Palms in the garden.......in our regions...........and in winter?
Sure, that’s possible! With the proper care.

On the Internet you can find a lot of information about palm care. Unfortunately information about minimum temperatures and protection during winter is rather inconsistent. Please read the following and it will help you to enjoy your palms for many years.

Winter care:
Place the palm on a protected place, out of the wind with sun or half shade. -10°C with hard cold wind can do more damage than -18°C at a protected place.
Mix the ground with gravel, so the water can get through easily.
When the winter season starts, cover the soil around the plant with straw or leaves.

Big palms, with a trunk height of 50 cm or higher, seldom need protection, but for all young palms and smaller species I advice to protect them every winter. A palm can withstand temperatures of -15°C to -20°C, but smaller palms have too few leaves to protect the hart of the palm. Water can reach the hart and by freezing it swells and destroys it after which the plant will die.
Plants in a wed climate zone are more sensitive to the formation of mould resulting in rotting, and ultimately the death of the plant.

Good protection will prevent these problems. A beautiful palm is worth the fifteen minutes of care it needs. If it’s possible give the palm some air in between, so that moulding gets no chance.

Use fleece to cover your plants in winter. Characteristics of fleece:
- reduces big and sudden differences in temperature
- protects against wind and storm
- the frozen fleece is a good isolation (iglo effect)
- reduces loss of moist
Don’t use plastic or foil, as it doesn’t breath. The plant will rot. Rather use rush mats, also for extra protection.

Fertilizing the palms:
Palms need to be fertilized during the growing season and will react strongly when given the right fertilizer and watered properly. Soon beautiful leaves will appear.
Watch out for too much fertilizer. The plant can die or risks to be eaten by insects or becomes less frost hardy, as its cell protection gets worse.
Do not use soluble fertilizers, because they get absorbed too fast. Better use an organic fertilizer, as these will be absorbed slowly. Fertilizing too little slows the growth, but does not damage the plant.

Planting a palm:
You can plant a palm outside, but they are very sensitive about the exact height of their trunk. Make sure that the thicker part at the beginning of the trunk (just above the roots) is above the ground.

Tropical Centre