mahagoni) in order to help alleviate heat island effects
on the city. Numerous palms in the city, including
royal palms on the prominent Biscayne Bay Road, were
removed because it was argued that palms do not pro-
vide the same environmental benefits as shade trees.
Planting shade trees is a great idea and contributes sig-
nificantly to reducing heat island effects and to creating
better pedestrian mobility within the city; however, one
can also argue that eradicating palms from the South
Florida landscape would be devastating for the iden-
tity of Miami. Newly planted shade trees are typically
planted as young trees due to cost and slower growth
rates, and that has changed the appearance of Miami
dramatically in recent years.
Also, Miami has become a leader in expansion and high
rise condo developments where the demands for larger
attractive tropical landscapes are increasingly desired
by developers and international investors.
There are over 2,500 species of palms that exist and
are available for planting; therefore the question should
not be to eradicate them. There are no wrong palms
to plant, there are only wrong places and wrong uses
for them, and the responsibility of city leaders and city
designers is to identify the appropriate uses for each.
Palms should be categorized by:
- Growth rate
- Wind tolerance
- Mature canopy size
- Maintenance level
- Availability
- Rate of acclimation to warmer temperatures
- Salt tolerance
- Weight
- Root ball size
- Susceptibility to potential diseases
Design category:
- Residential
- Store front
- Bay front
- Ocean front
- Streetscape (as accents only)
- High-rise (pool decks)
Palms are an important landscape element that con-
tribute to a distinctive sense of place and enhance the
beauty and economic viability of the City of Miami.
—Elizabeth Van Dillewijn, Senior Project Architect, Enea
Garden Design, Miami, Florida
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AT ARBORMETRICS, THE SLOGAN
"PEOPLE ARE OUR POWER"
IS MORE THAN JUST WORDS.
Investing in our people is at our very core.
If you are a municipal arborist, commercial arborist,
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field of vegetation management and utility forestry,
let's get the conversation started.
AM_City Trees magazine_May 2017.qxp_Thank You Card 4/4/17 11:17 AM Page 1
