Chinese Fan Palm

Livistona chinensis

Cold Hardy

 

With its wide-spreading crown and drooping fan leaves the Chinese Fan has a layered “weeping” appearance.  Chinese Fans will stay low to the ground while the palm is young.  The Chinese Fan is a great privacy plant, an excellent container palm, and makes a generously-sized anchor for any tropical garden bed.  It is among the hardiest of South Florida palm trees, and complements any size yard in both sun or shade.

 

Specifications

 

The Chinese fan will eventually grow a single trunk and rise to about 25 feet. It's a slow grower in any light but does best in sun to partial shade.

 

Chinese Fans are cold hardy - thriving in all areas of Zones 9 and 10. They are moderately salt-tolerant and are drought-tolerant once they are well established.

 

Care

 

Add top soil or organic peat to the hole when planting. Plant in a well-drained area as the Chinese Fan likes to dry out between waterings.

 

Fertilize with granular palm fertilizer in spring, summer and fall.

 

The palm grows slowly so you won’t have to trim off the fronds very often but it will have to be trimmed now and then as it is not a self cleaning palm.

 

Spacing

 

Chinese Fans grow wide before they grow up. Space about 5 feet or more from a house to let them fan out when young and have enough frond room as they mature.

 

If planting a group of Chinese Fans for privacy or fullness: space them about 4 feet apart if you're planting a 7-gallon (or larger) pot size.  For 3-gallon containers, plant 3 feet apart.

 

The Chinese Fan has short spines on the interior of the leaf stems, so avoid placing in areas like walkways where people may brush against it to get by.

 

Landscaping with Chinese Fans

 

• use to line a fence or property line

• as an accent on the corner of a house 

• to anchor a garden bed

• as stand-alone yard specimen

• as a container palm (only while young)