What palm options are best

I have a 400m driveway at my house that I would like to line with one species of palm. The weather is "subtropical" with moderate rainfall for 5 months of the year and very sporadic precipitation during the other months; I have unlimited access to water when needed. Various species are grown very successfully in the area with little difficulty, incl: King, Royal, Queen, Fan, Lipstick (red), Coconut, etc. My question is more about aesthetically, what should I consider? The driveway does head up a hill to the house and I'd rather the palms not be disproportionate to the house/landscape (my thought is Royal is way too large). I'm thinking 30-45' height. I also don't want to create a 'closed-in' feel or wall of palms so I'm looking for advise, based on the type of palm, now how far apart to plant them .... ex. King palms every 15' apart, etc. As a brown thumb, I really appreciate any advise. Thanks.

I agree with you on the height business, the Royals would be too high, although it'd take some time for that to happen. Some Archontophoenix would look good but then again they can also get very tall, eventually. Adonidia merrillii (Christmas Palm) doesn't get too tall and is quite attractive. Another one is Dypsis leptocheilos (Teddybear Palm) which gets some reddish colour in it and looks quite good.

Just a question, are you sure Lipstick (Cyrtostachys renda) and Coconuts grow there in the open? Especially the Lipstick is an ultra tropical.

Thanks, will look into Teddybear. They do have Christmas Palms and 'yes' the Lipstick and Coconuts do fine apparently. Any thoughts on how far apart I should plant Christmas, or King for that matter? I was thinking 6 meters.

Actually, NO, Cyrtostachys (lipstick) palms do NOT grow in your area, nor do Coconuts nor Christmas Palms (Adonidia). Not even close. Do not buy those or you will lose all your money. Best palms for lining drives in So Cal depend somewhat on how much $$ you have, how much room you have (and how far apart you want them),how fast you want them to be mature, and what exact climate you live in. Some good ones for most areas of So cal are the common ones (Phoenix canariensis, Kings, Queens, Jubaeas, Parajubaea torralyis, Livistonas (several species), Butias, Braheas, Howeas, Washingtonias (super common, though) and maybe some Trachycarpus species. There are other good choices, too, but price goes up, or they are somewhat marginal (like Dypsis leptocheilos, the Teddy Bear Palm) may be a good one for your area... or it may look terrible all the time. We need to know exactly what area of Los Angeles you live in, and/or what your budget is (for example a drive lined with mature Jubaeas would be awesome, but at about $6000 - $10,000 a piece, that might not be in your price range). Also sun availability might be a factor (if drive is somewhat shaded, some will do better than others). If you live in my area of Los Angeles, the summer sun will destroy a few of these palms.

Palmbob - you are a wealth of info! Thank you for your sound advise. I think I mislead you (and others). I primarily live in Los Angeles but have a vacation house in Morazan de Atenas, Costa Rica. I am looking for palms for the Costa Rica house! The various palms listed - King, Queen, Lipstick / Red, Coconut, Royal, etc all grow very well in my neighborhood. So sorry. That's why I'm interested in the aesthetics and spacing issue. Any chance you can offer more advise - greatly appreciated!

Costa Rica? That does change things a bit. What degree latitude is that? I was thinking if you want something which will grow up extra fast then Carpentaria acuminata. Given plenty of water they will be a nice size 4 to 5 years from a seedling. If you put those 6 metres apart their fronds will nearly be touching when they're tall. But you can't be sure they'll grow at the same speed. In any case, the Costa Rican climate should let you grow a large range of palms, including Adonidia merrillii (Christmas Palm) and Dypsis leptocheilos (Teddybear Palm). I think you'll find they'd be slower than the Carpentaria, just depends how fast/high you want the effect.

10o N Lat. In the 80's National Geographic did a story on the "best weather in the world", they selected Atenas (the town 3km from me).

Yes, indeed that is a whole world of difference... you have literally thousands of palms to choose from now... I would strongly advise planting something that will set your place apart from others... if you like Cyrtostachys renda, I think those make an excellent avenue palm, though they can be a bit pricey. Clinostigma samoense or ponapense make incredible landscape palms, though may be a bit hard to find, but well worth it.. a drive line with those would be outstanding. But, though somewhat common, Roystonea oleracea would be another excellent avenue palm (way better than all the other species of Royal Palm). For impressive size, you could line them with Coryphas, though they take a long time to mature, even in the tropics. I've seen pathways line with Neoveitchias... excellent choice, as is Kentiopsis oliviformis. Carpoxyon-lined drives are also quite impressive. Don't settle for something too common and dull like King palms or coconuts... everyone else has those. You want something different... or am I wrong?

I'd agree with Geoff (Palmbob) too. But I'd be careful with the Coryphas. You'd want those further back from the driveway. Even small they get huge and very rigid fronds. You'd be forever cutting them back to get up the driveway, all 400 metres of it. I've only got 100 metres of driveway but I'm going for the "surrounded-by-jungle" look rather than an avenue. So I've only got 2 Corypha utans along the driveway. I've also got some Silver Bismarkias along there as well, still small though. Also got some Dypsis madagascariensis var. lucubensis (single stemmed). They're okay as well. There's a lot of trees as well, heliconias, etc., etc.

A neighbour with a longer driveway than mine planted with Wodyetia bifurcata (Foxtail) but the termites got into them and wiped most of them out. He had them less than 2 metres apart, okay when small but far too close for large ones. Now he's given up planting anything.

If you want only one species for the whole avenue then the choice will be difficult, there's a lot of different ones that would look good. Something like Areca vestiaria, with their red stems are nice. Or the Chambeyronia macrocarpa with the emergent red fronds. As Geoff suggests, the choice is almost endless.