pruning phoenix canariensis????

[Glawyer]

I have a few Canary Island Date palms on my property which are just coming out of the ground. No real trunk yet, just a big 'pineapple'. My gardener says that trimming a few leaves will make them grow faster. I don't believe him, but ... the garden is in the Canaries, and he is a native, so has (potentially) a lot of experience with them.

Can anyone here confirm if removing the lower leaves makes a CIDP grow faster? I didn't mention that it was planted just a little closer to the footpath than if I had planned this garden.

 

[Fusca]

Ha ha!  It might seem that way - once they get to about that size they do start growing faster, but it has nothing to do with trimming.    Looks nice!  Welcome to Palmtalk.

Jon

[Jim in Los Altos]

As a rule of thumb, green healthy fronds should not be removed from any palm. They are serving an important purpose. Some palms that hold lots of leaves will tolerate some green leaf removal but it’s never a good idea. 

[SEPalm]

Removing leaves will likely cause the palm to produce more but smaller new leaves if you really over trim. You can also increase any nutritional deficiency by removing older leaves before the palm has a chance to recycle them back into the trunk. Sometimes you have to trim because of a walkway etc just fertilize well and don’t make it a habit of trimming unless necessary. For maximum growth and health of the palm “unless it’s brown don’t cut it down”

[Glawyer]

Thank you everyone. As I said, I'm against the pruning. But I have been wrong once or twice in the past about plants, and wanted to double checked.

[96720]

100% agree with @Jim in Los Altos don’t trim fronds unless they are dead