Preparing a planting hole for a sago palm

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Sago palms (cycas revoluta) do well here in the Phoenix area, but there is a trick to planting them. They love the heat, do best with a little bit of shade, but they hate the heavy clay native soil. So the first step is to dig a hole and get rid of the native soil. I've removed it and filled some buckets which I use to fill in elsewhere that I need that type of soil, which, when it dries, is as hard as concrete.

After the hole is dug, it is refilled with a mixture of potting soil and volcanic pumice. I get volcanic pumice here in the Phoenix area at Baker Nursery. Don't expect to find it at Home Depot or Lowe's. It allows free draining of water so that the roots don't rot, which will kill a sago palm.

So, fill the hole with the mixture, and be generous. You eventually want the area to mound up a bit. Whatever you do, don't plant a sago where water will stand. They like water, but they don't like standing with their "feet wet". In the photo of the planting hole you can see I left a little bit of flower foliage to help me keep track of where the water will be. You can't just plant a sago like a cactus, and fail to give it water. It will live, but it will look terrible. I've seen struggling ones around town. Make sure that there is a good water source, and free-draining soil. Did I mention the importance of free-draining soil?

Remove the native soil and fill with potting soil and volcanic pumice
I tossed in a bit of Osmocote slow-release plant food as I am hoping to see some growth as early as this spring. If not, I can wait another year. This is the right time of the year (February, March, April) to plant a sago as it's not too cold and the heat hasn't come on yet. Here in the Phoenix area, the heat comes on fast! As the soil warms up, it will encourage root growth. This sago must be established before that, and it will.

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