These palm tree trimming techniques will keep your plants lush, healthy, and postcard-perfect.
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Palm treesare iconic symbols of the good life.
To keep your palms postcard-perfect, you should probably learn the proper palm tree trimming techniques.
Credit:Kameleon007 / Getty Images
Unlike mosttrees and shrubs, pruningfronds from a palm wont encourage growth.
Palm tree trimming is mostly done for aesthetic purposes.
One of the biggest mistakes people make with palm trees is over-pruning them.
The following tips from an expert will help you avoid ruining your trees.
Tia Silvasy is an Orlando-based extension agent with the University of Florida.
This is a clock face reference, for those of you who arent accustomed to analog timepieces.
It means dont prune any fronds that would be within the nine and three on a clock.
A correctly pruned palm is full and has a rounded top thats shaped like a semi-circle, Silvasy says.
Dont cut your palm to look like it has a mohawk.
Do Not Prune Healthy Fronds
Leave healthy green fronds alone.
Palms need their leaves to make food via photosynthesis.
Wrong, Silvasy says.
More fronds on a palm help it stand up to wind, she says.
They make the tree stronger and better able to bend in the wind.
Palms that areregularly over-prunedcan develop narrow, weakened trunks that are more likely to snap in high winds.
Remove Dead Fruit and Flower Stalks
Pruning fruit and flower stalks frees up energy for more frond production.
And fronds are the reason most of us grow palms.
How damaged is heavily damaged?
Prune fronds that have died naturally, too.
If a lot of your palm fronds are yellowing, dont prune them.
You may be dealing with a nutrient problem, Silvasy says.
Self-cleaning palms include royal palms,foxtail palms, areca palms, and Christmas palms.
Use loppers or a handsaw for shorter palms.
Trim fronds close to the trunk.
Dont tear off fronds and dont cut into the trunk because it can cause wounds that lead to disease.
you might spread plant diseases from one tree to another with your tools.
Its OK to Leave Dead Fronds on Palms
Some people leave the old, dead fronds on palm trees.
It’s up to you if you want to prune those dead leaves or not.
Its an aesthetic choice, Silvasy says.
Leaving dead fronds on a palm will not harm the tree.
Palm beards can help wildlife because those thickets of dead fronds are a popularnesting site for birds.
Prune dead fronds whenever they appear on the tree.
