Self Cleaning Palm - FIX bad pruning - Triangle Palms

[Kellie]

Hello Palm People,

Please help with advice on this poorly managed wonderful triangle palm.  It is a 25 foot Triangle Palm in a small garden in SoCal, likely rooting in the rising ocean water table.  It's still in decent health despite the landlord and next door neighbor carving off fronds starting 5 years ago that has resulted in the remaining, now much higher fronds, being unable to drop on their own naturally.  The old frond bases are about 8 layers high and a good tree trimmer couldn't or wouldn't remove them,  he just sawed them closer to the trunk which is an improvement, aesthetically but not functionally.

Another tree trimmer refused the work saying it was too hard to remove the remaining bases of the past years fronds and they only seperate from the palm trunk when they are very dry which takes years.  In the meantime, dead fronds droop and I fear for the whole process to begin over again, with the neighbor and landlord hacking at this self-cleaning palm.

Can someone advise me on: 1) if I should work to remove the attached old frond bases 2) if so, how to do it?  What tools to use?

Thank you!

 

IMG_6562.HEIC

[aztropic]

Already WAYY overtrimed! Don't worry about old leaf bases. If there are browning fronds,you can trim off the brown back to where it's still green without removing the whole frond. Looks like past overtrimming may already have doomed this tree. ( penciling) Here's a pic of how I trim mine.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona

[Steve Mac]

Kellie, your tree does not display the typical 'Triangle pattern', as does aztropics. Maybe because of over trimming already, but as suggested, leave what won't easily come off.

If a self cleaning palm is holding it's leaves I assume that it is not ready to lose them yet. It may be a natural insulation/defense against heat or cold?

Some palms are quicker to self clean than others.

[PalmatierMeg]

Planted too close to the building. I'm not sure it can be saved. Looks like the crown is fixing to break off.

[Tracy]

On 7/19/2021 at 2:39 PM, Kellie said:

he old frond bases are about 8 layers high and a good tree trimmer couldn't or wouldn't remove them,  he just sawed them closer to the trunk which is an improvement, aesthetically but not functionally.

Another tree trimmer refused the work saying it was too hard to remove the remaining bases of the past years fronds and they only seperate from the palm trunk when they are very dry which takes years.  In the meantime, dead fronds droop and I fear for the whole process to begin over again, with the neighbor and landlord hacking at this self-cleaning palm.

Can someone advise me on: 1) if I should work to remove the attached old frond bases

 

On 7/19/2021 at 3:01 PM, aztropic said:

Already WAYY overtrimed! Don't worry about old leaf bases. If there are browning fronds,you can trim off the brown back to where it's still green without removing the whole frond. Looks like past overtrimming may already have doomed this tree. ( penciling)

The answer to your question 1) above, is:  No, don't try to remove the old frond bases.  Generally not a good idea to remove them from any "self cleaning palm".   As Rich aka aztropic observed already, it has been significantly overtrimmed already, trying to remove old leaf bases would likely scar the trunk and possibly open up areas for pink rot or fungus to enter the growing area.  Adding more trauma to a palm in a weakened state would likely be the closing act for it. 

Because most people want to remove a palm frond that only has dead leaves, many triangle palms have some retained "boots" below the leaves that are entire (much as Rich shows in the photo of his Dypsis decaryi or Triangle palm).  This particular species is slow in shedding those boots, unlike some other palms like "King palms" Archontophoenix cunninghamiana which will often shed the entire leaf, crownshaft and all intact.   I assume the reason this has been trimmed by both landlord and neighbor is that they perceive the offending fronds were in the way or perhaps because they were dying.  Is the palm 25' from ground to top of leaves or 25' of trunk to where the retained leaf bases emerge?  Lots of things could be contributing to the palm leaves prematurely dying if that is why they are being removed so frequently.  This species likes well drained soil and they don't like their feet continually damp, particularly during out winters.  They also appreciate some feeding, typically with a granular slow release palm specific fertilizer.  Diagnosing the underlying reason for the frequent overtrimming and correcting that would be your first line of defense.