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It seems like I remember reading somewhere that if the soil freezes in the winter, it won't kill a windmill palm. Is this true? Is it necessary to heat the ground around a windmill palm in the winter to keep it alive? If so what methods are used for making sure he ground won't freeze?

Your area is a little better off then mine in winter...
Mulch would be the key here,at least 4" and better
if its 6" keeps the soil from freezing but you need
about/at least a 3' area...I have pulled the mulch
back after some pretty cold winter temps and I think
the lowest readings @4" were around 33F/34F / the soil
should be slightly warmer @ 8" and so on.

This is for Trachys- my Washy gets at least 10" to 12"
and the bigger they get the bigger the spread needs to be,
Washys roots die back to the the trunk and have to regrow from
there when they are damaged..

hardyjim wrote:Your area is a little better off then mine in winter...
Mulch would be the key here,at least 4" and better
if its 6" keeps the soil from freezing but you need
about/at least a 3' area...I have pulled the mulch
back after some pretty cold winter temps and I think
the lowest readings @4" were around 33F/34F / the soil
should be slightly warmer @ 8" and so on.

This is for Trachys- my Washy gets at least 10" to 12"
and the bigger they get the bigger the spread needs to be,
Washys roots die back to the the trunk and have to regrow from
there when they are damaged..

Thanks Jim. I think I might "experiment" with some trunking palms next year. The windmills are so common and inexpensive at the nurseries here I thought I'd give one a try.

They are a lot of fun...glad I didn't start with bigger ones
because they grow fast and soon become a chore to cover...

hardyjim wrote:They are a lot of fun...glad I didn't start with bigger ones
because they grow fast and soon become a chore to cover...

Do you recommend one variety over another as far as hardiness?

There are some Bulgarian Trachys last time I looked on E-bay...

Otherwise..Takil,Nainital,Fortunei,Tesan,Wagnerianus
should all be solid as far as Trachys go..

hardyjim wrote:There are some Bulgarian Trachys last time I looked on E-bay...

Otherwise..Takil,Nainital,Fortunei,Tesan,Wagnerianus
should all be solid as far as Trachys go..

Thanks I was wondering if the Bulgarian Trachy's were actually hardy enough to make a noticeable difference between the other varieties.

I think they all vary even with the same batch of seeds...

Takil is a deemed (arguably) as the most cold hardy. Mine is a fast grower, as long as the soil is dry, cold is less an issue. On my more tender palms, I use a heat cable underground for the root ball on the extreme days (Jan/Feb). They are alive and well after a few years here, so it must help with plenty of mulch.

Do you have a picture of your Takil?
Maybe one with the growth point...

A couple if pics of the Takil.

Cant see the ligules...where did you get it?

I'm in west michigan and what has worked for me so far has been throwing a few bags of mulch around the base of my enclosures. Up until last winter I built wooden boxes roughly 3 foot x 4 foot. Last year I did one tree with 55 gallon drums stacked on top of eachother with bags of mulch around the base. That tree came out better than the ones in the wooden boxes and the only protection was roughly 3/8 inch of plastic.... This winter instead of c-9 lights I will be installing two 150w heat lamps, so we'll see how that'll go.

Hope this helps.

Looks like you could have a Nainital,possibly...Takil has short triangular ligules...
and lots of tomentum- at least compared to Fortunei- do you recall where you got it?


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