Imagine one image of Florida, what comes to mind? Beaches and palm trees. Palm trees are placed with a scene of a dreamy beach while your on vacation. However palm trees are nothing like a vacation, they take diligence and attention.

Since palm trees can be seen everywhere in Florida it’s important to know how to spot dying palm trees and keep up with their maintenance.

How’s Your Trimming?

Making sure you trim at the right season is important to the second generation of palm trees. Trim when it’s too hot (summer) and the baby palm trees burn out before they have a chance at growing back. Make sure the trimming is done in winter when the tree is ‘sleeping’. When they’re ‘awake’, in hotter months, palm trees start growing new branches.

Cut only 25% of the canopy, less helps with the chance of the tree being damaged. You can always cut more if you need to you can’t replace.

Be careful not to cut into the tree, that damage will stay with the tree for the rest of its life. That opening can also be used for parasites to enter into the tree and possibly kill it.

Not only does cutting the tree to much cause growth issues but also solicits pests. Palm trees can actually be distressed, once they are they release an attraction to a type of bug made to kill it, red palm weevil.

Once finished trimming it’s important to spray, and not put a glandular down, a ‘liquid greening solution’  onto the tree to medicate it directly.

        Some Popular Palms

• Windmill palms (Trachycarpus fortunei) are one of the better palms to survive the cold. Trunks can be as thick as 20 to 40 feet, which leaves the leaves reaching around 8 foot crowns.

• Royal palms (Roystonea regia) most common palm trees seen in Florida and other hot places. Can get as tall as 40-60 feet.

• Red sealing wax palms (Cyrtostachys renda) cannot handle cold at all. When it’s to cold a parasite, that is dormant when it’s hotter, stirs and destroys the tree.

• Fishtail palms (Caryota) have the least amount of issues with parasites as other palm trees do.                                                                                                                                                                                  Here at PPCF we provide: lawn treatments, fertilization, pest control, and sprinkler repair; for the following cities: Miramar, Pembroke pines, Davie, Weston, Plantation, Sunrise, Tamarac, Coral Springs, and Parkland. If you need our services in your area call (954) 353-3781!