The tough cookies that pack a punch
With their craggy trunks and muscular looks, palms make an immediate impact – and they’re a remarkably hardy bunch
FOR the past year, I’ve been seeking an impressive plant to take on the important role of plugging a large gap in my rectangular plot. In order to find the right one, a strict criteria was put in place. The successful candidate would have to provide height, bulk and all-yearround interest, while suiting my Mediterranean-style garden.
A lot of plants were considered but in the end I plumped for Cordyline australis, a fastgrowing evergreen with a craggy trunk and a head of narrow leaves up to 3ft long.
Native to New Zealand, it’s sometimes called Torbay palm as the plants have been a common sight in English Riviera resorts since the 19th Century.
After a long search I found the perfect specimen online, and last week the 5ft-tall, multi-headed beauty arrived. I lugged it through the house, dug a big hole and lowered it into position. The shapely plant filled the empty corner perfectly, making an immediate impact thanks to its muscular form.
True palms, like trachycarpus and chamaerops, along with palm-like plants such as yuccas and cordylines, will give any garden huge punch.
They obviously suit jungle-style displays, sub-tropical borders and Medinspired courtyards but I’ve seen them grace everything from inner-city retreats to country hideaways.
DESPITE their exotic good looks, many of these plants are remarkably tough. Rain, sleet, snow, gusty blasts and even sub-zero temperatures won’t faze the toughest members of this group. Even those that are a little more lily-livered will survive winter with a bit of cosseting.
One of the most popular palms is Trachycarpus fortunei, or Chusan palm. Introduced to Britain from China by Robert Fortune in 1894, it forms a mass of 3ft-wide, fan-shaped leaves on long stalks emerging from the top of a stout trunk that’s covered in a fibrous material which looks, and feels, like shaggy hair.
Hardy down to about minus 20C, Chusan palm is happiest in a sunny spot but will cope with shade, although it tends not to grow as fast. Once established, expect it to ascend by about a foot each year and to produce the most amazing antler-like structures in late spring that carry masses of tiny yellow flowers.
Found growing wild in places like Spain, Sicily and Portugal, dwarf fan palm (Chamaerops humilis) is a slow-growing species that takes a couple of decades to reach 6ft. Plants tend to be low-growing and bushy while young, eventually forming a distinct trunk as the lower leaves die back.
Closely related Chamaerops humilis var. argentea (sometimes sold as C. humilis var. cerifera) originates from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and is highly sought-after for its fan-shaped, silver-blue leaves. Capable of handling a cold snap down to minus 10C, it will grow to 8ft by 5ft after 20 years or more. Cordylines are often mistaken for palms but actually belong to the asparagaceae family of plants, making them strongly connected to pineapple lilies, spider plants and the vegetable asparagus.
Cordyline australis is the one most often offered for sale but there are actually more than 50 varieties. Cordyline ‘Red Star’ grows to about 10ft and has glossy, bronze-red leaves, while Cordyline australis ‘Torbay Dazzler’ boasts heads of 2ft-long, green and white striped leaves. Perhaps the most striking of all is mountain cabbage tree (C. indivisa) with its 5ft-long, olive-green leaves adorned with orange midribs.
Large, specimen palms make dramatic focal points for lawns or can be used to add vertical interest to beds and borders, whether alongside other exotica or a traditional range of shrubs, grasses and perennials. Lower-growing ones are ideal for softening the edges of hard landscaping or to inject texture into displays. Another option is to raise compact, slowgrowing palms in containers filled with soil-based compost, such as John Innes No 3. Start them off in something like an 18in-wide pot, moving them into a slightly larger one when their roots are cramped. Stone or terracotta pots will provide top-heavy plants with some stability.
Water plants regularly over the summer, especially during hot, dry spells, and supply them with specialist fertiliser with every other watering.
Apart from that, all you need to do to keep them in good shape is to cut off the lower fronds – or leaves in the case of cordylines – as they start to turn brown and die.