Last month I discussed the importance of protecting young cycads and palms in particular from frost damage.  One possible solution that I touched upon was protection provided by larger plants overhead.  This is a good option, especially if your garden is extensive, but also because canopy plants add an attractive dimension to almost any garden.  It is important, however, to understand which plants in your garden may already be canopy plants or are destined to become canopy plants.  
 

The plants you choose as your canopy can be a curse or a blessing, if you have cycads as understory plants.  In my garden I have both the blessing and the curse.  Cycads are my primary understory plants, and I prefer to use some of the larger cold-hardy palms as my primary canopy plantings, such as Jubea chiliensis, Phoenix dactylifera, as well as Brahea and Trachycarpus species to name a few.  I favor palms for a couple of reasons.  With most palms I have some control over when the dried leaves are to be removed.  This benefit also prevents damage from large leaves falling onto the smaller plants beneath.  Palms also do not drop much smaller fine leaf matter, which tends to clutter the crowns of cycads.  Canopy trees whose leaf litter clutters cycad crowns in my garden are Sycamore, Pepper, and Oak.  These are some of the larger, older trees that were in place when I purchased my property.  I tolerate them, because they are attractive in their own way. 

Equally as important as choosing the right canopy plants, is the importance of proper location of understory plants in relation to the canopy plants.  If you choose to include palms as canopy, it is important to note that many larger palms tend to have a very substantial root system that begins just below soil level, and for this reason, it is not wise to plant your cycads or other plants too close to the base of large palms.  The palm roots will compete with and potentially kill your smaller less aggressive understory plants. 

Certain understory plants that may have seasonal extreme temperature sensitivity may benefit from proper proximity to canopy plants.  For example I have a significant number of cycads that can benefit from overhead cold protection in fall, winter, and spring, as well as sun protection in July through September. By locating these understory plants in locations ranging from the southeast to the southwest of a canopy plant, I am able to provide optimum year-round benefit to my understory plants.  In the winter the mid-day sun is lower in the sky and shines from a southerly direction in under the canopy.  The understory plants are also receiving canopy protection from the sun in summer, when the sun passes nearly straight overhead and the days are much longer.  This way they are benefitting from greater sun exposure in the cooler days of the year, less sun exposure in the hotter days, and at the same time benefitting from cold protection from December through February. 

Your use of canopy and understory plant placement can optimize your success in the garden. 

Next month I will be discussing techniques for pup removal. 

Grow and prosper,

Keith

 As winter approaches I am reminded of a few lessons about cold weather that I have learned (from my successes as well as failures) over my 39 years as a grower of palms and cycads.  I’ll share some of these with you, in hopes that they will help you have successes with the cycads in your gardens. 

Most of my difficulties in the past have centered around the damage caused by cold weather.  The first 27 years of my growing experience I lived within seven or eight miles of the ocean.  This was a benefit that I had little awareness of at that time.  The last 12 years I have lived in north San Diego County about 14 miles from the coast, and what a difference that has made.  This present location, although not totally devoid of the marine influence, is significantly warmer in the summer and much colder in the winter.  In three of the past twelve winters temps have dipped to the mid teens Fahrenheit to the low 20’s for two to three nights straight.  This has killed many seedling and juvenile palms and cycads. It has also burned the leaves of many of my larger palms and cycads. 

The large green leaf cycads that were outdoors without any overhead canopy would often burn from the top leaves to approximately mid way down the total flush of leaves.  It appears that this phenomenon is due to the descending of the cold air directly meeting the upper most leaves of the cycads.  The lowermost leaves tended to be spared the direct effect of the cold air.  Therefore it is clear that young cycads and palms especially benefit from overhead protection. 

If you have a relatively young garden and you don’t have much overhead canopy protection, you have several possible individual or combined solutions to choose from.

1. Acquire some larger plants (I prefer cold-hardy palm trees) for overhead protection.
2. Use frost protection sheeting to cover plants.
3. Cover cycad caudex with straw.
4. Cover entire plant with an upside down grow pot or plastic trash can (only practical for smaller plants).  These covers should be removed as soon as the cold passes.
5. Modify or target your plant selection to species that are known to have some degree of cold tolerance.

 As my garden has progressed, I have practiced all of the solutions above, however I particularly favor the use of overhead protection and have learned to try to take advantage of the symbiotic relationship between canopy and the understory plants that can benefit from it.  The next newsletter will discuss possible choices for canopy plants. 

Grow and prosper,  Keith