You may be crowding your ornamental plants, here’s why you should give them their space

The solitaire palm is so named because beneath its picturesque palm canopy, it grows a single, slender trunk. In recent years, it’s been insulted. It’s been clumped.

Clumping is a decorative decision to grow plants very close to one another, sometimes achieving the appearance of a single plant with multiple trunks. It’s often used to beef up the look of naturally scrawny-trunked flora like most palm trees. Sometimes you’ll also see clumped plants in pots to make the plant look more mature or bushier. If you’ve ever seen a braided or weaved tree, those are clumped plants too—a money tree doesn’t naturally grow coiling, serpentine trunks. 

Some plants do naturally “clump”, including bamboo, which creates new stems out from its extensive root system (rather alien-looking if you pull one up from the ground). So do European fan palms, ZZ plants, and countless others.  Some plants birth little pups surrounding the original mother plant, like agave or the carnivorous butterwort. On an off chance, some plants like a dragon tree might grow two trunks, called “heads,” almost giving the appearance of a clump. A two-headed dragon tree. Nice. 

But most ornamental plants grow solitarily, and I say it’s best we let them grow that way! If my word isn’t enough for you, science agrees with me. Biologically, clumping can be extremely detrimental to plants. If more than two plants share a pot, neither will grow to their maximum ability. Sometimes, one will take over the soil and leave the other mere scraps of water and nutrients. And with plants grown outside,, two plants’ roots may tangle with each other to form one big root ball. These roots will compete at every twist and turn for nutrients. While the plants may still be healthy, less nutrients means they also won’t grow as large. I’d rather have one giant tree than two puny ones. Finally, as roots become large and woody, they won’t ever be able to be separated. Admittedly, the idea of two plants growing inseparable does sound kind of romantic. Yet, I think designwise, we should let each plant shine individually.

I understand that clumping gives thin-trunked trees some extra width and densifies a garden, but consider the possibilities if the thinness was  embraced rather than tried to hide. There’s nothing wrong with being thin and skimpy; if that’s how the plant naturally grows, then it’s healthy—even if it looks like it’ll fall over at any moment. Growing a variety of sizes of plants creates a wonderfully biodiverse understory. All this gives plants character and honors their natural physiology.

Now, back to the solitaire palm. Please, for the sake of the name, do not clump it! Except if you’re planting them ironically, of course. If you want a thick palm, grow a Canary Island date palm. And if you’re in Chicago, don’t grow any palms unless you’re starting an especially sadistic garden. 

Take pride in individuality and imperfection! A bashful, little plant doesn’t need an army around it to be strong. And that goes for more than just plants. Now, free that clumped plant from its cluster, and give the others to your neighbors.