Idiot’s Guide to Palms in Britain

by Paul Rose
Chamaerops No.49, published online 04-11-2004
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Left: Among giants. Enormous Redwoods in California's Giant Sequoia National Park dwarf the casual observer.
Photo by Tobias W. Spanner
Middle:Paul Rose's phantastic garden in summer.
Right:Paul Rose's phantastic garden in winter.
Photos by Paul Rose

My story starts probably like most, with foreign holidays, in my case the Maldives in 1990 when no one had heard of them, including the travel agent (fortunately the pilot had). It was a 14-hour flight stopping at Dubai, then Sri Lanka and finally the Maldives. This was then followed by a three-hour boat trip. On arrival I was greeted with what can only be described as paradise. Forget the Caribbean; this was true paradise. Water temperatures in the 80s (over 27žC) and air temperatures likewise, white powder sand, deserted beaches, and about 1200 small coral islands approximately 600 miles south of Sri Lanka with zero crime. The Maldives actually have few palms; in fact, I’ve only ever seen the coconut palm, but it was the overall effect of lush green and huge leaves that obviously stamped itself through the bone between my ears.

Back in reality (sinks into depression mode) and on my return I started to investigate the possibilities of a “tropical” garden and stumbled over the Palm Centre, which really was the only place at the time selling palms apart from a few small Cornish nurseries that I also knew of. I ordered what I thought was a horrendously expensive Chamaerops, Butia, and Trachycarpus (hilariously about £40 each). I cleared the entire garden using the famed “slash and burn” technique, although most of the burning was in fact the remains of some old pallets that the previous owner thought made a good fence (so good, in fact, he also constructed the garage out of it!). I decided on my slabs and on borders of 5-6 feet, which would surround the lawn area in the middle, dug down 2 feet deep around this entire border, and dumped in 20+ tons of half topsoil half sand and gravel for what I was told must be good drainage (I’ll come back to drainage later).

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