Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
I just have about 6"-12" of mulch around the base. I've heard of folks using Christmas lights all over the trunk & crown (not the base), or pipe-heating cables. Depending on the kind of Trachy you have, you want to keep it a little warmer than its reported hardiness. I keep some of my palms in a porch that gets no colder than the mid teens F. They suffer a little, but always recover. Some go to extremes by keeping them too warm and I feel that using that method prevents them from acclimating to the cold.
For example, I was told not to let my pindo palms get colder than about 20°F... I let them get colder and colder each year. Last winter they experienced temperatures in the teens for many days out in the snow before I brought them into this cold room for the rest of the season. About 30% leaf damage after a while, but they're shooting up new spears like there's not tomorrow.
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