Caring for Landscape Palms

Making sure you select the right palm for the right location is the first step in growing a healthy palm tree.  You need to know how tall your palm tree will grow.  Many times palms are planted too close to buildings.  When they are planted too close to buildings they create a bridge for roof rats, ants and numerous other unwanted pests.  Properly fertilizing your palm is one of the  easiest and most important things you can do to ensure your palms health.  Many of the soils in Brevard County Fl are very sandy and poor in nutrients, making palms susceptible to serious nutritional problems and diseases.  The best fertilizer ratio is 8-2-12-4%Mg.  Palms should be fertilized every 3 months at a rate of 1.5lbs of 8-2-12-4%Mg per 100sq ft of palm canopy.  Improper palm pruning can compromise a palms health.  It is important to never over prune your palm tree.  Palms differ from woody trees in the way they store niutrients.  Woody trees store extra nutrients in their trunks whereas palms store their nutrients in their older green fronds.  Pruning these older green fronds may result in serious damage to your palm.  Pruning your palms green fronds exposes the heart or bud of the palm to the weather and may make it susciptable to cold, winds and even too much sun.  Remoning too many fronds may also result in "pencilointing" or a narriowing of the  trunk making the palm prone to snapping at the weak point as it grows taller.  Dead or brown fronds may be removed throughout the year.  When removing the fronds make sure you cut it off close to base of the petiole.

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