 Growing Gardens
with Julia Hancock
Pamper your Palms
 Palms are such darned easy plants to grow that we sometimes neglect them completely. But think how much better our palms would be if we devoted a little tender loving care to them once in a while.
Palm care starts at the top and works down. To give your palms an instant face lift, remove any dead fronds, heavy seed heads and remnants of dead stalk from the trunks. Be aware that ants sometimes nest in the junction of frond and trunk so work with caution.
Some seed heads, like those of the cocos palm, are extremely heavy, so don’t let them fall on anyone’s head. Take care when disposing of them too, as each seed has the potential to germinate and could be a pest if tossed in the compost heap. Palm fronds are notoriously difficult to feed through a mulching machine, but they do make excellent mulch if they are chopped up roughly by hand with loppers and spread under trees and shrubs.
The next job is to feed them and the easiest way to do this is with a palm-specific slow-release fertiliser. I like to sprinkle this around, water it well in, and cover it with some organic compost.
If your palms are old you may notice roots emerging from the trunk above ground level. To protect these, spread a thick layer of mulch up to them. Even if your palms are small, mulching is a good idea to conserve moisture, suppress weeds and protect the roots from excessive heat.
Few pests and diseases attack palms in our climate. Mealy bugs may be a problem in areas of high humidity but are seldom bad enough to warrant toxic treatment. Fronds can become sunburnt in very hot and windy weather. Leave these on to act as umbrellas for the new growth until temperatures have cooled in autumn.
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