crape Myrtles in the ditch behind the fence for a better looking backdrop instead of seeing the roof of all the houses I will see the tops of these:

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 8:49 am

Here is a chop of what it might look like:

DesertZone · Post by **DesertZone** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 10:17 am

Thats going to awesome.

BILL MA · Post by **BILL MA** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:44 pm

Hello Brandon,
I would say in your climate you have lots of options. Do you ask about the hardiest palm because you don't want to offer much protection? If that is the case you could get away with needle palm with no troble and sabal minor in the right spot with proper care. Those two I'm sure you know are more like bushes until they are older though. If you are willing to protect them some try T. Fortunei or giant scrub palmetto. They both will offer a nice look in your mild winters with some protection on your real cold nights.

I would also try some Musa Basjoo's they will offer a nice tropical look around your pool. This would also require minimal protection in TN. Ensete Maurelli is a awsome banana type plant that grows super fast when it's hot. They would either need to be taken in or treated like a annual.

Welcome to the forum!
Bill

Rubtherock · Post by **Rubtherock** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:39 pm

Nice palm tree. What type is that and where did you find it? I haven't seen any quite like that in the Carolinas.

Great looking work by the way.

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 12:35 pm

BILL MA wrote:Hello Brandon,
I would say in your climate you have lots of options. Do you ask about the hardiest palm because you don't want to offer much protection? If that is the case you could get away with needle palm with no troble and sabal minor in the right spot with proper care. Those two I'm sure you know are more like bushes until they are older though. If you are willing to protect them some try T. Fortunei or giant scrub palmetto. They both will offer a nice look in your mild winters with some protection on your real cold nights.

I would also try some Musa Basjoo's they will offer a nice tropical look around your pool. This would also require minimal protection in TN. Ensete Maurelli is a awsome banana type plant that grows super fast when it's hot. They would either need to be taken in or treated like a annual.

Welcome to the forum!
Bill

The reason I am asking for the most cold hardy is because I plan to replace the non cold hardy palm on my tree I made. The tall tree is the one I am refering to. It is semi real. The top is real but the trunk is a dead tree. I want to get a palm to put up there that can survive being up there because I am sure it will need to be more cold hardy to survive on top of that tree. It really would not matter if it were more bushy because thats really what it needs to be is more bushy. The small plam to the left of it is a needle palm that I found at my local home dopot. I am going to make one more tall tree so I can put a hammock between them. I will take pics this time of it being put together. I know the small Sago is almost dead. I had it in the house and moved it to a darker room and it turned yellow. I set it out there and it has a little more green on it now. I have made more progress on the yard and I need to snap some more pics.

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 12:38 pm

Rubtherock wrote:Nice palm tree. What type is that and where did you find it? I haven't seen any quite like that in the Carolinas.

Great looking work by the way.

See above post

Rubtherock · Post by **Rubtherock** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 10:15 pm

Novel concept. Could you give me more info on what you used for the trunk part and how you set the palm on top of it. Looks great.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 2:39 pm

Great project, great privacy idea!
Welcome to palm madness!

Barb

turtile · Post by **turtile** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 5:48 am

The two hardiest palms for your area would be Sabal minor and Rhapidophyllum hystrix. Sabal sp. Birmingham would be the hardiest trunking palm you could grow but it is very slow growing.

winsorw · Post by **winsorw** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 1:54 pm

That semi-real palm tree is a clever idea. I hope it works out. If it does, I'm sure we'll see a lot of that popping up all over the country. Very innovative!!!!

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Tue May 17, 2011 7:27 pm

Well its been a long time since I have been on here. Some of my plans have changed, but I still want palms. Once I get the yard finished I am going to try to build some more concept semi real trees and see what works and what don't.

Here is the progress since last time:

This is a 15' x 48" pool with 1.5hp pump w/ sand filter.

The plan is to be 2 steps down to the pool level from my patio. And then level with the lower patio grade. There is a retaining wall around the rear of the property so drainage is not really an issue since its lower back there than the pool.
I put a drain in on the outside of the pool wall near the skimmer this should take out any water that gets around the pool. I plan to fill with gravel up to near the level of the drain and then put a layer of concrete around the pool wall and in between the reataining wall that is around the pool. this will be graded to take all the water that gets in between the walls out to the drain that runs to the drainage that runs out the back of the yard.

I plan on building a round deck from the pool to 15" out away from the pool wall So that I can change the liner if needed and access all the parts on the pool. I plan to have a plywood floor on the deck covered in backerboard and then slate on top of that.

I just filled in the dirt up to the wall the yard used to start going down right at the end of the patio. Now it has been dug back out.
Here is the plan:

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Tue May 17, 2011 7:31 pm

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Tue May 17, 2011 7:32 pm

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Tue May 17, 2011 7:34 pm

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Tue May 17, 2011 7:35 pm

I damaged the pool liner beyond repair so a new liner is in now (not pictured yet) but that is why the water is drained. I had an aurora LED light in it, but the light leaked and shorted out. When removing I tore the liner at the return. I tried to patch it, but it just got worse. I ended up with a 4" x 6" hole in the liner at the return(as seen in last pic at bottom of this post).

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Tue May 17, 2011 7:36 pm

Here it is with the new liner
Also I put in a few posts for extra support. They will be cut off even with the pool.
Its been raining alot latley and its too muddy to get the gravel I need, but It may be dry enough tommorow.
I did a little work on the side of the house while I was waiting. I decided to builde a wall around where the pump is and I am put in another post to finish the fence. I'm going to have to cut some of the planks to finish the wall though.
Also there is a pic of the drain installed.

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Tue May 17, 2011 7:36 pm

Here is a little more progress. I got the drain and concrete put in around the pool and I got the dirt backfilled around the wall on the outside. Also a little work on the front of the house.

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Tue May 17, 2011 7:38 pm

Here is a little more progress in the front yard.

I cut my cable line planting the azaleas

Still got to get some more pebbles around the front of the flowers

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Tue May 17, 2011 7:38 pm

We excavated the dirt in the back down to where it will match the grade of the pool after concrete is poured. Next we will be forming up the walls to pour the conrete walls first.

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Tue May 17, 2011 7:39 pm

I finished the water fall in the front now.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue May 17, 2011 9:19 pm

Yeah...a planner with a machine!

Great plans ahead.

Forgot whether I welcomed you back in 2009

Big job...like the waterfall at the front of house.

More pics when you have them.

Palms?

Barb

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Wed May 18, 2011 6:45 am

lucky1 wrote:Yeah...a planner with a machine!
Great plans ahead.

Forgot whether I welcomed you back in 2009

Big job...like the waterfall at the front of house.

More pics when you have them.

Palms?

Barb

Thanks for the welcome.

Most of my palms will be in the back yard. I have to get all the walls and concrete in before I can plant any back there.
I will have some in the front too, but right now I'm just trying to get the stuff finished. There is a nursury I found close to my house that has cold hardy palms and they raise them. They have some that are quiet big and a good price as well.

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Wed May 18, 2011 6:45 am

Looks like the perfect spot for a tropical "stay-cation" this Summer!
Cold-hardy palms like Sabal minor and needle palms would fit in perfectly. Windmill palms with trunks would be great.
Queen palms in big pots to come inside for winter would also look nice. --Erik

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Wed May 18, 2011 6:46 am

oops double post

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Wed May 18, 2011 1:16 pm

Man oh man, that's one big project.
The results to date are impressive, nice and neat.

The new palms are going to have great surroundings...

Barb

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Wed May 18, 2011 1:42 pm

Nice work!

TerdalFarm · Post by **TerdalFarm** » Wed May 18, 2011 7:55 pm

Another thought came to me this evening.
While you have the electrician out there anyways, can you make sure there will be GFCI outlets near the palm beds? That will make it easier to plug in palm heaters (e.g., pipe heat cables, C9 lights) without running extension cords all over the place.
Just a thought.

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Thu May 19, 2011 5:44 am

TerdalFarm wrote:Another thought came to me this evening.
While you have the electrician out there anyways, can you make sure there will be GFCI outlets near the palm beds? That will make it easier to plug in palm heaters (e.g., pipe heat cables, C9 lights) without running extension cords all over the place.
Just a thought.

Yes there will be outlets ran to all the places where plants will be.

zomble · Post by **zomble** » Thu May 19, 2011 9:24 am

Beautiful,

I am so jealous lol

Another thought came to me this evening. While you have the electrician out there anyways, can you make sure there will be GFCI outlets near the palm beds?

What a great idea.

I love your project!!

F1aReD · Post by **F1aReD** » Thu May 19, 2011 11:30 am

Wow, that's alot of work, How long have you been at this project? Looks like your doing a great job! Can't wait to see the finished product!

Andy

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Thu May 19, 2011 8:13 pm

Thanks

I started sorta in 2009, but there is always some project going on at my house all the time. I've did a lot of work on the inside as well, of course the inside is not finished either lol. I'm hoping to at least get the deck and concrete down this year in the back and then I will probley work on redoing my kitchen until next spring and then I will try to finish the back yard. No telling what other ideas I will have by then though lol.

F1aReD · Post by **F1aReD** » Thu May 19, 2011 8:57 pm

lol, you sound like my Dad, always has some project going on...He's gutted his bathroom 3 or 4 times, and is always renting a Bobcat, his most recent thing is he's moving his hottub and digging up the yard. Anyways, good luck with all your projects!

Andy

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 12:59 pm

Got the deck coming together and the forms for the concrete walls going up.
The plan is to cover the deck with plywood and concrete board on top of that. PVC trim screwed into the plywood around the pool inside edge. The cement board will have the cracks filled with thinset and then coated with redgaurd sealer. Then the concret will be poured for the floor even with the concreteboard on the deck and then tiled across the deck and the concrete floor.

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 2:38 pm

Hey Brandon

Nice to see it's coming along.
I love the natural fence texture.
Will look great with palms in front.

Hope you have lots of help for the pour...
Will have to look back a few pages to remember what you're planting.

Barb

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 2:40 pm

Now that I've read back in this post...I bet your wife has ordered a sign:

Finish THIS project...then START the next one.

Couldn't resist that.
Barb

brandonppr · Post by **brandonppr** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:23 pm

lucky1 wrote:Now that I've read back in this post...I bet your wife has ordered a sign:

Finish THIS project...then START the next one.

Couldn't resist that.
Barb

Haha yeah.

I plan to remove the reed fence cover and replace with bamboo after all is done.