The bangalow palm is the palm most people picture when they picture an Australian rainforest gully, and it is native to exactly that: the wet coastal forests from the New South Wales south coast up into south-east Queensland. Archontophoenix cunninghamiana is self-cleaning, non-invasive at the roots and handles more cold than most feature palms, which is why it turns up in so many suburban gardens well outside its natural range.
Quick facts
| Detail | Bangalow palm (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana) |
|---|---|
| Mature size | 10 to 15m in cultivation with a 3 to 4m frond spread; taller in rainforest |
| Position | Part shade when young, full sun once the trunk forms; tolerates coastal exposure but fronds tatter in strong wind |
| Soil | Deep, rich, moisture-retentive and free-draining; pH 5.5 to 7.0 |
| Water | High; this is a rainforest palm and it will not thrive on neglect in dry inland gardens |
| Climate zones | Subtropical Brisbane, coastal New South Wales, sheltered Melbourne and Perth gardens; light frost to about -2°C once established |
| Trunk | Single, 20 to 30cm across, ringed with old leaf scars, topped by a green crownshaft |
| Growth rate | Moderate to fast in warm wet conditions, slower in cool or dry gardens |
Choosing the right Archontophoenix
Three closely related palms are commonly sold and telling them apart at the nursery saves disappointment later.
Bangalow palm
The bangalow palm has green frond undersides, a slender straight trunk and lilac to mauve flowers held on a branched spike below the crownshaft in summer, followed by red fruit. It is the most cold tolerant of the three and the best choice for Sydney, the Southern Highlands fringe and sheltered gardens in Melbourne.
Alexander palm
The Alexander palm has distinctly silvery-white frond undersides and a swollen base to the trunk. It is a tropical species from north Queensland, grows faster in heat and is noticeably less frost tolerant.
King palm
Archontophoenix purpurea carries a purple crownshaft and is the showiest of the group, but it wants consistent warmth and humidity. Treat it as a subtropical and tropical specialty. Our overview of palm tree varieties puts these alongside the foxtails, kentias and date palms.
How many to plant
Bangalows look best in odd-numbered groups of three or five, planted 1.5 to 2m apart so the trunks lean slightly outward and the crowns overlap. A single specimen in the middle of a lawn looks like a flagpole.
How to plant
Plant in spring or early summer so the palm has warm soil to root into. Palms move roots only when soil temperature is above roughly 18°C, so a winter planting in Melbourne or Canberra will simply sit there.
Dig a hole the same depth as the root ball and twice as wide. Planting a palm too deep is the most common way to kill one: the base of the trunk must finish at or just above the surrounding soil level. Backfill with the native soil enriched with compost, firm gently, and build a low watering basin around the root zone. Water in deeply and mulch 7 to 10cm thick over the root area, keeping mulch off the trunk itself.
Bangalow palms have fine fibrous roots that never thicken into structural roots, so they can go closer to paving, pools and pipes than a shade tree of the same height. Allow 2m from a wall so the fronds are not constantly rubbing, and remember that the fruit drops and stains, which matters beside a pool or a light-coloured driveway. Our notes on tropical gardening practices in Australian conditions cover the wider bed preparation.
Ongoing care
Watering
Bangalows come from creek flats and behave like it. Water new plantings three times a week for the first month, then twice weekly through the first two summers. Established palms in Brisbane need a deep soak weekly in January and February; in Perth sand, more often. A palm that dries out repeatedly develops a narrowed section of trunk that stays as a permanent record of the drought. Mulch is doing more work here than in almost any other planting.
Feeding
Use a fertiliser formulated for palms, applied in early spring, mid summer and early autumn. Palm blends matter because they carry extra potassium and magnesium, and deficiencies in those two elements cause most of the frond discolouration people blame on disease. Broadcast the fertiliser over the whole root zone, which extends well beyond the trunk, then water it in.
Pruning
Almost none is required. The bangalow is self-cleaning: fronds die, the leaf base releases, and the whole frond drops. Remove spent flower and fruit stalks to reduce seedlings and mess, and cut fully brown fronds flush with the trunk if they have not fallen. Never cut a green or partly green frond. Over-pruning a palm to a feather-duster shape starves it and permanently narrows the trunk.
Common problems and fixes
Orange or bronze spotting on the oldest fronds. Classic potassium deficiency, very common in sandy soils and in palms fed with general garden fertiliser. Switch to a palm-specific fertiliser with slow-release potassium and expect improvement in the new fronds only; the damaged ones will not recover.
Yellow bands along the margins of older fronds. Magnesium deficiency. Apply Epsom salts at the label rate along with your palm fertiliser.
Frizzled, brown new growth. Usually cold damage or wind burn. If the spear pulls out easily and smells sour, that is spear rot following cold wet weather; drench the crown with a registered fungicide and improve drainage.
Seedlings everywhere. Bangalow palms fruit heavily and birds carry the seed. In gardens next to bushland, particularly in Victoria and south-west Western Australia where the species is not native, remove the fruiting stalks before the fruit colours.
Yellowing across the whole crown. Check drainage first. Sitting water causes root rot, and the symptoms mimic starvation. Our guide to diagnosing root rot sets out how to tell the two apart.
Frequently asked questions
How tall does a bangalow palm grow?
In a garden it typically reaches 10 to 15m over a couple of decades, with a frond spread of 3 to 4m. In its native rainforest gullies it can push past 20m reaching for light. Height is not usually the limiting factor in a suburban garden; overhead powerlines and eaves are.
Are bangalow palm roots invasive?
No. Like all palms it has a fibrous root system of many thin roots that never thicken into woody structural roots, so it does not lift paving or crack pipes the way a large shade tree can. Keep it 2m or so from a wall to give the crown room rather than out of concern for the roots.
Can a bangalow palm grow in a pot?
For a few years, yes. Use a wide, heavy pot at least 60cm across, a free-draining premium mix, and feed with a palm fertiliser every three months. Potted palms in full sun need water almost daily in summer. Eventually the plant will become root bound and want to go in the ground.
Does it handle frost?
Established bangalows tolerate light frosts to roughly -2°C, which is why they succeed in Sydney and sheltered Melbourne gardens where an Alexander palm would fail. Young palms are far more tender. Plant them under a high canopy for the first few winters in cold districts.
How much sun does it need?
Juveniles grow naturally on the shaded forest floor and prefer part shade for the first two or three years. Once a trunk has formed, full sun produces a fuller, greener crown provided water is adequate. A palm in deep shade will stretch and carry fewer fronds.
What should I plant underneath one?
Shade-tolerant understorey plants that enjoy the same moisture work best: cordylines, philodendrons, bromeliads, native ginger and ferns. Keep them out of the palm's own root plate for the first year or two, and expect to water the whole bed as one unit. Our article on designing a tropical garden that stays lush covers layering beneath tall palms.
Ready to plant?
A group of bangalow palms is the fastest way to make a courtyard or pool surround feel like the Australian east coast rather than a suburban block. Browse the full palm collection to compare heights and trunk styles, or the wider palms, ferns and tropical range for the understorey plants that go with them. If you want a shorter, drier-tolerant alternative, our foxtail palm guide covers the other great Australian feature palm.
