For decades we have grown Windmill Palm Trees for our own personal landscaping. All the pictures in our website are Windmill Palm Trees from our landscape. After a few years our Palm Trees started sprouting seeds. From those seeds we have expanded our landscape to what you see now. Over time we have decided to spread our love of Windmill Palm trees to not just friends and family but to everyone!

Buying your Windmill Palm trees from your local nursery can be hard to keep alive. They use fertilizers to target growth and make them sprout fast causing them to need that same nourishment to stay alive. Our Windmill Palm trees are grown in nothing but the natural dirt found here in Southern Virginia. For your personal landscaping we do recommend lots of water when it is dry a good mulch like double churned red oak. All though it is not necessary it is a good way to keep them looking good and staying warm through the winter.

To look its best Windmill Palm should be grown in shade or partial shade on fertile soil, but it is also very tolerant of full sun on well-drained soils when given ample moisture in the northern part of its range. Plants should be watered faithfully. Protection from harsh winds will minimize leaf tearing, but plants can be used successfully close to the shore, being quite tolerant of salt and wind.

This palm makes a great accent which fits well into small areas like courtyards and entries. It is a tough plant and survives in hot urban landscapes and even thrives there if watered and fed. Windmill Palms are perfect for containers if care is taken that they are well drained. It is very attractive planted in groves and groupings especially when plants of different heights are staggered in irregular patterns (plant the tallest palms in center of the groups and shorter ones at the edges).

What is a Windmill Palm Tree?

The base or trunk of a Windmill Palm is covered with brown, hairlike fibers, a single stem that is 8 to 10 inches in diameter and is typically a bit narrower at the base than at the top. The base appears to be wrapped in burlap. In older trees, the fiber sloughs away to reveal a smooth ringed surface.The limps called Fronds are about three-feet-wide, fan-shaped and extend from about 1.5-feet-long, with finely toothed rough-edged petioles. Fronds are arranged into a symmetrical crown that is about 8 to 10 feet wide. Specimens grown in full sun and/or under poor conditions may have much smaller, more compact crowns. A Windmill Palm can reach 40 feet in height but is often seen much smaller at 10 to 20 feet tall. Windmill Palm trees work well as a framing tree, accent, or on a patio. It is ideal for use as an accent in a shady shrub border or by a front entryway. It does well in confined areas and is hardy to 10-degrees F. or lower.

Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants (so this palm is said to be dioecious). They are densely arranged on 2 to 3 feet long branched stalks called an inflorescence. The windmill palm’s bright yellow inflorescence erupts from a packet like bud in late winter and early spring and is held within the crown. On female plants the flowers are followed in late summer by round or oblong blue fruits that are about 1/2 inch in diameter.

Windmill Palm Tree Information:

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General Information:

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Scientific name: Trachycarpus fortunei
Pronunciation: tray-kee-KAR-pus FOR-too-nee-eye
Common name(s): Windmill Palm
Family: Arecaceae
USDA hardiness zones: 8A through 11 (Fig. 2)
Origin: not native to North America
Invasive potential: little invasive potential
Uses: indoors; deck or patio; specimen; container or planter
Availability: not native to North America

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Windmill Palm Description

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Height: 10 to 20 feet
Spread: 6 to 10 feet
Crown uniformity: symmetrical
Crown shape: palm, upright/erect
Crown density: open
Growth rate: slow
Texture: medium

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Windmill Palm Tree Foliage

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Leaf arrangement: alternate (Fig. 3)
Leaf type: simple
Leaf margin: entire
Leaf shape: star-shaped
Leaf venation: palmate
Leaf type and persistence: broadleaf evergreen, evergreen
Leaf blade length: 18 to 36 inches
Leaf color: green
Fall color: no color change
Fall characteristic: not showy

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Windmill Palms Flowers

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Flower color: yellow, white/cream/gray
Flower characteristics: not showy

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Windmill Palm Fruit

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Fruit shape: round
Fruit length: less than .5 inch, .5 to 1 inch
Fruit covering: fleshy
Fruit color: blue
Fruit characteristics: does not attract wildlife; not showy; fruit/leaves not a litter problem

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Windmill Palm Trunk and Branches

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Trunk/bark/branches: branches don’t droop; showy; typically one trunk; thorns
Pruning requirement: little required
Breakage: resistant
Current year twig color: not applicable
Current year twig thickness: not applicable
Wood specific gravity: unknown

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Windmill Palm Trees Culture

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Light requirement: partial sun or partial shade, shade tolerant
Soil tolerances: clay; sand; loam; alkaline; acidic; well-drained
Drought tolerance: moderate
Aerosol salt tolerance: moderate

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Other

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Roots: not a problem
Winter interest: no
Outstanding tree: no
Ozone sensitivity: unknown
Verticillium wilt susceptibility: resistant
Pest resistance: resistant to pests/diseases