|
Palm
type trees have been around for about 65 million
years, about the same time the last dinosaur roamed
the Earth. Believe it or not, Essex once had
a 'tropical climate' with Palm trees and
dinosaurs! OK it was 65 million years ago but
now we at Tropical Landscapes UK think it is about
time we witnessed the incredible beauty of Palm
trees in the Essex Countryside. We can't bring
back the dinosaurs, but we can supply mammoth
Palm trees! You could be one of the very few people
to have a monstrous mature Palm tree in your garden
or at your business premises. The lowest temperature
in Essex of -9C was recorded at Writtle,
Chelmsford in the 1962-63 winter. There are dozens
that are hardy enough to survive our winters with
little or no protection. If fact Spain experienced
colder weather than Essex a couple of winters
ago. Southern Mainland Spain had -7 C while parts
of Northern Spain such as Barcelona and Madrid
had -12C. Amazingly the Palm trees survived. The
Balearic Island of Majorca even experienced snow. It
takes a lifetime to grow a large Palm!
Lets
take the traditional Date Palm for example. This
two year old seedling (pictured) was grown from
a seed from a box of dates bought from a supermarket.
It has three leaves, the largest being about 30cm
(1 foot).
|
| Date
Palm 2 year old seedling |
It
will take about 15-20 years to grow about 30 cm
(1 foot) of trunk and a canopy of leaves similar
in size to a mature plant. After that things speed
up a little! It can gain an additional
5-6cm (2-3 inches) of trunk a year. A six metre example
(20 feet) with 3-3.5 m of trunk will take
about 75 years to grow from seed in the UK. Can't
wait that long?
Call
Tropical Landscapes UK.
Torbay
or Cornish 'palms' otherwise know as New Zealand
cabbage trees or Cordylines are in fact not Palm
trees at all. They have been popular since the
1970's. Many people will say they have a 'palm
tree' in their garden, but it is likely to be one
of these and not true Palm trees like those
supplied by us. Most Palm trees like
water! They are found in deserts around oasis,
by rivers, streams and close to the coast.
In fact anywhere where their deep roots can
access underground water. It is vital after planting
and during the establishing stage, they are watered
regularly especially in hot weather.So for
optimum growth we include and install automatic
watering systems (max. 50m from tap) and plant
in our specially formulated growing medium. Once
established Palm trees are drought resistant.We
import and use special soil additives from the
USA, where they have decades of experience in
Palm tree planting. Countless people's lives
were saved from the Asian Tsunami in December last
year, when they climbed and clung on to Palm trees-often
the only thing left standing in some villages.
Nearly
one million tonnes of palm tree oil is imported
to the UK every year for use in bread, crisps,
lipstick and soap!
|
