Today, Hendry County Road and Bridge Department's 5-man crews were out in full force cutting live palm fronds on the median on Birchwood Parkway in Port LaBelle. (photo left)
Despite common understanding, it is not recommended to trim palm trees.
From the Florida Agricultural Extension Office (The University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences UF/IFAS):
"When it comes to pruning palm trees, less is usually better. You never want to overprune your palms by subjecting them to what's called "hurricane pruning" or "hurricane cutting," where all but a few fronds are cut off.
Palms are naturally able to withstand the high winds that hurricanes bring, so removing fronds isn't necessary. In fact, it can seriously damage the palm tree.
When pruning palms, only remove fronds that are completely brown and that hang below the 9 o'clock or 3 o'clock position. If you hire a professional, make your wishes clear by putting them in writing. Explain that you want your palms to have a rounded canopy, not a mohawk.
Always remember that the point of pruning is to remove only dead growth. information on pruning palm tree."
Save Our State Tree says, "Over the past 25-30 years, a harmful, unnecessary and wasteful landscape practice has become widespread: trimming Sabal Palms. Sabal Palm fronds do not need to be trimmed unless their fronds are interfering with foot traffic, power lines or building maintenance."
Notice in the photo the crew is cutting live fronds way above the recommended "9 o'clock or 3 o'clock position." The tree shown before trimming, has a natural rounded canopy, and after, a "mohawk trim", leaving only a few fronds at the top after cutting. Not only is trimming a waste of time and manpower, the hundreds of pounds of cut fronds have to be collected and hauled away.
Pruning palm trees results in loss of shade, loss of habitat for birds, including crested caracara and other wildlife who may nest there, or feed on insects and seeds within the tree and fronds.
The county attempted to trim these same trees several years ago on Port LaBelle's Birchwood Parkway but stopped after being alerted by then IFAS agricultural extension head in Immokalee, Gene McAvoy.
Birchwood Parkway is one of the few nicely landscaped medians along roadways in Hendry county with palms and oak trees. The Road and Bridge Department a few years ago took out some oak trees on the median and replaced them with younger trees, however three of those were dug up by the department last month and not replaced.
A call was made to the Hendry Road and Bridge Department for an explanation, but no response has been received at the time of this story's publication.
For more correct palm tree pruning information see IFAS Recommendatons and Save Our State Tree
Well said! I don't understand the typical "tree professionals" who are overly enthusiastic when trimming palm trees.
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