Plant Florida Silver Palm – Level With the Root Ball

Plant Florida silver palm in soil that drains, no deeper than the root ball. Leave room for the slender crown, and water through the first months.

Plant it in soil that drains, no deeper than the root ball

Florida silver palm is usually a container plant from the nursery, and that is the easier plant-out. Dig the hole about twice as wide as the pot so you can pack soil against the whole root ball, and no deeper than that ball. [1] If the mix in the pot has sunk, ignore that sunken surface. Set the top of the ball even with finished grade so the stem is not buried. Backfill with the soil you dug out. Do not amend a pocket of mix the roots will refuse to leave. Sand, loam, clay, or lime rock is fine if water moves away from the trunk. [2]

1. Water the nursery pot, then slide the plant out. Do not tease the roots apart the way you would a shade tree.
2. Set the palm upright in the hole. Check that the top of the ball sits even with grade.
3. Backfill, water to settle air pockets, then finish the soil.
4. Build a low berm just outside the root ball so the first waterings soak that mix, not the lawn.
5. Do not plant it where salt water or stormwater sits after a rain.

Leave room for the slender crown, and water through the first months

A mature crown is only about 6 to 7 feet across, so this palm fits a small yard better than a cabbage palm. Still leave room beside a walk and a wall, because you cannot cut the head back to clear a wire. [3] [4] Keep the berm watered through the first months: often at first, then steadily until the palm is in, usually four to six months, and sometimes through the first year on a dry lot. After that, soak and wait until the soil has dried some. Sun, drain, and fertilizer stay on How to Grow Florida Silver Palm.

1. Measure a few feet out from the house to the trunk, enough for a 6- to 7-foot crown.
2. Stay off the line of overhead utilities.
3. Water often for the first weeks, then keep the ball moist until the palm is established.
4. Leave the palm in place. Moving an established silver palm is a separate job from planting a container plant.

If the stem sits too deep or the first waterings run off, reset the ball even with grade and keep a berm so water soaks the root ball.