Plant Royal Poinciana – Flare at Grade

Plant royal poinciana 10 feet from pavement, with the flare at grade. Leave 20 feet from the house, and do not put a bed under the canopy.

Plant 10 feet from pavement, with the flare at grade

Set royal poinciana where the surface roots will not lift a walk. Ten feet from pavement is the usual minimum. [1] The canopy can reach 40 to 60 feet, so leave room from sidewalks and buildings as well. [2] Twenty feet from the house is better, and 12 to 15 feet from a drive gives the buttressed roots room. [3] Do not plant shrubs or a garden bed under the canopy. Those roots out-compete anything you put there. [4]

1. Plant in warm weather, after frost is over.
2. Dig a hole as deep as the root ball and a little wider.
3. Set the flare at the old soil line. Do not bury the trunk.
4. Leave at least 10 feet from pavement and 20 feet from the house, and 12 to 15 feet from a drive.
5. Backfill, water in, and keep a mulch ring off the trunk.
6. Leave the ground under the canopy as open lawn. Do not plant a bed there.

Choose the open lawn now. The tree is often wider than it is tall within a few years, and the surface roots will reach the pavement long before the trunk looks large. Keep it off a power line and out of a narrow side yard. Weak wood drops limbs in wind, so the tree needs room to shed a branch without hitting the house.

Set the flare at grade, 10 feet from pavement and 20 feet from the house, and leave the ground under the canopy open.