Chinese Fan Palm Livistona chinensis

Chinese fan palm is the low, wide member of the genus: a stout trunk under a broad rounded crown of glossy dark green palmate fronds, cut deeply enough that the segment tips droop and hang in long weeping threads. That fountain habit is its distinguishing feature, and it reads as soft where the other fan palms read as architectural. It is used as a courtyard feature, a poolside specimen with room around it, and in large pots while young, in gardens that want tropical texture without tropical height.

A broad crown wants a broad space

It grows across subtropical and warm temperate Australia, takes coastal conditions and tolerates light frost once it has some trunk. Full sun is the listed position and water is low to moderate once established, so it does not need the irrigation the feather palms want. Any reasonably drained soil suits it. Growth is unhurried, especially in the first years, which is most of the argument for buying at size. Allow for the spread, since the crown finishes much wider than tall for a long period. The failure mode is fruit. An established palm sets heavy crops of small blue black berries that drop, stain paving and pool coping, get tracked indoors, and germinate readily in beds and gutters below, so a palm sited over a light coloured hard surface becomes an annual chore. Cut flower stalks out while they are green if that matters, and note the teeth along the lower leaf stalk edges when you site it near a gate or doorway.

Fountain shape or vertical line

Buyers asking for a cabbage palm often have this in mind, so separate the two: Livistona australis is the tall slender native for a vertical accent in a narrow space, while this stays lower and much broader. Against Bismarck palm, the Chinese fan palm is green, soft and weeping rather than blue, stiff and enormous, and it accepts damper, shadier and more confined conditions. Choose it when you want fan palm texture at courtyard scale. The third option, Carnarvon fan palm, only makes sense on a large dry inland site, so for most suburban gardens the real decision is australis for height in a tight space against chinensis for width in an open one.

Trim spent fronds, feed in spring

Cut browned fronds back to a short stub with gloves on, working from the outside of the crown, and leave the green ones alone; over trimming a fan palm into a narrow head weakens it and looks wrong for years. Late spring and summer are the times to prune, while cuts seal quickly. Feed once in early spring and again in midsummer with a palm fertiliser containing potassium and magnesium, applied out under the crown edge, and keep a mulch layer over the root zone pulled back clear of the trunk base. Sweep or hose fallen fruit off paving before it is walked through. Advanced sizes are grouped in mature trees.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 5 sizes, from 200mm up to 110L, priced from $55.95 to $2639.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to when to plant in Australia.