My 1/3 acre suburban lot was developed in 1962, and when we moved in in April, 1987, mature trees covered much of the property - including a giant Red Oak, a huge White Pine, a large Red Maple, a big Southern Magnolia, plus the developer’s favorite: fast-growing Silver Maples.

So, we had wall-to-wall shade blanketing the property. But I tried growing cold-hardy palms anyway, knowing full well that most varieties (and surely the Sabals) preferred plenty of sunshine. And several Minors, a couple of Louisianas, and a Tamaulipas never seemed to get bigger here. No amount of water or reasonable quantities of fertilizer would jump-start them (and to make matters worse, battling scale insect was always a problem in the shade).

Well, that White Pine croaked about a year ago, and now those Sabals are exposed to a lot of direct sun & are taking off in size. What a difference!