Harden the heart & sharpen the chain saw

[DoomsDave]

I finally did it. I took down my other Caryota gigas aka obtusa.

It was magnificent, with a lacy crown about 30 feet (10 M) tall, about 20 feet (7 M) across the crown and approaching 3 feet (1 M) across the base of the trunk. Its shade was welcome shelter from the blistering sun, and you could see it a block away.

But that visual glory would bear an eventual practical price tag for someone someday. Eventually it would seed and become a towering dead hulk ready to fall over in the first big wind when, pre-seeding, its roots would lose ability to anchor it. Finally it would die, and become a rock-hard eyesore tree removers hate, to charge a grumpy price on an even more grumpy wallet.

[JubaeaMan138]

 loved that tree always looked so good . Did you cut out the big jub yet?

[DoomsDave]

Some of you might recall my Bismarckia wanted thread, in which I sought a big bizzie to take BAG’s* place. 

I thought about killing it and leaving it standing till BAB** grew up enough to take BAG’s place. Aside from being kinda creepy, the late Ralph Velez advised that the dead wood was hard while, growing and alive, it was relatively soft and easy to cut. And BAB would get really B I G really soon and get very much in the W A Y.

* Big Assed Gigas

** Big Assed Bizzie 

 

[DoomsDave]

6 minutes ago, JubaeaMan138 said:

 loved that tree always looked so good . Did you cut out the big jub yet?

No, that’s next. To be followed by a seeding Caryota urens, then three more.

Getting my chainsawsmanship game on!

Yeah, loved it too! So did my back-fence neighbor, a retired auto exec, native to the Philippines. “Oh, you cut down that beautiful palm tree?” I nodded and he said , “so nice to see from my back yard!” I told him about the seed-and-death problem, then said I’d be happy to get him one for his yard. 

[kinzyjr]

@DoomsDave is certainly not shy about doing a garden edit

[DoomsDave]

3 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

@DoomsDave is certainly not shy about doing a garden edit

Edito ergo sum!

I edit, so I am!

(Ergo, the more I edit the more am, I am? )

My newest maxim of palm growing is that a big edit today can avoid a huge, or gargantuan, edit tomorrow.

[Tracy]

38 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

Eventually it would seed and become a towering dead hulk ready to fall over in the first big wind when, pre-seeding, its roots would lose ability to anchor it. Finally it would die, and become a rock-hard eyesore tree removers hate, to charge a grumpy price on an even more grumpy wallet.

Since I have one on a slope in my Carlsbad yard that's getting really big now, I'm starting to think about the removal timing and logistics.  I notice you say "pre-seeding, it's roots would lose ability to anchor it".  I guess  I always assumed I could wait until it starts to seed, then do it.  I've forgotten what year I planted it, but early to mid 00's (2002 to 2004?) and it was a good size 15 gallon at the time.  So how old was yours Dave?  I guess given your post, I know what your advice to me will be on the timing of my removal.  Oh, and the other end of the backyard is already anchored by a BAB (aka Big A$$ Bismarkia), so when I'll have to make a decision on how to create shade when the BAG is gone.

[DoomsDave]

@Tracy that stuff about the contracting roots is a casual observation on my part. A number of people over the years have cried in their beer and other beverages because a fully grown Caryota just keeled over unexpectedly. One guy had one across his driveway; another had a Big Ass Caryota urens land on his house. Other people, confronted with hassle and expense of immediate removal, left los borrachos, alone, after which they flowered. 

[DoomsDave]

22 minutes ago, Tracy said:

Since I have one on a slope in my Carlsbad yard that's getting really big now, I'm starting to think about the removal timing and logistics.  I notice you say "pre-seeding, it's roots would lose ability to anchor it".  I guess  I always assumed I could wait until it starts to seed, then do it.  I've forgotten what year I planted it, but early to mid 00's (2002 to 2004?) and it was a good size 15 gallon at the time.  So how old was yours Dave?  I guess given your post, I know what your advice to me will be on the timing of my removal.  Oh, and the other end of the backyard is already anchored by a BAB (aka Big A$$ Bismarkia), so when I'll have to make a decision on how to create shade when the BAG is gone.

Timing for maturity depends on species. Urens matures in about 10 - 12 years. So does (much smaller) ochlandra. I know this from experience with plants of my own.

Gigas aka obtusa supposedly takes 30 years, but I think it’s a lot less, according to @Phil, whose greater experience I trust.

My gigas was about 8 or 9 years from a fifteener, nowhere near flowering from what I could tell.

[Palm Tree Jim]

Welcome to the club DD!

As you know, I have been removing my caryota’s as they start to seed.  

And I still have 3 left to go, including another gigas.

Love the species, just not the removal.

[DoomsDave]

5 minutes ago, Palm Tree Jim said:

Welcome to the club DD!

As you know, I have been removing my caryota’s as they start to seed.  

And I still have 3 left to go, including another gigas.

Love the species, just not the removal.

As Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong used to say: “I can dig that, man!”

My neighbor wisely declined my offer to get some for his own yard ....

[Brett in Mission Viejo]

I am next in the club! I am removing my Gigas in October. The seed rainstorm has been non stop for months now and that is just the first seed pod!! Three inches of Gigas seed mulch. I guess I will be picking Gigas seedlings for a while. The seeds are very strange looking.

[aztropic]

Sometimes, it just has to be done.I've removed several large palms/trees from my 2 properties,usually after I can't reach to trim anymore with a 16 ft ladder.Queens,filifera's,a pecan,bottle trees;out with the old,in with the new.Certified medjool date is next on the list for spring.Like everything else in life,younger is usually prettier.As soon as this queen trunk breaks down enough,a Cuban collected Copernicia yarey will be taking the spot.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[DoomsDave]

20 minutes ago, aztropic said:

Sometimes, it just has to be done.I've removed several large palms/trees from my 2 properties,usually after I can't reach to trim anymore with a 16 ft ladder.Queens,filifera's,a pecan,bottle trees;out with the old,in with the new.Certified medjool date is next on the list for spring.Like everything else in life,younger is usually prettier.As soon as this queen trunk breaks down enough,a Cuban collected Copernicia yarey will be taking the spot.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

Time was, I’d have called you nutty. No more.

Show us your Copie!

Edited August 26, 2018 by DoomsDave
Mommy made me.

[aztropic]

It's only 4 years old from seed I collected in Cuba.Not as fast as bailey or gigas,which I am also growing from seed,but ultimately won't get as large either.(think of yarey as a petite hospita)

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

Edited August 26, 2018 by aztropic

[DoomsDave]

4 minutes ago, aztropic said:

It's only 4 years old from seed I collected in Cuba.Not as fast as bailey or gigas,which I am also growing from seed,but ultimately won't get as large either.

I

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

Such a cute little baby!

[Manalto]

Speaking as someone who has just removed several large trees from a property that had been neglected for years - if not decades - you won't miss them, at least not for long. The newly-created open-ground opportunities are way too enticing to waste time lamenting the loss of a tree that was a light/space hog or a potential hazard. What you will miss is the privacy but, as any horticulturist knows, that's just temporary.

Edited August 26, 2018 by Manalto

[Tracy]

2 hours ago, Brett in Mission Viejo said:

I am next in the club! I am removing my Gigas in October. The seed rainstorm has been non stop for months now and that is just the first seed pod!!

How old is this one Brett?

 

2 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

Gigas aka obtusa supposedly takes 30 years, but I think it’s a lot less, according to @Phil, whose greater experience I trust.

The one I'm referring to is a C gigas and appropriate for your reference it was bought from Phil.

[Brett in Mission Viejo]

My Gigas was planted as a fifteen gallon in 2001. I have noted in So Cal they usually seed after 15-20 years if not stressed into seeding early.

[PalmatierMeg]

Dave, think of all the cool new stuff you can plant as a reward for your efforts.

[Tyrone]

I wish I had your sort of problems Dave. Here I'd just let it fall over and plant orchids in its rotting trunk for that authentic rainforest look.

[DoomsDave]

Will the wood burn well?

Time will tell.

 

Edited August 26, 2018 by DoomsDave
Mommy made me

[DoomsDave]

[DoomsDave]

Heart of Caryota, anyone?

[Manalto]

Caryota shmaryota - I'm swooning over the red high-tops!

Edited August 27, 2018 by Manalto

[greysrigging]

I had a Caryota Urens about the same size as your Gigas that decided to fall down all on its own during Cyclonic winds ( and 40" of rain in 7 days ) in Feb 2011. When I planted it 22 years earlier as a store bought $5 baby, in my ignorance I had no idea how big or how fast it would grow, nor its terminal flowering/seeding lifespan. I planted it very close to the veranda concrete slab and in shade for 6 months of the year so it sorta grew at near 45* looking for sunlight. Suffice to say it wasn't my most memorable planting site. Took out a bird cage ( and traumatized the resident Rainbow Lorikeet parrot ) and part of the clothes line when it came down. Lots of trailer loads to the dump too. So now I have the same dilemma with a giant Arenga ( sugar palm ) that has reached terminal inflorenscence ( and planted in a similar ridiculous location near my house ( sigh ).

[Moose]

Just removed my last Caryota that was seeding last week. I had 5 planted. Do not lament the experience but will not be planting anymore. Getting older and don't need the aggravation of their removal 12 - 15 years down the road. A closed chapter.