My husband and I had brunch this morning with Celia and Nate Levy at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art. Celia is the travel agent who has done such a fabulous job putting together the garden tour I am leading to Holland and Belgium next May. Brunch was delightful – both food and company!
On the way back to our car, I noticed this amputated palm stump literally attached to the home next to the museum. Its a perfect example of “Don’t Plant This!”
A stump is all that remains of a palm tree planted way too close to this house, many moons ago
Clearly the palm was planted many years ago, and by someone who had no idea how large it would get.
The point of attachment
Unfortunately for the palm, it was planted way to close to the house.
The palm literally grew into the home’s exterior wall
When it became a problem, rather than removing the entire palm, the owners simply cut it down to eave height! Such a pity.
This palm tree will never recover from being cut part way down
Lessons from this pitiful situation:
1) Do your homework. Know how large a plant will get (height and width) before you buy it and certainly before you plant it.
2) Don’t plant large plants too close to a house, a driveway, a sidewalk, etc.
3) If you have to remove a plant, remove the WHOLE THING. Don’t leave a stump to die and rot in place.
