Question
Hi Sean
I just purchase 100 3 gallon areca palm trees to build a hedge. The plants are about 3 ft tall. How close should I palnt these together to form a dense hedge? I live in southwest florida.
Thank You in advance.

Answer
The answer to your question is relative to the time frame by which you want your hedge to fill in, the amount of fertilizer and water you give them and your budget. An Areca Palm will grow easily to a mass of fronds at least 10' wide in ten years or more in typical situations. However,if you want an instant hedge you will want them much closer and need to water and fertilize more.
Seeing how you already bought 100 of them it sounds like the best thing for you to do, (unless you want to buy more) is to measure the distance you want to screen and divide it by 100plants to come up with your spacing. As long as it is less than 10' one day it will be a solid hedge.
BUT...if you want it solid and DENSE in just a few years or sooner, you may need to set them only 5' apart or less.
Water and fertilizer will also get them to grow faster. Be sure follow recommended planting amendments and procedures for rapid growth.


Sean J Murphy, LA,ISA, LEED AP
Please check out my blogs and articles on landscape topics like this on my websites.
http://www.seanjmurphy.com
http://amenityarchitects.com