Palm trees along narrow walkway

[ewaforevah]

There's palms lined up along the walkway on the side of our house.  I'm not sure what type of palm it is.  The soil it's in is 2ft wide with the walkway on one side and wall on the other.  A landscaper mentioned how these type of palms may cause issues with the roots eventually cracking the walkway or the wall adjacent to it.  Is this true?  What should I do to remedy it?  Should I consider cutting them down? Should I remove/grind the stump down as well?

Edited October 20, 2022 by ewaforevah

[idontknowhatnametuse]

Palms don't break walkways or anything since their roots grow down, not to the sides like trees and the roots also dodge all obstacles without damaging them so your palms are no trouble.

[PalmatierMeg]

Not true. Palm roots are different from woody roots of dicot trees, are shallow and not dangerous to masonry. Those look like the clumping palm Dypsis lutescens aka golden cane palm. They are moderate sized, have skinny trunks and are not hazardous.

[D Palm]

Landscaper doesn’t know much about palms. I’d find a different one.

[Patrick]

Ask your landscaper what a dicot is; then ask him what a monocot is. If he can answer either then you can keep him. If he can't answer you can fire him or keep him at your discretion; but he needs to understand that you have friends in low places

Don't BS a BSer, Mr. Landscape. I have my eyes on you. That's when you give him the "I'm watching you" hand motion where you use 2 fingers to point to your eyes and then point back at him, same hand,  with 1 finger. Repeat several times to indicate "I'm watching you"

 

Edit: what everyone says above is true. 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Patrick

[Gottagrowemall]

Eventually over the next 2-3 years those areca clumps may spread close to the walkway and need to. be trimmed to the ground level to keep them off. But will they bust up or shift concrete? No lol. The worrisome part of palms is not their roots it's their fronds and seed pods that can be heavy and cause damage.

[Jeff zone 8 N.C.]

As a licensed air conditioning and refrigeration professional I can say,  you have very little worry with the roots causing damage. You may have a little problem with airflow but that is easily remedied with normal trimming of the palm fronds that are in the way of you walking along the walkway (which you would want to do anyway for access). You do want free airflow around those air condensing units, in your pics. The palms will actually provide a somewhat cool environment for the condensing unit in your pics, and benefit your cooling, as long as you keep the area around the unit  relatively free of too much vegetation that restricts airflow. Also as a contractor be aware there are a lot of con men out there. Be aware!

[Kim]

Your landscaper just doesn't like palms. I know the type.

[sonoranfans]

landscapers are typically low level in knowledge about palms.  I see them planting palms that hate continually wet roots in construction clay and setting up irrigation to water every day.  They are good at hardscape though.  After 25 years of growing and observing palms have never seen a palm with an uplifted or cracked masonry surface nearby.  Dicots on the other hand I have seen that mistake many times, planting them too close and masonry cracking, is a common sight.   My sisters landscaper thought the palms I recommended, pseudophoenix sargentii (var navissano) needed rich soil and planted them with heavy organics with flowers, this scenario with auto irrigation timed for the flowers killed them in one year and he had no idea why.  2/3 died with the lone survivor in sandy soil near the street.  The survivor looks great, I told my sister to not let him plant/place any palms on her property.  SOme landscapers do know about palms but they are rare here in florida.  

[ewaforevah]

Thanks for the reassurances. You guys are wonderful.