How Tim Grows Palms in New York

Today ’s postal service is from Tim Covington , who likes gardening with a tropical flare — even though he garden in chilly upstate New York .

My obsession with medallion Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree andtropicalscame from gardening unsuccessful person . When I first started garden , I went the “ normal”English gardenroute . But it seemed the more I paid for the plants the more thedeerenjoyed a colourful , expensive meal . I then made a breakthrough — deer do n’t wish banana plants . Thus began my experiment : I add a ginger industrial plant , and the deer discount it . I put in a sago palm tree , and still nothing . Feeling bold , I bought a bloomingBrugmansia . The deer did not even impact it . Almost overnight I became a tropic nurseryman in upstate New York .

Thanks to test and mistake , I have created a tropic haven on the banks of the Hudson River . What was once a grassy Alfred Hawthorne down to the pool is now filled with banana , palm trees , cactus , and perennial .

Each autumn I fill up my service department with the tender tropicals that must liveinside during wintertime . I even give my koi a winter home in a large holding tank . It ’s like a greenhouse but with fluorescent lights and a auto .

But the big challenge is keeping the large tropic plants outside year - round . I started withMusabasjoo(a banana hardy to Zone 6 ) and other zone - pushing tropical plants that could handle Zone 6A with some aegis . But most importantly , I pick up how to getTrachycarpusfortunei(windmill medallion ) through a Zone 6A winter as well asWashingtonia robusta , escort palms(Phoenix dactylifera ) , and jelly palms(Butia capitata).My education all came from Holy Writ and YouTube .

Each palm involve a slightly different form , but the result is that you could have prominent , beautiful medallion trees even in cold wintertime zones . I was very lucky to find Island Wide Palm Trees , situate in Long Island , NY , which particularise in palm . They sell not only palm trees but also the properprotectionstructures for windmill palm . The method acting forTrachycarpussaves a lot of time and is easy to store .

My otherpalmsrequire a “ box ” cover by insulation plug-in . This takes more work , but the result in the spring is a beautiful palm tree ready for summer . I use Christmas lights with a thermocube so that the corner keeps all my palms above freezing .

The box are comfortable to put together once you have the wood frame construct . And I put them on top of my palm when frost is predicted .

And now here in theNortheast , I wait for bounce to appear so I can remove all these structures and return the thou to the tropics until November . you may see more of what I do on myYouTube line , orfollow me on Instagram .

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