Talk:Washingtonia robusta

Untitled[edit]

How close to a house can you plant this palm wihout causing a foundation or some other sort of problem for the house when it is full grown?

Pretty close, however one might not want to plant within 6 ft of buried sewer lines as the great weight of the tree and eventual wide trunk/roots could cause problems. Avoid near power lines since someone likely will have to climb the tree to prune.

The leaf thorns are extremely sharp and when dead can scratch cars when falling from those great heights. Leaf debris in windy early fall is common without bi-annual pruning.

Mine is 80 feet and only 45 years old in Santa Cruz. At five feet from the driveway has not caused conrete problems, but did ruin/crack a too close sewer line. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.61.115.3 (talk) 23:23, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I planted mine too close to the house, within 5 feet of house and 2 feet from the sidewalk, I had to have them taken out, when my landscape guy advised me the roots could harm my slab foundation. But they were big beautiful trees, mine grew to 15-20 feet within 8 years, the palm span was 4 feet wide at the tip of the branches. I could have made a palm roof on my gazebo. Palm less in houston. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.196.193.197 (talk) 16:14, 20 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The article would benefit from a source for the etymology. Why Washingtonian? Petershank (talk) 18:18, 25 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Look in Washingtonia. Stan (talk) 21:57, 25 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

To add to article[edit]

Basic information to add to this article: information about the roots (including how deep they grow in the soil). 76.190.213.189 (talk) 03:46, 16 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Was Once Livistona Filifera[edit]

This snippet of a 1926 publication still had it as Livistona, with reference to Wendlands classification in the 1878 publlication of Les palmiers; histoire iconographique, géographie--paléontologie--botanique--description--culture--emploi, etc., avec index général des noms et synonymes des espèces connues. A number of other species were re-classified as well, a quick search would not locate the exact date of the change. Lmstearn (talk) 03:20, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Wiki Education assignment: Policy Advocacy and Disability[edit]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 18 August 2023 and 1 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Trimming Arizona (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Trimming Arizona (talk) 06:30, 3 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Palm thorns on Washingtonia robusta[edit]

The quote below obtained from: Dangerous Palms - Dave's Garden (davesgarden.com) does not specify Washingtonia robustus as one of the types of palms that loses spines as it gets older but the experience of palm tree trimmers like the pros at Trimming Arizona have 36 years of trimming Washingtonia robusta's and verify it to be the case that the thorns deplete to zero as the tree becomes taller, typically above 30-40 feet.

Examples of palms with spines are many, though most seriously spiny palms are truly tropical in nature and I do not have any of these in my yard. Some of these palms are primarily spiny when young, possibly to give them some defense against predation while still small enough to be considered food, and losing the spines at maturity when, as trees, are less interesting to herbivores. However, other palms are so spiny, even in adulthood as to have spines on nearly every surface and structure. These palms tend to have the most vicious spines and should really be avoided, or planted far from walkways. Trimming Arizona (talk) 14:00, 3 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]