How to Plant Palm Trees on Grass in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Palm trees have always been confined to beaches in Animal Crossing games. However, Animal Crossing: New Horizons changes that — you can now plant palm trees off of the beach.

We’ve discovered two ways to plant palm trees (AKA coconut trees) on the grass in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. We’ll start with the method that’s sort of a workaround. (Scroll down a bit further if you want to see how to plant the coconut-growing variety of palm trees on the grass.)

Method 1: Use the Palm-Tree Lamp

There is an item in the game called the Palm-Tree Lamp. This is a craftable item, so you can acquire the recipe by the same means you’d acquire any other recipe (which means you’re chances of getting it are random, unless you can find an amiibo card that grants that specific recipe). This item can be customized, and there are four variants: Natural, Tropical, Cute, and Cool (pictured above in that order).

Method 2: Use the Island Designer App

If you’ve unlocked the Island Designer app (the terraforming tools), you can actually plant coconut trees on the grass. It just requires a tiny bit of terraforming. I found a nice little peninsula on my island, which I thought would be visually improved by adding a palm tree to the center of it. Below are the steps to make this coconut tree magic happen:

Open the Island Designer app and hit the plus button on your controller. Then select the “Sand path” option.

Next, paint a single square of sand path where you want your tree to go.

Pull out your shovel and dig up the sand path.

Plant a coconut in the hole and wait for it to grow. After several days, you’ll have your very own palm tree on a patch of grass. (It’s actually on a sand tile that you created, but the tree mostly covers it up. You can see a little bit of sand sticking out at the edges though.)

If you already have a palm tree on your island that you want to move, you can eat a piece of fruit to fill your stamina gauge, then use the shovel to dig up the coconut tree and replant it in the desired location.

That’s really all there is to it. While it’s pretty easy to plant a coconut tree on the grass in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the game never explicitly tells you how to do it. Hopefully this palm tree guide is a useful resource for ambitious Animal Crossing island decorators!