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Washingtonia Robusta questions

15 years ago

I uncovered my washingtonia robustas today as the coldest temperature in the next 7 days is 31F. If I have to recover them for a night or two yet this year I can easily do so. I figure its best if they are out in the open on any days they can be. To all the people from the north that overwinter these, I know some cut the fronds off and some don't. Well, after trimming the dead stuff off of my washingtonia's, the palm looks horrible, especially with the battered fronds. I was considering chopping everything off except the newest frond and the spear. I don't see the difference if I do it now, or if I would have done it last fall.

I know next fall I will be cutting them down as it will be a hell of a lot easier to protect and I don't have to worry about the fronds browning then anyway. This palm is hard to keep green in WI :).

I even remember a few guys from down south that cut them all off before winter too. So let's hear what you guys think. I believe once it grows two or three back it'll look good anyway and that should be by the middle of May. Here are the pictures:

This backyard one got heavily damaged and saw 19.1F do to power issue. I think this one should be hacked down to its emerging frond and spear for sure.

Here's the front yard one. Fronds look kind of beat up and some are only half there after cutting damage off. Wouldn't mind cutting it back either since it has a HUGE frond emerging and another spear.

Plus cutting them down would make it easier to protect if it gets cold again this spring.

Bonus picture, here is my sago palm. Hope it flushes early this year because it don't look happy.

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Comments (7)

jimhardy
15 years ago
Pretend your sago is variegated,
wx,I would just remove the dead stuff if you want to cut,leave all the green tissue on the palm,think of it this way,every leaf you cut off now will be at least one leaf less this year.
If you leave your palms uncovered now and it rains, there is a good chance you will see spear pull regardless of if it hits mid to low 20s or just 30F
I live quite a ways south of you and we have already seen many 60s 70s and near 80F and I am not uncovering mine until we have a week of 70+ weahter forecast,Washys really don't start growing until it gets above 70F anyway ESPECIALY coming out of winter,I would hate to see you lose your Washys.etc after doing such an awesome job of protecting them this winter! I don't know of anyone growing Washys as far north as you are-Cold soil,air and moisture are almost surly a death sentence esp for washys....Watchout for next weekend!
wxman81
Original Author
15 years ago
Weather looks ok until Friday, and then its questionable. Think of this. The temperatures/soil temps here now are comparable to winter temps in the northern most reaches of where washy's grow down south. It rains down there and people don't protect them. If it rains and then a freeze is predicted I'll cover them, but if its rain and then 35 for a low I'll be safe. My trachy has been uncovered for a week now and went through 19F last week and is unscathed. Same with my butia.

As April nears, things warm up fast. My washy worked on a frond this winter and the protection (zipties to hold it together) looked like it was stressing the new growth also. It needed this break from protection. Maybe it'll be uncovered til fall, maybe not, but I assure you I won't let it see nasty temps if the weather turns. I hope to get 2-3 feet out of it before October. Same with the other washy.
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topher2006
15 years ago
You still got lots of green left on that washy it will come back give it some sun. That sago will flush again so don't cut it until it does i had one do the exact same thing and 3 months later it flushed so just give it some time. Good luck !
jimhardy
15 years ago
Good luck wx,hopefully we will both be posting pics of nice healthy washys this fall,heres to a great growing season!
hueytlatoani
15 years ago
Wow, that washingtonia looks better than the one I overwintered in the house this year. How did you protect that? I'm in your zone and planning on putting mine in the ground this year.
wxman81
Original Author
15 years ago
Used a box like the one pictured below. It was doubly poly with a 1 1/2 inch air space in between. I wrapped a strand of 200 mini Christmas lights around the trunk and foliage and used a 125 watt heat lamp in there also. Next year I'm switching three sides of the enclosure to foam to decrease heat loss, and I'll leave the side that faces south plastic.

Here it is when I boxed it up:

And here it is yesterday:

As you can see it worked on a frond over the winter.
jimhardy
15 years ago
Very cool pics wx,that one with snow always cracks me up! Good job,your a pro now

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