Windmill Palm is a Viable Plant for the Mojave Desert

Q. I have been living in Nevada about one year and originally from Utah. I saw that you are recommending Windmill Palm but my landscaper with 20+ years of experience was against it, recommending Mediterranean Fan Palm instead. What’s your thoughts on the two?

A. Both palms do well here but they fill different roles in the landscape. The Mediterranean Fan Palm handles hot locations better, but it occupies a bigger space and is more of a visual screen when unpruned. 

This is a pretty young Mediterranean fan palm. It can get much bigger than this but what is important is not only its size but you cant see through it. If you remove alot of the suckers from the base then you can see through it and reveal the furry trunk of this palm.

Windmill Palm, on the other hand, doesn’t like the heat from West or South facing walls but has a single furry trunk, so it’s narrower and open so you can see on the other side of it. Both are considered accent plants, look tropical, and good around pools and water features.

This is windmill palm. The fronds will get some brown tip burn but they have a single trunk and you can see around them. They fulfill two very different roles in the landscape.

jSee what Dr. Chris Martin from ASU says about this palm in the desert

            Where I see a problem with Mediterranean fan Palm is when homeowners try to grow and prune it like the single-trunk Windmill Palm. Why not just get a Windmill palm? The multiple furry trunks of the Mediterranean Fan Palm look nice when kept pruned annually. To me that’s just more maintenance.

with some annual pruning and sucker removal you can get them to look like a multi trunk windmill palm.

            There is nothing wrong with Windmill Palm and growing it here. It is a cold hardy palm taking temperatures down to 10°F. It may be a little harder to find in nurseries than Mediterranean Fan Palm and a bit more expensive.

windmill palm will show some leaf tip burn when it is exposed to hot dry conditions. No doubt they do look better in more humid climates but they will grow in the Mojave Desert.

            Selection depends what you want the plant to do for your landscape. If you want a palm that can handle hot locations and acts as a visual screen then get the Mediterranean Fan Palm. If you want a single trunk palm tree that requires little maintenance, get the Windmill Palm.  

            All palms like the soil amended at planting time and covered with wood chips, not rock. If someone tries to convince you to plant palms in sand then that’s B.S. Water palms like any other tree or shrub of a similar size and with the same frequency.