Palm Care Advice

[cwd388]

Hello Palm Enthusiasts,

I am a recent transplant to Florida from Michigan.  Obviously in the Midwest we don't have palms, so I am a little perplexed about some of the nuances of caring for palms.  Specifically, I have three of the palms in the attached pictures growing right near the front entrance to my house, and there are what I can best describe as "ferns" growing uncontrolled from the base/roots of the palms.  These "ferns" drastically impede the front entrance and create a very unsightly, overgrown appearance at the front of my house.  I don't know if these "ferns" are a part of the palm tree or a different plant entirely, and I want to know what my options are for trimming/removing the "ferns."  I obviously don't want to harm the palm tree by removing them (although removing them entirely would be my preferred approach); I have snooped around a bit and noticed that there appear to be the same type of palm trees growing around the neighborhood without the "ferns," so I assume they are not an integral part of the palm.

I would appreciate any help regarding whether or not I can remove the "ferns" from all of the experts here at PalmTalk!  Thank you in advance for any help.

- Chad Dunham

[Jim in Los Altos]

Chad, those are not ferns but are palms. They look like Dypsis lutesens to me but may be a different species. You can remove them if they bother you but, from the photo you provided, they look nice enough and I don't see them impeding. Perhaps a different camera angle would tell a different story.

[PalmatierMeg]

Definitely Dypsis lutescens, a species of clustering palm. You can thin out a lot of the stems so growth is directed toward several of the strongest. If you don't want it at all, you can dig up the whole clump. If you don't get it all, more small stems will sprout. In Cali, this palm is quite desirable but difficult to grow. In FL, many people consider it a weed. When you buy it at garden centers, you get a pot jammed with many little palms struggling to survive. I grew my own from seeds, then planted each palm separately. I still have to trim small sprouts from clumps several times a year to keep them looking good (partial shade too). This palm can be quite attractive -  colors of gold, lime green, mint green with hints of red - if kept in check. Your clump looks a bit crowded, so you might consider removing it to clean up your garden. You may be able to salvage part of it to plant elsewhere.

[topwater]

Wow, I've never seen the root initiation zone climb so high on lutes, but then again, I don't see nearly as many as y'all do.  Welcome to Palm Talk Chad, you came to the right place for info. 

[Alicehunter2000]

Try not to damage the larger palms roots when removing the smaller Dypsis palms.