Palm trees imported into West Coast property development

Developer Gert Joubert has invested close to R12 million in palm trees at the Shelley Point Estate on the West Coast, where the Strandveld environment does not naturally encourage any trees or shrubs above 2m in height.

From the outset, he insisted that the golf course boundaries, the boulevards, parking spaces and communal areas should have palm trees at 25m intervals. And he was not content with simply planting these and watching them grow. He insisted on planting fully grown trees, each costing as much as R12 000. He then installed an irrigation spray at the base of every tree. So far 453 date palms and 450 waving palms have been planted and only 4 percent have withered.

Now young 1.5m palms with a lifespan of 60 years have been planted by homeowners between the mature trees. These will in time grow to the 20-30m height of the mature palms.

Posted at 11:25AM Jul 30, 2009 by Editor in Residential  |