Palm tree frond cut...are my trees now doomed!?

[CJoz]

Greetings all!  I was wondering about  trimming of palm fronds.  I am new to Florida and did not do the necessary research before trimming my palm.  We have two palms outside of our front windows. One was touching the house so I cut about 2 ft off of the frond. Well, my northern brain said "make it all look the same."  So I went ahead and evened out 3 additional fronds on that tree and then 3 on the palm next to it. They were still above the 9-3 line I keep reading about. I am now very worried that I have effectively sentenced the palm to death, which is what any google response tells you.  I did not cut at the trunk but basically cut the branch (frond) in half). Hope I haven't ruined them for good. These palm fronds have skinny leaves basically starting a foot off of the trunk of the tree and run the length of the frond.  Thank you for any input!

Edited October 28, 2022 by CJoz

[Fusca]

23 minutes ago, CJoz said:

Greetings all!  I was wondering about  trimming of palm fronds.  I am new to Florida and did not do the necessary research before trimming my palm.  We have two palms outside of our front windows. One was touching the house so I cut about 2 ft off of the frond. Well, my northern brain said "make it all look the same."  So I went ahead and evened out 3 additional fronds on that tree and then 3 on the palm next to it. They were still above the 9-3 line I keep reading about. I am now very worried that I have effectively sentenced the palm to death, which is what any google response tells you.  I did not cut at the trunk but basically cut the branch (frond) in half). Hope I haven't ruined them for good. These palm fronds have skinny leaves basically starting a foot off of the trunk of the tree and run the length of the frond.  Thank you for any input!

Photos would definitely help, but I can say that you shouldn't trim off any palm fronds while they are still green.  Palms generate new growth in the center and the older fronds farthest away from the center will naturally turn brown and die off so it doesn't hurt anything to cut off dead fronds.  It sounds like you just trimmed it like an oak tree!  We can give a better response with photos.

[CJoz]

Trimmed like an oak sounds accurate. Here are some pics. Just hoping I haven't effectively sent the to their graves. 

 

Edited October 28, 2022 by CJoz

[Fusca]

23 minutes ago, CJoz said:

Trimmed like an oak sounds accurate. Here are some pics. Just hoping I haven't effectively sent the to their graves.

Those are queen palms (Syagrus romanzoffiana) and they should be fine but perhaps set back some.  If you provide them with a lot of water and fertilize them 3-4 times a year (depending on where you are in FL) with a palm-specific fertilizer containing micronutrients (like Florikan) they should grow out of it fairly quickly.  Hopefully you didn't trim the center spear.  Fronds touching the house won't hurt so no need to trim them like that again.    Welcome to Palmtalk!

[CJoz]

Thanks Fusca! I definitely didn't get the center spear. Just like a bonehead some of the outer fronds.  I am glad to hear that they should be fine!  I am usually great with landscaping, trees, etc. but in a rush before work, trimmed it up and then started thinking, "Maybe that wasn't a good idea."  Live and learn! Hands off from now on! Thanks again.

[UK_Palms]

They look good and healthy, just a bit over-trimmed. Trust me, we have all seen way worse cases of over-trimming than this. Most palms will recover from having every frond trimmed off, or killed back from cold, as long as the central growing point is alive and intact. So yeah, don’t worry too much.

[Merlyn]

52 minutes ago, CJoz said:

Thanks Fusca! I definitely didn't get the center spear. Just like a bonehead some of the outer fronds.  I am glad to hear that they should be fine!  I am usually great with landscaping, trees, etc. but in a rush before work, trimmed it up and then started thinking, "Maybe that wasn't a good idea."  Live and learn! Hands off from now on! Thanks again.

I intentionally planted several Queen palms very close to the house, with the intent that they'll provide some canopy and shade when they get up over the roofline.  I knew that I'd have to cut off some fronds early, since they'd rip up the siding, soffit and roof until they got tall enough.  I lop off any frond that risks damaging the house, but leave all the others alone.  I missed chopping the end of one off, and during a random heavy thunderstorm it knocked all the aluminum soffit vents off the side.  A different frond ripped up a couple of shingles at the edge.  So there's no real problem cutting one off that's aiming towards a window or that soffit. 

Cutting any fresh tissue is always a risk for fungal or bacterial infection, but I'm not sure if anyone can really quantify that risk.  Does it increase the risk of infection by 1%?  Or 50%?  Dunno...

As Fusca said, give it some fertilizer (similar formulation to Florikan or PalmGain) that is a "palm special" type with slow release nitrogen and the extra micronutrient mix that palms need.  1-2 handfuls should be ok for those palms, sprinkled evenly and not just chucked at the trunk base.

[Billeb]

They will be ok. We have Queens planted in the parkways in our neighborhood and when the city comes to cut them, they intentionally over-prune so they don’t have to come back as often. I’ve seen them go from holding 10 fronds to 3 and they come back more pissed off. 
 

-dale

[D Palm]

I have trimmed the tattered or damaged half of a frond off on a queen. They will be ok.

They could use fertilizer now. Granular’s are fine. If you really want them to pop, Get a cheap spray bottle + a bit of palm foliar spray on the fronds at sunset. You can use citrus foilage spray if you can’t find the palm.