Maintaining your palm trees is a great way to maintain curb appeal and avoid hazards on your property. Palm trees are typically quite low-maintenance trees to keep up with. Some palms are even self-cleaning, meaning that the tree will shed damaged or dying palm fronds when it is time for them to come off of the tree. 

Unlike most plants, trimming green fronds will not promote future growth. Cutting back healthy fronds will actually reduce the self-created food production for the tree, ultimately weakening it. You will occasionally need to remove healthy green fronds if they are creating blockage or hazards on the property. Blocking roadways or sidewalks, or excessively close proximity to structures on your property would be adequate reasons to cut-back your palm. Typically, however, you will be pruning brown fronds in addition to flowers and fruits.

A good rule of thumb when it comes to trimming palm trees is that you shouldn’t unless it is absolutely necessary. 

Trimming your palm tree is appropriate for the following reasons: 

• Trimming dead, dying, or damaged fronds will promote the overall health of the palm tree by cutting away pieces that are unnecessarily taking away from the energy of the plant. 
• Cutting away fronds to increase visibility is also acceptable, like if the palm tree is blocking visibility on a roadway or sidewalk. 
• Cutting off flowers and fruits that zap the palm tree’s energy is a way to enjoy the labour of your palm tree and restore energy reserves to help your palm tree grow. 
• You may need to trim your palm tree if it is a fire hazard or risk of damage to other structures nearby. 

Trimming is not ideal if you just wish to shape or alter your palm tree for cosmetic purposes. 

When trimming, you always want to cut from the top of the tree downwards. Removing lower fronds first could dislodge higher-up fronds and put the arborist in the tree in danger of being trapped. If your palm tree is short enough for you to work from the ground, you can more safely grab your tree trimming utensils and get to work. If your palm tree is tall enough to require the use of a ladder or cherry picker system, it is best to leave this type of work to professional arborists. Taller palm trees are more likely to have thicker fronds that need a chainsaw to cut through them completely. 

If you would like to call in a professional arborist to help you with your palm tree trimming, consider giving us a call at Dynamic Arborist or check out our website website. Our team of professionals is highly skilled and equipped for trimming all kinds of trees. We have experience in palm tree trimming specifically, and can service you and your trees with excellence. We look forward to receiving your call.