This tall tree adds tropical flair to the landscape.
Once established, the date palm is fairly drought and salt-tolerantmaking it an excellent addition to sunny coastal landscapes.
How and When to Plant Date Palm
Date palms are best transplanted in spring or fall.
Credit: Ed Gohlich
Take care when transporting your specimen, as the wood is very soft.
Likewhen planting any other tree, dig the hole twice as wide as the root ball.
Fill in around the tree with the loose soil you excavated, so the roots are barely covered.
Credit: Ed Gohlich
Press soil around the roots with your hands or feet, then water well.
If you are planting multiple date palms, plan to space them about 20 to 40 feet apart.
Fruit-bearingfemale date palms will need at least one male date palm nearby to produce fruit.
Credit: Paul Craft
Date Palm Care Tips
Once planted, date palms will be very easy to care for.
Light
For date palm, the more sunlight the better.
It needs at least six to eight hours a day for optimal growth and health.
Credit: Paul Craft
Soil and Water
Date palm grows best in rich,well-drained soilwith deep, even moisture.
If well-established, date palm trees will tolerate drought.
When growing fruit plants, more water is needed.
Credit: Paul Craft
Temperature and Humidity
Date palms won’t pollinate until the temperature reaches 95oF.
They thrive in dry heat and sun.
They’re likely to suffer significant frond damage or even die if temperatures fall beneath 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
Credit: Paul Craft
If the temperatures get cold, wrap your plant in burlap or bring container plants indoors.
For the amount to use, follow product label directions.
Wait two to four weeks before fertilizing newly planted date palms.
Pruning
Remove dead, damaged, or diseased leavesfrom the tree as needed.
Use a heavy-bottomed container slightly larger than the root ball, and double-check it has excellent drainage holes.
A date palm should be able to stay in its container for 2 to 4 years.
Handle your date palm carefully when repotting and arm yourself with gloves and eye protection.
Their root systems tend to be fragile, but the bark and fronds can be rough and spiky.
Treat damaged leaves with an insecticide before the weevils have a chance to get established.
Use caution with weed-control products, especially on new palm trees.
This may result in brown leaf spots, browning foliage, deformed new growth, and death.
It’s a good idea to hand-pull weeds until the palm is more stable and grown.
How to Propagate Date Palm
Propagate date palms from the suckers growing on an existing tree.
Carefully remove the sucker from the tree, keeping its roots intact.
Plant it in soil, either in a spot in your yard or in a container.
Protect the new planting from bright sunlight until it shows shoots.
Keep it moist but not soggy while it grows.
To grow date palms from seeds, use seeds from ripe dates.
When your sprouts are a few inches high, they can be transplanted to a larger grow pot.
Its slender, silvery leaves grow 5 feet long.
The stem is armed with long spines, so it’s unsuitable for growing along walkways.
Its compact size makes itwell-suited for containers, on patios, or indoors.
Zones 10-11
Date Palm
Phoenix dactyliferaproduces theedible datesmost commonly available in markets.
Date palm is naturally a clumping tree, but its suckers are usually removed to create a single trunk.
It works well to frame a multistory home or as a street tree.
Date palm grows 50-60 feet tall and 20-25 feet wide.
Zones 9-11
Canary Island Date Palm
Phoenix canariensishas a brown trunk that can reach 2-3 feet across.
The tree’s crown bears 15-foot-long silvery leaves massed in a sphere, giving the tree a lollipop look.
It’s an excellent street tree.
It grows 50-80 feet tall and 25-30 feet wide.
Zones 9-11
Silver Date Palm
Phoenix sylvestrisbears 10-foot-long silvery-blue to bluish-green leaves.
They often appear to glow with a metallic sheen.
The tree grows 55 feet tall and 25 feet wide.
Use silver date as a street tree or to frame a home.
It tolerates high rainfall conditions better than other date palms.
It grows 40-50 feet tall and 25-40 feet wide.
Senegal date palm is a slow grower that likes regular watering but tolerates dry periods.
It may also require hand-pollination (rather than depending upon the wind) because fruiting is a fickle process.
A female tree will produce about 20 pounds of dates during the first crop if planted from seed.
Patience is required when growing date palm trees.
It can take around eight years for a tree to reach maturity.
California Invasive Plant Council.
