How to Trim Potted Palms
Healthy potted palms grown indoors require infrequent pruning. Occasionally remove dying fronds or browned blades to keep the palm looking tidy. Palm trees that have been stressed to the point of the fronds browning or yellowing will need to be pruned more severely, since once the fronds are damaged they cannot be returned to a healthy green hue. Palm fronds are easily be damaged by drought, excessive heat, sun burn or lack of macro and micro fertilizer nutrients; controlling for these will significantly lessen the need to prune your palm.
Cut back a dying brown or yellow palm frond down to just 6 inches above the crown or bud of the palm. Use a handsaw or loppers to cut just the dying frond stem but not cut into the stalk beneath it. Make a horizontal or upward bias cut into the stalk; do not angle it down which can damage the adjacent stalk. Refrain from pulling the stalk out or away from the tree and then cutting it as this can damage the crown and invite disease.
- Healthy potted palms grown indoors require infrequent pruning.
- Use a handsaw or loppers to cut just the dying frond stem but not cut into the stalk beneath it.
Remove random individual yellowing or browning blades on a frond by cutting them with clean secateurs at the base of the blade snug up against the stalk. Refrain from cutting into the stalk at all and just remove the individual blades at their base and discard.
Water and feed the palm after you prune it to reduce stress on the palm and spur fresh growth. Use a granular palm food fertilizer labeled to include micro-nutrients according to recommended dosing directions. Water thoroughly to soak the soil and fertilizer letting the excess water drain away so that the roots are not standing in water for any extended period of time.
Trim The Fronds Of Coconut Palms
Put on work gloves to protect your hands from injury while working with the coconut palm's fronds. Select a dead frond, one that is brown, dry and hanging downward. Hold the terminal end of the dead frond in one hand and saw through the center of its main stem with a pruning saw. Drop the cut frond tip to the ground. Repeat this process to remove all dead fronds from the palm. Remove any broken, damaged or diseased fronds. Dip the pruning saw's blade into a 50 percent bleach solution for 5 minutes after cutting through diseased fronds to prevent spreading the disease to healthy growth. Cut out any limp, yellow fronds hanging downward at an angle less than 90 degrees toward the trunk.
- Remove random individual yellowing or browning blades on a frond by cutting them with clean secateurs at the base of the blade snug up against the stalk.
- Water thoroughly to soak the soil and fertilizer letting the excess water drain away so that the roots are not standing in water for any extended period of time.
Related Articles
References
- Clemson University, Pruning Palms
- University of Nevada Cooperative Extension: Palm Pruning
- Floridata: Cocos Nucifera
- University of Hawaii Cooperative Extension Service: Coconut as an Ornamental
- University of Nevada Cooperative Extension: Pruning Palm Trees
- An Illustrated Guide to Pruning; Edward F. Gilman
- University of California: General Care and Maintenance of Palms
