How best to trim boots on Syagrus coronata

[annafl]

We have this small Syagrus coronata which has been doing well.  We'd like to start trimming the boots so that the attractive spiral look can start showing.  I don't know if it's too small or young still to accomplish this.  So far we've just been leaving them sort of long so someday we can do all of them uniformly at once.  Does anyone know how to trim them to reach their most attractive potential?

[Mike Evans]

Hi Anna, looks like your coronata is going to be fat from the size of that base.  I trim the leaf boots with a typical handheld pruning saw.  The petioles are quite hard and brittle, so it is difficult to use lopping shears.  You can trim as close as you want for the look you want.  I have seen some with rather long leaf boots, and gives a more dramatic look.  Sometimes when I am lazy, I just snap the dead leaf off and will go back and trim later.   Here are a few pics from the garden and a central america garden (last pic).  The large one works good to grow vanilla orchids, when they grow into the crown, I cut them off and replant at the base.  The larger one also does not exhibit much of the leaf boot spiral effect, but have seen lots of them that are a true spiral.

[annafl]

Thanks so much, Mike, they are gorgeous!!!  Oops!  Maybe I'm not leaving them long enough?  I'm glad to see yours as I was thinking of trimming them closer, that's why I asked.  I'm not sure ours is going to have much of the spiral look.  Maybe just a slight bit.  Time will tell.  I was hoping this year it would finally adopt the look.  Thanks so much for the beautiful photos.  I'll refrain from trimming any shorter, and may even gradually go a bit longer like yours.  Pictures are worth a thousand words!