Saturday, January 27, 2018

Palm Tree Freeze Damage

Palms are very popular in our area. With temperatures in lower teens on several occasions in Louisiana, palms have been damaged, and a good number have been killed.

The species of palms you have in your landscape and the condition before cold weather set in will determine how much your palms may be damaged. Queen, Sabal, Canary Island, Sylvester, Mediterranean fan, and cabbage palms, Robolini , as well as other species are showing signs of severe cold damage. Even more cold hardy palms, such as Windmills and Sago have damage.

Palms have a central growing point (bud or heart) at the top of plant where the fronds emerge. If a portion of a frond is still green, leave it on the plant. Try to keep fronds on plant as long as possible. It takes palms a considerable amount of time to produce new foliage after old foliage is damaged.

We need to be extremely patient with damaged palms. Palms usually start their seasons growth long after other shrubs and trees start their spring flushes.

A sign that a palm is dead is when the spear leaf in the center of a palm canopy can be pulled out of the bud. If palms do start regrowth by early summer, it is possible the new, emerging fronds will be misshapen.

If you decide to replace your cold-damaged palms this year, plan to plant them in early summer. Ideally, palms should be planted at the hotter times of the year. Root growth on palms is different
than other landscape plants. Root growth for palms is best June, July, and August-when many other plants are not growing new roots. Palms also benefit from annual fertilization in early summer.

Feel free to give me a call if you have any further questions

Mario
(504)415-1438
Clean Cut Landscape
www.clncutlandscape.com
mario@clncutlandscape.com



Palm Tree Freeze Damage

Palms are very popular in our area. With temperatures in lower teens on several occasions in Louisiana, palms have been damaged, and a good ...