How Hi Up Do You Skin A Mexican Palm Tree

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There is a mutual misconception when it comes to palm trees. Many remember regularly trimming palms will assistance them grow when in fact just the opposite is true. Low maintenance and fuss gratis, palm trees have go a landscaping staple that really does ameliorate the less they are pruned. Part of the Arecaceae, or Palmae family unit, the palm tree is a species of by and large tropical plants. While palms are known for their branchless stems and fan-like arrangement of green chemical compound leaves, the more than than 2000 species of palms actually exhibit enormous diversity in terms of both advent and habitat. While you won't need to practice it often, it'south of import to know when and how you lot should trim your palm trees to go on them healthy and looking their all-time.

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Decide whether it's fourth dimension to trim. Though experts recommend avoiding pruning as much as possible, there are some circumstances that phone call for a trim. Start by determining if you really demand to prune. And remember, the less pruning you can do, the better.
- Prune to remove dead or dying fronds
- To remove potential fire hazards, especially near buildings or homes
- To increase visibility and safety near driveways or sidewalks
- To prevent harm to buildings or homes during loftier winds
- To remove fruit, seeds and flowers
- Information technology'south generally all-time to await until the leap to trim a palm. Never prune for purely corrective reasons or else you may risk dissentious the tree.
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Make up one's mind the health of the palm tree. Unless they are a gamble to people or holding, palms but demand to be trimmed when fronds (leaves) die or are broken, or when the tree begins to blossom or bear fruit.
- Await for expressionless or dying fronds on the tree. Dying fronds announced brownish, yellow or white and are often wilted or hanging downwardly.
- Look for potassium deficiency in your palm tree. Potassium deficient palms typically have yellowish spotting on the oldest leaves. A potassium deficient palm tree should not exist trimmed because this would result in additional fronds losing nutrients and turning yellowish. If your tree is potassium deficient, supply the tree with additional potassium and look at least a year to trim.^[one]
- Await for broken fronds which should be removed before they are torn off and cause damage to the tree.
- Look for palm flowers and fruit stalks which utilise upwards energy and tiresome the growth of the tree.
- If there are no dead or dying fronds, broken fronds, flowers, or fruit stalks, your palm tree doesn't need to be trimmed.
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Select pruning equipment. There are a variety of pruning tools that can exist used to trim your palm tree. Consider the size of your tree to determine which tool you need.^[ii] It'due south likewise important to make sure that your equipment is sterile and sharp before you clip.
- A serrated pocketknife can be used to cut off fronds that are less than one inch in diameter. A knife is as well useful for removing flower stalks from the tree. Large clippers or pruning sheers can be used to remove fronds slightly larger than 1 inch in diameter.
- A hand saw or pruning saw will make information technology easier to remove thicker, larger fronds from the tree. A chainsaw tin can be used to cut very large, very thick fronds, but extra precautions should be taken to ensure you don't injure yourself or the trunk of the tree.
- Brand sure to clean all tools earlier you use them. Leftover dirt and sap may help spread soil-borne diseases. You tin can clean off dirt and rust with a wire-bristle brush, for example.^[three] Y'all can disinfect the tools with a household cleaner like Lysol, 70% alcohol, bleach, or disinfectant wipes.
- Y'all tin can sharpen your blades with a whetsone, oilstone, or a bench grinder.
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Select climbing equipment. Palm trees tin can grow to be very alpine. The equipment you'll need to achieve the fronds will depend on the tiptop of your tree.^[4]
- Step stools or a pocket-sized ladder can be used for shorter copse.
- Extension ladders can exist used to trim trees upwardly to xv feet (4.6 grand) in height.
- A saucepan lift or cherry picker should exist used to trim very alpine trees.
- Climbing gear should be used by trained professionals merely, and climbing spikes or cleats should never exist used as they can harm the body and spread affliction.
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Become protective gear. Gardening gloves and prophylactic goggles should exist used when trimming your palm.^[5]
- Palm fronds usually have very sharp spikes forth their edges. Gloves will assist protect your hands.
- Sawing and cutting sends small pieces of debris flight. Habiliment rubber goggles to protect your eyes.
4
Consult a professional. Palm copse tin abound very tall and large, spiky fronds can be unwieldy. If you're dealing with a tall tree or do not experience comfortable using the equipment it's best to consult a professional person.
- Await for someone with experience trimming palm copse.
- Make sure whoever you lot hire does not use gear that could damage the tree, such every bit climbing spikes or cleats.
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1
Sterilize your pruning tools. Pruning tools tin spread affliction from 1 tree to another. All of your pruning tools should be sterilized before yous brainstorm trimming your tree.^[6]
- Wipe any dirt or debris from your pruning gear.
- Sterilize the tools by placing them in a solution of 1 part bleach to iii parts water.
- Accept chainsaws apart and soak both the chain and bar.
- Let tools soak for 5 minutes.
- Rinse tools with clean h2o and allow them to air dry earlier using.
2
Set up your climbing gear. Earlier you scale the tree, brand sure the climbing gear you are using is secure and stable.
- Check that your ladder, step stool or cherry picker is stable and that any climbing equipment yous are using is secure.
- Ensure the tree is non existence aptitude, punctured or otherwise damaged by the climbing equipment you are using. If yous damage the trunk of your palm while pruning, the tree may not heal.
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Remove dead or damaged leaves only. Removing good for you fronds robs the tree of important nutrients and can result in dull growth, the spread of disease and the death of the palm.
- Mature fronds are found below the current year'southward growth. Information technology'south important to leave at least two rows (or more than) of mature fronds.
- Begin at the bottom of the foliage and look for expressionless, dying or broken fronds.
- Use your pruning gear to remove expressionless or broken fronds from the trunk. Cut each frond at least 2 inches (5.08 cm) from the trunk. Cutting too close to the trunk can damage the tree.
- Remove green fronds only if they hang at an angle below a line that is 90 degrees, or parallel. to the ground. Don't prune fronds that are to a higher place this horizontal line as information technology can weaken the tree.^[7]
- Never cut off the top, or crown, of the palm. The crown volition not grow back and the tree volition die.
- Y'all exercise non demand to prune cocky-cleaning palms such as King palms, Kentia palms, Jubaea palms or Chamadoreas. Their leaves fall off naturally every bit they die, making trimming unnecessary. If it is but necessary to trim a cocky-cleaning palm considering of potential safety hazards. Trim dead fronds or the oldest fronds just.
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Pull off loose petioles (blades) from the fronds.
- Have the loose petiole (blade) between your fingers and pull gently. If the petiole does non come off hands, exit it.
5
Prune flowers or developing fruit from the palm if your particular species is the flowering type. Palm flowers and fruits have energy and nutrients away from the tree, attract pests, and create hazards for people walking below.
- Cut fruit and fruit stalks from the fronds or body and remove flower growth by hand.
- Fruit stalks and flowers should be removed as before long equally they are visible.
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Discard of pruned fronds, petioles and fruit properly. Identify fronds in a trash bin made for organic waste. Palm tree fronds tend to accept precipitous needle-like protrusions that can prick those who handle the waste.
- Continue to wearable gardening gloves as you clean upwardly debris.
- Pick up any fallen fruit, flowers or seeds. Pests that can harm the tree are attracted to dropped seeds and fruit. Fallen fruit tin also stain concrete and produce unpleasant odors, and the seeds tin germinate in undesirable places.
- Consult your local waste product disposal service department to find out how and where to dispose of palm debris.
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Look a year (or longer) before trimming again. Palm trees practice best when left alone. Green fronds produce all of a palm tree'south nutrient. Keeping them effectually is integral to maintaining the health and force of your tree. For that reason, you should never have off more leaves in one year than the tree tin produce in that time.

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Add New Question

Question

Tin y'all cut back sago palms?

Maggie Moran is a Professional Gardener in Pennsylvania.

Home & Garden Specialist

Skilful Answer

Aye, yous can cut it back, however, to maintain the health and vitality of the constitute you lot should limit your trimming to brown or diseased stalks and foliage.
Question

How often practise you water a palm tree?

Maggie Moran is a Professional Gardener in Pennsylvania.

Home & Garden Specialist

Expert Respond

The soil around your palm tree should always be moist, so three to four times a week is a good measure to become by.
Question

How often practice yous need to trim a palm tree?

Maggie Moran is a Professional person Gardener in Pennsylvania.

Home & Garden Specialist

Skilful Answer

Trimming should exist done one to ii times a year and only once fronds have turned brown.
Question

What happens when you cutting off the acme of a palm tree?

Maggie Moran is a Professional Gardener in Pennsylvania.

Home & Garden Specialist

Skillful Answer

Cutting off the peak of the palm tree will stop the growth of the tree and eventually kill it.
Question

What should I do about ferns growing at the base of the palm tree?

Maggie Moran is a Professional Gardener in Pennsylvania.

Habitation & Garden Specialist

Expert Answer

It is up to the preference of the owner. About ferns are not parasites and volition simply dice when winter comes, so keeping them volition non generally hurt the health of the tree.
Question

Should I cut off the seeds (i.e. the large clusters) from the palm copse or go out them alone?

Maggie Moran is a Professional person Gardener in Pennsylvania.

Home & Garden Specialist

Expert Answer

Yes. To ensure the continued health of your palm, y'all should cut the seed pods to back near the trunk of the tree.
Question

How much should I trim a 16-foot palm tree?

The size of your palm is irrelevant to the corporeality of trimming. When trimming your palm, only remove dead or dying fronds.
Question

Palms are growing at the base of an existing tree. Should I cut them off?

Yous can cut them off. Or yous tin can allow them abound a flake and dig upward the root system and transplant them elsewhere in your thousand or property, thus cheaply increasing your palm population.
Question

When'south the best time of solar day to prune my palm copse?

Timing doesn't matter when it comes to trimming, so you lot can choose whatever fourth dimension works all-time for you.
Question

Can I just cut about ten feet off the meridian of my palm tree (all the green leaves), or will I kill it?

That will definitely impale the tree. Plants demand sugars to survive, and that can only exist formed in the leaves. Cut off the leaves volition permanently destroy this procedure.

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If the tree is brown near the top, this is a good indication that the tree is dying or has a disease.
If your palm tree is higher than xx feet (6.i m) (6.one m) alpine, call an arborist for assist.
Pruning should exist performed no more than than once a twelvemonth, if that. Over-pruning tin weaken the tree and crusade it to snap and die in inclement weather.^[8]

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Always wear gardening gloves when pruning a palm tree.
Be conscientious when pruning more than one palm tree at a fourth dimension. If the first palm tree has a disease, trimming the second tree with the same pruning shears can spread the illness.
Practise non pull loose fronds from the tree. Always trim them 2 inches (5.08 cm) from the trunk to prevent holes in the construction.
Tree-trimming is dangerous. Always apply extreme intendance – be enlightened of your surroundings and possible hazards, including weak limbs, the adventure of falling, and nearby power lines.
Do not employ climbing spikes to ascend palm trees. The spikes can get out holes in the body that go out the tree vulnerable to illness.

Things You lot'll Need

Ladder, step stool or cherry picker
Waste can
Gardening gloves and prophylactic goggles
Serrated pocketknife, big pruning clippers or pruning saw
Disinfecting solution for pruning equipment

About This Article

Article Summary X

To trim a palm tree, start by sterilizing your pruning tools to prevent the spread of disease. Aim to remove simply the expressionless, dying, and broken fronds from your palm tree—don't remove green fronds unless they're pointing toward the ground. Cut each frond at least ii inches (5.08 cm) from the trunk, and prune abroad flowers and developing fruit if your species grows them. Never cut off the crown of a palm tree, and exist certain to wait one year before trimming your tree again. To learn more from our Horticulturist co-writer, like what tools work best for pruning a palm tree, keep reading!

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