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Phoenix dactylifera at Dubai Silicon Oasis
PALMS ADAPTED TO ENHACE LANDSCAPING IN THE GCC By: Shaaista Ahmed
The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is an ancient species of tree that is the cultural identity of the Middle East, bearing the sweet date fruit that has been a staple of the local diet for millennia. As they are indigenous trees with a beautiful ornamental structure, date palms predominated the majority of landscaping projects until recently. There are multiple varieties of this tree, each with its own unique leaf structure and fruit type, such as Ajwa, Barhi, Medjool and Lulu. The more popular varieties of the date palm were used in streetscapes and commercial landscaping projects, with rarer types used in private villas. However, once so extensively adopted in local landscaping date palms have become more scarce in recent years, partially due to increased demand but also because of a decrease in date-palm orchards due to depletion of ground water used for irrigation. Most date palms sourced for landscaping projects in the UAE are from local farms in Al Ain, Liwa Oasis; Abu Dhabi and Dhaid; Sharjah. Acacia LLC, a subsidiary company under the Tanseeq Investment Group of Companies, is currently the leading supplier of ornamental plants for landscaping projects in the GCC. In addition to locally sourced palms, Acacia LLC imports different types of palms around the world including
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Thailand, Malaysia, Spain and Italy that can be adapted in the GCC. Date palms are renowned for their distinctive sculpted scales, fibrous trunks and fanned canopies with feather-like pinnate leaves sprouting from the center of the trunks. They are grandiose trees that can reach up to 30 feet in overall height and each leaf can grow to an average of 20 feet in length. As local trees, they are well-adapted to the hot desert climate (but do require plenty of water when fruiting and/or flowering). Date palms are slow growing, taking 5 to 7 years to fully mature which is when the female trees can finally start bearing fruit. As the supply of date palms has become more limited, there is a surge in demand for different varieties of palm trees that can flourish in the local climate. Acacia LLC specializes in supplying several species of ornamental palms, each with its own unique set of characteristics to suit different landscape requirements. Tanseeq Investment LLC heads a group of fifteen successful companies founded and lead by Mr Ahmad Anoohi, Chairman and Mr Naser Ahmed, Group CEO. Each company specializes in a select discipline of landscaping and, together, offer a one stop solution for all landscaping requirements.
