Palms are not small trees and they do not prune like them. A palm has one growing point at the top of the trunk, so a bad trim is permanent damage rather than something the tree grows out of.
We clean dead fronds, spent flower stalks, seed pods and coconuts out of the crown, and we leave the green fronds that the palm needs to feed itself. Our bucket trucks reach the tall queen and royal palms that ladders cannot safely get to.
What the job includes
- Dead frond, boot and seed-pod removal
- Coconut removal before they drop on cars and walkways
- Bucket-truck access for tall queen, royal and Washingtonia palms
- Sabal palm booting on request
- Whole-palm removal and transplanting
- All debris hauled away
Why we do not hurricane-cut palms
The over-pruned look, with everything stripped back to a few fronds pointing straight up, is popular and it is bad for the palm. It removes the stored nutrients the tree lives on, invites potassium deficiency, and actually leaves the crown less protected in high wind, not more. We take the dead and dying fronds and leave the horizontal green ones.
Seed pods, fruit and coconuts
Queen palms drop heavy pods, coconut palms drop coconuts, and both land hard on cars, roofs and people. Pulling the flower stalks before they set fruit is quicker and cheaper than dealing with what falls, and it cuts down the volunteer seedlings that sprout in every bed nearby.
Sick palms and lethal bronzing
Lethal bronzing has been moving through the Tampa Bay area for years and it kills the palms it infects, commonly sabal, queen and date palms. It shows up as fruit drop, then a spear leaf that dies before the older fronds do. There is no cure once a palm is symptomatic, and infected palms should come out rather than stand as a source of further spread. We will tell you if that is what we are looking at.