Planted 20+ years ago, I have two queens that got to go. They were planted to develop a quick canopy so the slower more tender stuff had an opportunity to establish. Originally there were 5 but now down to two. The original game plan was that they would be removed after 5 years. Now I'm stuck with two huge monsters. The last one removed was several years ago and was a tremendous amount of work by myself. To hire someone to remove them that knew what they were doing would be prohibitively expensive.

Putting on my thinking cap, I decided to just kill them as they stood and let gravity bring down the crown as it decomposes over time. The trunks will take much longer.

Next question how do I kill such a healthy robust palm? A herbicide drench around the roots would surely kill everything else around it. With my luck the queen would survive while everything else carked - nix that option.

Apply herbicide to the crown ? If access to the crown was so easy to apply the herbicide, I'd just mechanically dispatch the crown. Access is not easy so a defoliant herbicide would have to be applied from below. Herbicide drift would probably kill every thing else and the queen could potentially survive - nix that option.

Resolution: If my recollection of palm biology is correct, a palm cannot survive without a connected cambium. The cambium transports minerals, nutrients and water to the leaves so sugar and proteins can be manufactured. The cambium transports the needed sugars and proteins down to the roots to maintain their health. The cambium is located just under the outer surface of the trunk. Inside that are the vascular bundles that provides trunk rigidness, stores carbohydrates and water.

Action taken: Scour completely around the trunk twice at a distance 9 inches apart. Then using a wood chisel, remove approximately 1/8 of an inch of the outer trunk tissue. That should remove the cambium and thus cause the eventual demise of the palm once all its stored carbohydrates have been used.

Theory: Its an application of a theory,currently being tested. Curious if others may agree with it?

Queen of Doom 1.JPGQueen of Doom 2.JPGQueen of Doom 3.JPG

This probably will kill the queen palm,,,,but it´s going to take 30 years at least....

Jerry...........

Jerry...........

David - its not Jerry's fault. When we were children our parents gave us play-doh for entertainment.

Jerry's Daddy gave him C-4

Pando's pics are great. Worst part is getting the crown off. After that... I bet that guy had the tree down in 30 min. Moose, when I said $200, that was for both. Probably $400 with complete debris removal and cleanup. As long as they don't have to bring in any equipment (or if they own it), tree work in relatively inexpensive. Prices are definitely different up here in the sticks, at least for that type of stuff. Good luck!

Tank - when I was in high school, I worked in a plant nursery. There were a couple of local tree trimmers that would stop by from time to time asking if I wanted some extra work. When they had big jobs, they needed an extra ground guy with a strong back to keep up with the climbers. I'm no expert, but I have been exposed to cutting big stuff down. $ numbers are getting thrown around that do not apply to my situation. There is no simply way to drop what is being cut. Each frond will be a task to get down to the ground through all the aerial crap I got going on. I've been looking at this problem for awhile now.

Got on the roof and took these shots this morning so you can see the mess.

It took me 10 minutes wrestling with this big frond getting it out of the tangle. The frigging petiole bases are curved and hook on everything. Plus they are very hard with no pliability when they are dried out.

Another older frond that was a task to untangle. The leaflets are decomposed but the petiole base remains curved and resilient.

So many suggestions to drill from very respected opinions. So Drill baby, Drill ... both palms, four holes each palm, all staggered.

Nice fat holes to administer the secret sauce into. Bet its been at least 15 years since I've touched this drill bit. Its an odd ball size 23/32nds. It was the largest step up bit I could fit in the 3/8ths '' drill. Did not want to have to use the 1/2 '' drill cause its electric and did not want to deal with an extension cord.

A little snug but the funnel fits. The secret sauce was administered and topped off at all 8 holes. Honestly I don't know what "the secret sauce" is. It was given to me by someone who said, "you never got this from me". My instructions were that I could scrape the bark from anything, paint this on the scraped area and it would soon be dead. Wear gloves, don't splash any on you. Interesting that a glass container was used. Surely all the pulpy juice of the trunk was corrosive so all the bits got wiped down and coated with WD 40 prior to their return to the bit bin. I checked the holes 10 minutes later and all the chemical had been taken up by the trunk. Now its a wait and see game.

I'll report back when I notice any appreciable stressing of the palms.

Frankly I'm surprised at the initial post. As Tank referred to, palms have vascular bundles. This used to be the first chapter of 'Palms 101'

Who is that standing over there in the bushes? ..... is that the tree trimmer guy?....strange equipment he has there

Wish I had one of these ...

That's Cool!

Thank you for everyone's input. I've been monitoring the palms and thought (or wishful thinking) I was seeing some evidence of the herbicide working a week ago.

In the last two days the evidence looked stronger, a couple of sagging fronds, yellowing tint to the fronds and the leaflets looked to be drying. I got on the roof to get a closer look today and the effects are more pronounced. It appears that the younger fronds have stopped growing and look like desiccation has begun. A more pronounced yellowing and drooping of the older fronds. Its more visible to the naked eye then when the photos were observed. The process should speed up now, photos will be forthcoming. The Queens are on their way to the land of Carkage.

Moose,

If the secret sauce doesn't work, try undiluted roundup or any of the other herbicides with glyphosate in the holes. Even though its a foliar herbicide, mainlining the herbicide right into the vascular system will probably work. May need to drill fresh holes.

Stump killer...

Moose,

If the secret sauce doesn't work, try undiluted roundup or any of the other herbicides with glyphosate in the holes. Even though its a foliar herbicide, mainlining the herbicide right into the vascular system will probably work. May need to drill fresh holes.

Moose,

If the secret sauce doesn't work, try undiluted roundup or any of the other herbicides with glyphosate in the holes. Even though its a foliar herbicide, mainlining the herbicide right into the vascular system will probably work. May need to drill fresh holes.

Thank you Tank - I was contemplating that 10 days ago. They are large plants so it makes sense that it would take longer for the affects to be realized then a small plant. Big changes in the last couple of days, the palms are definitely on their way out. 0% chance at any recovery. The Sauce must have disrupted the internal water transferring abilities - looks like they have gone without any water for six months.

Cloudy and rainy today, I'll try to post dying queen pics tomorrow.

I've always heard it said that poison is a woman's weapon.

I've always heard it said that poison is a woman's weapon.

Then my estrogen prevailed.

Can't find an angle with the proper lighting to photo the one with the gouged trunk. This is the smaller on that is dying just as good as the biggin.

Awesome work! Good riddance to the queen!

Awesome work! Good riddance to the queen!

Oh happy days - the Queen is dead ... No more copious amounts of falling fruits and sprouting queens in the mulch

Give it a couple of months and it will look like this...

I gave mine the axe. I had a nice space that I could fell it into without damaging anything else so I did some calculating and went chopping. The stump was a bigger pain than I thought it would be, so I chopped that to about 3 inches below grade and put a heliconia over it. The spot looks much better with a nice big Kentiopsis instead of a queen.

I gave mine the axe. I had a nice space that I could fell it into without damaging anything else so I did some calculating and went chopping. The stump was a bigger pain than I thought it would be, so I chopped that to about 3 inches below grade and put a heliconia over it. The spot looks much better with a nice big Kentiopsis instead of a queen.

When I remove a palm, I'll cut the trunk down to chest height and attach a bromeliad to the top. Free plant stand for a few years.

Success!!

Do you worry about the latent effects of the poison that still may be present in the underground stump?

Do you worry about the latent effects of the poison that still may be present in the underground stump?

I have contemplated this possibility. Monitoring the surrounding palms, no are exhibiting any affects from the herbicide.

Look like mine with fusiarum wilt. I didn't have to resort to drills & poison potions. Cutting them down cost more than enough. But no longer sweeping up ripe fruit and pulling sprouts (ok, the occasional one) is a bonus.

Moose:

The best way, if you can, is to behead it first. Cut off all the leaves, then chop off the terminal bud.

That might cost some dough, but it will be less expensive than chopping the whole thing, especially if you have other plants around it.

I've heard that a good sousing with glyphosate into the top will also work. Don't know about the base, but it's worth a try.

Let us know what you do.

The beheading routine is referred to as a Mary Queen of Scots Second Coronation . . . .

Off with her head - almost ...

On ‎4‎/‎19‎/‎2015‎ ‎5‎:‎52‎:‎45‎, Moose said:

 

Off with her head - almost ...

 

Epilogue: The trunks are still standing. Everything in the area loved the extra sun and is happy.

Here Is mine been chipping away at the rootball for the last month haha!

i will say I know queens are common but a nice well grown big robust queen palm is beautiful . This one came down because it was planted before I moved in and the house was vacant for about a year and it looked pretty sad wasn't taken care of at all so I took it down