Canary Island Palm in San Diego, CA

[TStorm]

Hello all, I need expert help. I've lived in my home for 35 years with a beautiful Canary Island Palm tree behind my pool. This is by far my favorite tree even though it has cost me many $$$ to have it trimmed each year. This year, I was told by a tree trimmer it has a beetle, there's nothing I can do and it will die in 6 months. This causes me great distress. My questions are:

1. Can you tell from photo if this tree is indeed doomed?

2. How does one know it has a beetle?

3. If it does die, should I keep the trunk and have it painted or sculpted (not sure this tyoe can be sculpted)?

4. If recommended to take out, can I have entire tree taken out, with roots included and not risk damage to surrounding structure (pool waterfall).

Any and all advise welcomed!

Blessings to all!

[Xerarch]

Welcome to the forum! And I’m very sorry for your loss, when I just saw the thumbnail before I even knew what the thread was about I was hoping you were aware that that nice CIDP was goner and we weren’t going to have to break the news to you. It’s surely a nice specimen. I don’t have the answers to all your questions but yes, I don’t there is a beetle over there in California and elsewhere wreaking havoc on the old Canary Island Date Palms and others. When that crown starts to fall like that and isn’t being replaced with new fronds I’m pretty sure it’s too late. The California guys can probably give you a better analysis. 
 

You can recognize the beetle issue by how the palm is behaving now but if you wanted to verify beetle vs some other pest or disease, the beetle larvae that’s been eating around in there will leave an exit hole somewhere up there in the crown. The Giant Palm Borer is one that been problematic, I think there are others too that others might know more about. 

[Silas_Sancona]

Yep, -sigh-  Unfortunately,  that is a classic sign of SAPW ( South American Palm Weevil ) infestation.

At that stage, your Canary is likely on it's way out..  Bummer. 

[Jegs]

The South American Palm Weevil is wreaking havoc in California right now. 
I’ve been reading a some news articles about  the SAPW killing mature palms and the local counties can’t afford to replace mature canary island date palms for 20k a pop. 
At least that is what one article said.

[aztropic]

The trunk wood will make a good tiki or totem pole that will last several years minimum. Old diamond cut boots will still need to be cut back to the wood of the tree before carving. Also,be sure to cap the current water supply to the tree to keep the base from decaying prematurely.👍 

 

aztropic 

Mesa, Arizona 

[Merlyn]

@TStorm it looks like there are no new spears growing out of the crown.  If that's true then the weevils have eaten the heart of the palm and it's dead.  In this closeup it looks like the new spears are brown and fallen over to the right side:

As far as what to do with it, if you are crafty a giant tiki would be really impressive!  Looking at the hills in the background it seems that you are in a fairly dry area.  A palm trunk carved and sealed into a tiki would probably last a decade or more.  I saw a recent thread here on it:

It's not a good idea to carve on a live palm, but if it does die you could have the top lopped off and make something really awesome out of the trunk!

[iko.]

3 hours ago, TStorm said:

1. Can you tell from photo if this tree is indeed doomed?

2. How does one know it has a beetle?

3. If it does die, should I keep the trunk and have it painted or sculpted (not sure this tyoe can be sculpted)?

4. If recommended to take out, can I have entire tree taken out, with roots included and not risk damage to surrounding structure (pool waterfall).

In Spain, I have seen many Phoenix canariensis in a much worse condition than yours attacked by the red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus), which looks very much like its South American counterpart, and they have been saved with the right professional treatment. 

If the palm dies, I would take down the plant with as much root as possible. You can always replace it with a self-cleaning palm. Think this as an investment for all those $$$ you'll save not trimming more fronds. To me, paint or sculpt the trunk sounds more an epitome to tackiness. 

I have heard/read before that well trimmed palms are a magnet for these bugs. Not sure how much true is on that but I wouldn't be surprised. 

Whatever you decide, I'm sorry for what has happened to your favourite tree.