Phoenix Canariensis - Is it a Good Choice?

This palm is found in every DIY store and garden centre in the UK. Very popular seller, but there are things you should be aware of when considering these guys.

First off they need full sun and high heat and lots of it... something we very rarely get in the NW UK. For this reason they will sit dormant all year and just push out new leaves in the very late Summer which doesn’t really give them much growing time at all before the Autumn sends them dormant again. So, in the NW UK they will grow pretty slowly.

I have found that they do not like to be dug up once planted. They will go brown and defoliate when dug up and may never recover. If you MUST dig it up make sure it is done in Winter and chop off all leaves but the newest lot to stop it dehydrating.

Mine has survived -10 2 years ago without damage, however I have discovered that they hate early Spring freezes. This is when they start to suck up water again and if you get a wet freeze... even -4... it may go brown and appear to die off. However, like many palms, although they appear dead they will push out new leaves again if you get a hot following Summer, so don’t be too keen to throw them onto the compost pile should they go completely brown.

Thirdly these guys will eventually grow really huge... and I mean HUGE. You really don’t want to be putting them near your house. They form a really massive trunk diameter and a thick canopy of leaves. Many people prune them back so they don’t impose too much, which is OK in hot climates, but not really a good idea in cooler climates as the palm will struggle if pruned too hard. By pruning I mean chopping off all leaves which fall under an ideal 45 degree angle from the top of the plant. It looks nice but imagine how effective your hands would be if you had all but your middle two fingers pruned :D

Finally, these palms posses really evil long needle-like thorns which point in all directions. As the plant becomes bigger these thorns can inflict really nasty wounds. If you have kids either educate them or just don’t buy this plant.

I would recommend you keep it in a pot until it becomes unmanageable, then plant it out. Their leaves shoot to 12 feet or more before they start growing a proper trunk.