Hello! Newbie to the forum here looking for help. We recently moved into a house with very beautiful two date palms (about 20 feet tall) that have started to have brown at the fronds earlier this spring. The browning has accelerated and I'm desperate for help in keeping these beautiful babies alive. We have neglected to water them and have recently done so (after we noticed the browning) for about 30 mins once a week on a slow flow rate.

The palms were planted in 2024 by the old owners as part of a backyard remodel. We are in Orange in Southern California.

Any help in assisting with this problem would be immensely helpful. Thank you in advance!

If there is no rain, then 30-min once-a-week seems like too little water.

I would think a deep watering at least twice a week , depending on the weather and soil condition. Keep in mind that the palm will take time to fully recover . The new growth will slowly look better as the palm get the water it needs. The older fronds will not improve but they will be replaced by healthy fronds. Southern California is very dry this time of year . Harry

Thank you for the advice! So it sounds like it's just not been properly watered then? How much is too much water?

If your soil is more sandy loam than clay , you would be hard pressed to overwater . If your soil stays muddy and wet for many days at a time , then you have to be careful . I would start by , maybe , increasing you watering to twice a week or every three days . If you see the soil wet all the time , then back off until the top 1-2” drys out a bit . It looks like those are planted in raised beds . Hopefully whoever planted the palms knew enough to use a sandy loam soil for them . If you can dig the soil easily , then that’s a good sign . If your shovel or blade feels like you are trying to dig through concrete , then you have heavy clay that should be amended. For now , I would just slowly increase the watering . In about a year they should look beautiful . Harry