WASHINGTONIA PALM
Central Florida’s Premiere Tree Installer, The Tree Planters located in Lakeland, is your #1 source for large, rare, and exotic palms and trees. At The Tree Planters, we have installed and transplanted thousands of large trees of every variety all over Florida for over 50 years. Every tree we sell, we plant. Every tree we plant, we guarantee for One Full Year.
We offer Free Delivery Within a 50-mile radius of Lakeland, Florida (All other delivery fees will be quoted at time of purchase), and a One-Year Guarantee on every tree planted by The Tree Planters.
“Note from Joel”
The Washingtonia palm is not often a good residential tree. It grows so tall and so fast that it overwhelms a typical yard. If the yard is quite large, or if your residence is an acreage, then Washingtonias could easily be the perfect tree. We planted 100 Washingtonia palms along the fences and driveways at a local horse ranch and the look was very nice. We also have a customer who lives on top of a hill near Dade City and he wanted his Washingtonian’s to be seen from all over town so we put in 40 or 50 them at 30 feet tall, knowing they would get to 80 feet. It was perfect. If you have a wide open space where you don’t have to look straight up to see the tree then Washingtonian’s may the perfect.
Description
Soaring to over 100 ft (30.5 m), this skyscraper of the palm world is a striking sight when planted at equal intervals along a boulevard or when snuggled up in groups against high rise buildings. The gray trunk is ringed with closely set leaf scars although usually at least part of the trunk remains covered with dead leaves that hang in a thatch. The solitary trunk, about 10-12 in (25.4-30.5 cm) in diameter, bulges at the ground and becomes slender as it approaches a crown of large palmate leaves with gracefully drooping leaflet tips. These are rich glossy green and grow to about 5 ft (1.5 m) long and 4 ft (1.2 m) wide. They are borne on 3 ft (0.9 m) orange leaf stems that are edged with vicious sawtooth spines.
As the leaves die, they fall against the trunk to create the “hula skirt” effect for which this palm is famous. Unfortunately this shaggy skirt of dead dry leaves is a fire hazard and provides a home for rats and other undesirable creatures. Many municipalities in California require that the dead leaves be removed which can be quite a hassle when they’re dangling 80 ft (25 m) up in the air! In Florida this is not such a problem as the humid climate and occasional high winds tend to keep the palms skirt-free.
Maximum height in Florida is usually closer to 80 feet.
