Trachycarpus Fortunei Help!

Hi all new to the site, hoping someone can advise me I bought a large specimen Trachy about 10ft in height 3 months ago, while on holiday it blew over damaging some of the leaves, should I cut these back. Also should I plant it and is now a good time some of the lower leaves are yellow in colour I think the pot maybe too small any advise appreciated.

 

Hi, personally I'd say plant it quick, it would have benefited from being planted earlier, but now is better than leaving it in the pot.
I wouldn't worry too much about the damaged leaves, but if its not got much foliage I'd leave them on.
I dont think you will find it greens up very quickly, these large ones in small pots can take quite a while to establish, but getting any new root that it might be making at this time, into fresh soil, can only help I would think.

 

Thanks for the quick reply Pete, I will plant it first thing should I add sand, multi purpuse compost ect. Totally new to gardening, they didn't give much advice where I bought it.

 

You really need to dig a hole a good 2ft bigger than the pot and 6 ins deeper, then depending on your soil add some compost , if its heavy soil some sharp grit would help.

If your soil is pretty good then you could just dig an area over, dig the hole, break up the soil in the bottom of the hole and plant.

Plant at the same level as in the pot.
It might need staking being that its so tall.

They have a fairly tough root system but wont stand water logging in winter.

One other thing, just because its a palm dont think it needs little water, until it establishes it will need frequent watering during dry weather, you can stop during the winter months, but you will probably need to water for most of next summer.

 

Thanks again, all I need to do now is find a suitable spot.

 

Hi kharri 99 and welcome to GC.

I'm sure Pete has given you all the advice you need but it would be interesting to know your location .... it can make a vast difference in advice you need ... it can be quite different if you are in the UK (North, South, East or West ... England, Scotland, Ireland or Wales) .... or perhaps like me in Portugal.

 

Yes I forgot to put that Im based in the west Midlands, I have planted the Trachy today and given it a good water hopefully it will be ok, I would just like to create a little more shelter for it, as all the plants around are quite small and I know wind can affect the leaves, has anyone got any ideas what might do the job continuing on the Tropical theme.

Kev

 

a) Cortaderia Richardii.

b) a clumping bamboo.

(Well, that's what I put around mine!)

 

Kev, its totally hardy and I always think they look better with a bit of room around them, it shows off the hairy trunk better.

You would need something very tall bearing in mind its 10ft already.
There is this age old thing about the leaves getting torn by the wind, and it does happen, but if your in a built up area??...... It shouldn't be a problem.

I think it goes back to the days when they were planted along the sea fronts on the south and west coasts, and got a total battering from storms and salt water.