Livistona chinensis frond base removal

[miamicuse]

Do you all trim the fronds of Livistona chinensis?

I read that this palm is supposed to be self cleaning requiring no pruning.  But I have left it without pruning for over a year and the old fronds do not drop off (like a royal or coconut would).

I usually trim once a month (when I have bulk waste collection coming), just a few fronds when the entire leave turns brown/yellow.

But how do you deal with the frond bases on the trunk?  Do you remove them manually once they become loose?

They do not fall off by themselves because of the fiber wrapping all around, the base and the fiber have to be removed at the same time and every time I do it I find termites hiding inside the fiber/frond bases.  I wonder if I do not remove them, will they eventually fall off by themselves?  I have two rather tall ones, one of them have a trunk that is over 35' tall now, and I am not too keen on the idea to get up to 25' on a ladder leaning on nothing but the trunk, to remove loose frond bases that the ladder sits on.

[Looking Glass]

I trim seed stalks 1-2X early in the year, and leaves 1-2x per year that are drooping.   I leave the bases, but the following year I’ll tap the cut bases with the saw tip, and give them a jiggle and they’ll usually fall off.   They seem to fall off on their own after 2 years or so during windy storms.  

I leave the tops a bit ratty, as I like the look.  I trimmed my older neighbors palms a couple weeks ago….  Termites everywhere.   Fliers were pretty bad in the neighborhood after rains recently.   

 

[Merlyn]

After a while they do become very loose.  I usually leave them until they are about ready to fall off, then go by with my wheelbarrow and tug on the lowest bunch.  The bottom ones are usually held on by just a few fibers, so they almost fall off in your hand.  Anything that is held on pretty tight I just leave there.  I could take a razor knife and slice off a few more, but there's no point.  The only thing I noticed is that carpenter ants love to nest in the furry stuff between leaf bases.  So I wear gloves and keep some bug spray around, I'd rather not stir up ant nests and then encourage them to spread to my house...

[miamicuse]

I have a dozen or so lower ones I can reach from the ground and those are not much issue.  Yes I do find termites inside those leaf bases.  Not sure what I can do about it.  Thought about spraying some Termidor SC into it but not sure that will help.  Here is one on the right side I am about to try and remove the leaf bases if they are loose enough.

Then there are a bunch of them that are taller.  This is one where the top of the trunk is about 20' tall so not too bad, I can still reach it.  I can use a shovel to knock off the loose ones.  The problem is the fiber and the bases when falling off has this really itchy dust flying all over.

and then this one that has a 30'+ trunk and with the fronds it's probably 45'.  I am sure there are lots of loose leaf bases but I don't want to get that high with an extension ladder so I guess my only choice to let them fall off on their own...will they?

 

[Looking Glass]

Man, that 30 footer does hold them aye…  At that point, what can you do but wait and see.   They all look great.   

I don’t think there is much you can do about dry wood termites around here except tent the house periodically.  They are everywhere.  On the east side of the county here, during late  spring rains, it looks like a jillion mini WW2 bombers lumbering around in the air after sunset.   

My boots contain mostly small ant colonies and larva though, there are termites and other bugs and tree frogs sometimes.  The “dust”, I’m convinced is actually a mixture of sawdust and bug poop that builds up in there.  

[Merlyn]

I have a friend with a ~30-40 foot tall Chinensis, he doesn't trim any of the leaves or bases.  They do eventually fall off, fortunately they aren't super heavy when they do.  It's not as bad as a Royal that drops a 20' long 30-40lb whole frond at random.    If you wanted to pull off the old bases on the lower fronds it might allow the upper ones to self-shed...maybe.  On a palm with 30' of trunk I'd get up on a 10' A-frame ladder and use an extending polesaw (manual not chainsaw type) to just tug on the old bases.  Heck, you can buy a 26' tall pruning saw and do it from the ground!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/VEVOR-Pole-Saws-for-Tree-Trimming-26-ft-with-Blade-Length-13-3-in-Pruning-Saws-Alloy-Steel-Tree-Pruner-Tree-Trimmers-XZJ8M000000000001V0/320331337

[miamicuse]

8 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

Man, that 30 footer does hold them aye…  At that point, what can you do but wait and see.   They all look great.   

I don’t think there is much you can do about dry wood termites around here except tent the house periodically.  They are everywhere.  On the east side of the county here, during late  spring rains, it looks like a jillion mini WW2 bombers lumbering around in the air after sunset.   

My boots contain mostly small ant colonies and larva though, there are termites and other bugs and tree frogs sometimes.  The “dust”, I’m convinced is actually a mixture of sawdust and bug poop that builds up in there.  

I am not sure what that dust is.  I think it's the disintegrating fiber mesh around the leave bases and yes some stuff from insects.

One interesting fact about the 30'+ tall one, it used to be not more than 25' at the top of the trunk.  It was under the canopy of my evil monster ficus LOL.  One day I had the ficus trimmed back, and in 8 months I swear that Livistona chinensis shot up 8 feet once it saw daylight.