Palm Tree Trimming in Orlando, FL

Palm tree trimming is one of the most common jobs around Orlando pools and front walks, and one of the easiest to get wrong. A palm makes all of its new leaves from a single bud at the top. It cannot replace a lost canopy quickly, and it cannot heal wounds on its trunk. UF/IFAS palm specialist Timothy Broschat's guidance is simple: removing completely dead leaves and flower and fruit stalks is never a problem, but cutting off green or partly green leaves usually does more harm than good.

Why hurricane cuts backfire

The tight, feather-duster cut that leaves only a few upright fronds is sometimes sold as storm protection. UF/IFAS reports the opposite: palms cut that way were more likely to have their crowns snapped off in hurricanes than palms with fuller crowns, because the young leaves left behind have not hardened off and lack support from older leaf bases. Over-pruning also reduces a palm's ability to make food, and repeated heavy pruning can leave a narrower section of trunk.

Yellow fronds are a nutrition signal

Lower fronds that are yellow, orange or speckled, while the newest leaves are still green, usually point to a potassium deficiency. UF/IFAS advises leaving those leaves on, because the palm is pulling potassium out of them to feed new growth. Removing them can speed the palm's decline. We point these palms out and leave them alone apart from the fully dead fronds.

No spikes, clean blades

UF/IFAS says climbing spikes should never be used to prune palms, because the wounds never heal and can let in disease and attract palm weevils. We trim from a lift, a ladder or with climbing gear that does not puncture the trunk. Fusarium wilt can spread on pruning tools, so UF/IFAS recommends soaking tools in disinfectant for five minutes before moving to another palm; we clean blades between palms, and especially between queen palms.

The palms we see most

Queen palms are everywhere in Orlando landscaping, but UF/IFAS research found they performed poorly in hurricanes, and their heavy seed clusters and dead fronds make a lot of litter. Cabbage palms (sabal palms), Florida's state tree, rank among the most wind-resistant trees in the state and need little more than dead-frond and seed-stalk removal. Date palms and Washingtonia palms round out most jobs; tall Washingtonias often need a lift to reach safely.