Golden Cane Palms?

[Reg]

Hi again,

I live in a caravan park, I think some may call it a trailer park.

The site I am on is surrounded by what I think are golden cane palms.

I read a thread on here about someone who was trimming their palms continually being attacked by the fronds.

I was talking to the park gardener and I pointed out that there were a lot of suckers that could be removed an grown elsewhere. He objected on the grounds that he already had enough work to do with all the palms that are already growing in the park and he didn't want any more to have to look after. I didn't get a shot of the palm and suckers Before I started on them but this shot was taken after I gave them a hair cut with a pair of hand cutters. I had started to dig around the suckers to help get rid of them.

I used a crowbar and drove it behind the suckers on the main trunks to cut them off and make them easier to remove. In this shot I have removed all the suckers and they won't continue to regrow and spread.

I thought I had a shot of the other side of the group after I removed the suckers.

If you look beyond the palms I was working on the first image above you can see a much larger and more dense clump of the palms in the garden beside my van. That clump was completely over growing the garden an I thought it would provide a good hiding space for visiting snakes so I asked the gardener about pruning the suckers. He said it was only about a year since he had cut them back and he volunteered to cut them back again.

I was helping him cut them back with my hand cutter and was nearing the end of what could be handled with hand cutters and a little hand saw when I bumped my hand on one of the cut stubs. I pulled my hand back and had a look to see I had cut it or not. I hadn't but my neighbour piped up and informed me that I should be wearing gloves. And told the gardener that he should be wearing them too. She told him that he should know better because he had had to be taken to hospital about a year before because he had been pruning another clump of palms and he had been bitten on the hand by an eastern or common brown snake. This snake is responsible for the most death from snake bite in Australia.

Yes we do have Taipans that have a more poisonous bite but more survive because they only strike once and basically to chase an attacker away. The common or eastern Brown strikes repeatedly and injects more venom. Because of the higher volume of venom injected there are more deaths. This snake is also known as red bellied black or the yellow bellied black snake. Anyway by that time we were left with a clump of larger suckers and the gardener decided it was time to bring out big guns and went an got a chain saw to finish off the job. I kept cutting what I could while he was away but I was very alert to the possibility of a snake strike by then.

Here is a shot of the clump after it's hair cut. Some of the suckers are growing back again already.

This shot shows the palms and garden after opening the garden to the light and air again. Must have been thinking to make the trunks larger by blurring the shot. Oops.

And on the other side of the van?

[Walter John]

Hi Reg, I've done something similar in Dypsis lutescens pruning, it needs to be done every couple of years, and it does look better. By the way, the Eastern Brown (Pseudonaja textilis) is not the Red Bellied black snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus), two completely different snakes.

[Daryl]

I agree, best to remove excessive suckers on Golden Canes. If you are doing it with a crow bar, I reckon any snakes would clear out pretty fast!

Daryl

[Reg]

Hi _Wal,

Thanks for the correction on the snakes.
When I lost my wife I stored all my reference books at my daughter's.

When she died I was living in the caravan and I didn't have anywhere else to store my
reference book collection. so I gave all my books away.

[doranakandawatta]

Hello Reg,

Welcome in Palmtalk !

I wish you'll find here friendly atmosphere which help everyone to enjoy the life, sharing humor and passion for palms.

Take care with the snakes and enjoy lovely cane palms. Sure you'll find other species soon!

Best regards

Philippe

[Reg]

Hi Philippe,

Thanks for the welcome.

I don't think I want to meet any snakes while I'm in the garden.