- 1). Find a planting site suited to growing sabal palm trees. Look for one with full sun for most of the day and light shade around noon. Avoid areas with boggy soil or a lot of overhanging shrubbery since the shrubbery may shade the roots of the sabal palm too much.
- 2). Dig a planting hole with a shovel. Make the hole at least three times the size of the original nursery container.
- 3). Mix the displaced soil from the planting hole with an equal measure of horticultural sand to lighten it and improve drainage. Line the bottom of the hole with a 2-inch-thick layer of gravel.
- 4). Fill the bottom one-third of the planting hole with the amended garden soil. Spread the soil so it is higher around the edges and lower in the center to cradle the root ball of the sabal palm sapling.
- 5). Remove the sabal palm from its nursery container. Orient the sapling in the planting hole so the root ball rests in the soil concavity. Make sure the trunk is perfectly upright and the base of the trunk is approximately 1 inch above the level of the ground.
- 6). Fill in around the sapling with the sand-amended soil until the root ball is completely buried. Water the tree to a depth of 10 inches to settle the soil. Add more soil around the base if the soil settles too much and exposes the root ball.
- 7). Water the sabal palm to a depth of 5 inches every two weeks for the first three months. Decrease water to 2 inches every two weeks from then on.
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