Queen Palm Roots

[NewQueenPalmOwner]

Just purchased a home that has multiple queen palms behind a pool. The trees are well established (15-20 yrs) and appear to be healthy. 
 

the tree roots are pretty much everywhere between the trees and are just below the ground level( right below the rocks that are used as ground cover). 
 

we would like to grind down/remove some of the roots to create 6-9 inches of plantable soil for succulents/drought resistant items between the trees to get some character/plants cape instead of just rocks. 
 

With the ground mostly root-bound, would the trees be harmed by removing some of the roots.  The plan is to stay more than a foot or more away from the trunks.  Or, would removing these roots be too much of a harm to these trees??
 

 

[PalmatierMeg]

I don’t recommend it. Palms are root sensitive and hate having their root systems cut, broken, hacked of otherwise messed with. They are not woody trees but are  related to grasses. They cannot heal from damage done to them and very likely will die.

They are queens and old ones at that. They are common as dirt and almost as cheap. You have much better palm candidates available where you live. I suggest you take the money you’d blow hacking up the roots, remove the queens, then re-landscape 

[Harry’s Palms]

Wow , someone really over trimmed those . I understand because Syagrus Romanzoffiana are quit messy when they flower . The roots can be hacked out for additional planting of other plants but remember , palms , especially these love lots of water , so plant other plants that can benefit . Harry

[PalmsInBaltimore]

my concern would be the trees falling because they have a shallow, wide root system that anchors them. they don't have taproots that can help hold them up like trees of a similar size (and weight) would. and the insidious part would be that cutting the anchoring roots might not immediately result in the tree falling over, but what about in one year, two years, 10 years? Way above my level of expertise, but seems very risky to just cut vital roots

[Harry’s Palms]

I probably should add that taking a section of roots certainly won’t hurt . Just enough to allow for other plants. About five years ago I cut a pathway down the side of my house. I literally had to use a power saw to cut the roots on my very large Queens and two King palms. I was very concerned about the Archontophoenix because their roots are more sensitive the Syagrus R. It never even set them back at all. Harry

[Patrick]

Perhaps the area can be built up with rock of some sort as a border and filled with topsoil to make a raised bed of sorts?

[sonoranfans]

You might be able to trim roots out but the idea of putting drought resistant plants and succulents near queen palms seems a poor companion plant match.  Queen palms are water lovers, succulents are not.   I would either get rid of the queens as they are already stressed by being way over trimmed, so another stress from the root removal could be the coup de gras.  Alternately, you could grow the dry adaptable plants in containers or raised beds and try to water and feed the queens separately for recovery.  IF you want drought tolerance plants, they are best near drought tolerant palms. 

[Jim in Los Altos]

What I noticed before anything was the butchering of those poor palms. Green fronds should never be pruned off of any palm species unless absolutely necessary. Those green fronds are feeding the rest of the palm through photosynthesis. Don’t ever let your tree guys do that again. Besides that, it just looks horrible. 

[Patrick]

20 minutes ago, Jim in Los Altos said:

What I noticed before anything was the butchering of those poor palms. Green fronds should never be pruned off of any palm species unless absolutely necessary. Those green fronds are feeding the rest of the palm through photosynthesis. Don’t ever let your tree guys do that again. Besides that, it just looks horrible. 

My neighbor actually has some queens, and one in particular is dead now because of the pruning. They trimmed the boots and leaves so short that the remaining plume coming out of the top actually broke off in the wind. Dead palm. 

 

Only cut the brown stuff.

[Jonathan]

A bit of uncharacteristic negativity from the crew here...must have been a bad moon!

I reckon you can have your cake and eat it too.

Firstly, the palms will be fine, Syagrus are tough as nails, probably don't prune them again, as the tribe mentioned above, they look nice with a big full crown.

No need to dig any soil or roots out though. Building a small wall, as @Patrick mentioned is a sensible solution,  and much less work, would only need to be a foot high! If the top level was similar to the deck on the left, it would look pretty cool, stone or old timber to match the fence.

Fill the new bed with sharp draining soil mix and plant heaps of bromeliads, and similar hardy epiphytes, maybe some smaller cordylines, Dendrobium speciosum would grow well there, mounted on a rock, etc. Put some trellis wires on the fence and grow some hardy climbers at the back of the bed, Epidendrums, Hibbertia scandens. Attach some Tillandsias and Platycerium to the fence. I reckon you could even get some small palms going in there with enough water, try groups of Chamaedorea plumosa, C radicalis, very tough plants. You could rig up some temporary shade cloth or similar while the understory is getting established in your hot summer climate, maybe.

Water the hell out it all, and the palms would love it, so would the other plants, just keep the drainage sharp - you could probably even leave the rock mulch and put new soil over. 

There you go, easy. Go crazy with it and enjoy!

[Harry’s Palms]

@Jonathan Bravo ! I like the way you think! Harry

[NewQueenPalmOwner]

On 7/7/2024 at 3:21 PM, Jonathan said:

A bit of uncharacteristic negativity from the crew here...must have been a bad moon!

I reckon you can have your cake and eat it too.

Firstly, the palms will be fine, Syagrus are tough as nails, probably don't prune them again, as the tribe mentioned above, they look nice with a big full crown.

No need to dig any soil or roots out though. Building a small wall, as @Patrick mentioned is a sensible solution,  and much less work, would only need to be a foot high! If the top level was similar to the deck on the left, it would look pretty cool, stone or old timber to match the fence.

Fill the new bed with sharp draining soil mix and plant heaps of bromeliads, and similar hardy epiphytes, maybe some smaller cordylines, Dendrobium speciosum would grow well there, mounted on a rock, etc. Put some trellis wires on the fence and grow some hardy climbers at the back of the bed, Epidendrums, Hibbertia scandens. Attach some Tillandsias and Platycerium to the fence. I reckon you could even get some small palms going in there with enough water, try groups of Chamaedorea plumosa, C radicalis, very tough plants. You could rig up some temporary shade cloth or similar while the understory is getting established in your hot summer climate, maybe.

Water the hell out it all, and the palms would love it, so would the other plants, just keep the drainage sharp - you could probably even leave the rock mulch and put new soil over. 

There you go, easy. Go crazy with it and enjoy!

Thanks for the reply. I will review the plant suggestions and I assure you I won’t be trimming the trees that much. I bought the house that way. 
 

We have considered a wall and may do that as part of a pool remodel.  
 

I appreciate your reply! 

[miamicuse]

A few years back I also dig a "figure 8" shaped planting border around two mature queen palms, I used old reclaimed chicago bricks and had to mortar in the bricks stacked 4 high where 2 bricks below grade and 2 above.  I probably dug down about 6" around both queen palms at a radius of 20" or so.  I did cut some of the roots, and both palms were fine.  I was not so worried about the roots being cut as I was with a ring of very alkaline mortar being applied around them.