Exotic palms thrive in the Botanic Gardens

Visitors to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens might notice a walkway near the Ilex Cafe has taken on a sub-tropical look.

Spiky palm trees that would normally be at home in Madagascar, Morocco, the Canary Islands and Bolivia have taken up residence along the river banks of the Botanic Gardens, an unlikely spot for plants used to much warmer climates. 

Botanic Gardens Collection Curator Guillaume Jacob with some of his exotic palms

Christchurch now has the largest collection of exotic palm trees – some of which are rare or endangered - in a public garden in the South Island. It has attracted attention from an International Palm Society member from Florida who made a special visit, as well as a local researcher.

The landscape gardener who has studied and planted most of these new palms is himself a recent arrival, Frenchman Guillaume Jacob, who has been a Collection Curator at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens for the past seven years.

A few of the palms were established long before Mr Jacobs started working at the Gardens, but many of the ones that visitors will see as they walk between the bridge near the old Tea Kiosk and the Ilex Visitor Centre, have been planted in the last few years as part of an ambitious experiment. 

One of Mr Jacob's favourites is the parajubaea, a Bolivian mountain coconut, which produces small edible coconuts. He planted it in 2010 and it is endangered in the wild. He’s impressed that it has survived two winter snowfalls without damage.

Nearby is the Washingtonia robusta, or Mexican fan palm, which can grow to 20 metres tall in its native environment, an atlas mountain palm from Morocco, and brahea edulis from Guadalupe, a small island off the coast of Mexico.

The oldest specimens include a huge blue palmetto palm planted in 1966 and a 100-year-old Canary Island Date Palm. Mr Jacob feels his newer additions are continuing a legacy of palm tree growing in the Botanic Gardens.

"It's one of the roles of a botanic garden to experiment and try new species. I get a lot of enquiries on how to grow palm trees and I'm doing a lot of study to minimise the risk of failure. When I first started I wouldn't have thought you could grow more than five different types of palm tree here. But some are very hardy.”

The palm trees are fairly low maintenance except for needing regular water and mulch to retain moisture. They are fashionable in landscaping at the moment, but Mr Jacob warns home gardeners that some are very slow growing.

He mixes the exotic palm tree collection with natives, such as hebes and cultivar flaxes, and is also experimenting with New Zealand's own nikau palm trees, which are challenging to grow in Christchurch.

He has found the Banks Peninsula and Chatham Islands sub species of nikau are best suited to the local climate, which is drier and colder than most Nikau can tolerate. He planted 10 them last year on a slope near the river alongside some cabbage trees (cordyline), hoping they will flourish there. "I really want to give it a go because this is our native palm of New Zealand."

He even collected seeds from nikau palm trees at Hickory Bay, Banks Peninsula, on a winter surfing trip after asking permission from a local farmer. He germinated them in the hot water cylinder cupboard at his home.

Mr Jacob, who worked on major chateau estates for wealthy clients back in France, loves working in the public domain of a botanic garden. "Coming from Europe, having such an open, green space for free in the city, it's just unbelievable."

The palm collection is designed to educate the public, to conserve trees that are endangered, and to create an interesting display for visitors, Mr Jacob says. "Everyone laughs at me, this Frenchman who is trying to grow palm trees in Christchurch. My job is to get people excited about gardening. Little kids love it, it's like a jungle in the middle of Christchurch.

"Not everyone gets the chance to travel so if you can make people dream a little bit, or feel like they've been on a trip somewhere, that's great."