Pruning a palm like a tree is doomed to failure. This guide explains why this is the case and when you should still use scissors.

Yellow or brown leaves are cut off cleanly

Cutting palm tops is taboo

It is characteristic of all real palm trees that they can grow from a single vegetation point - the so-called plant heart. The vital core resides within the palm top and controls the growth of the evergreen crown. If you use the scissors in this area, you will inevitably hunt down the palm tree.

In contrast to the trees we are familiar with, palm plants do not have dormant eyes from which they sprout again after pruning and branch out happily. The classic form and maintenance pruning to promote growth and branching is therefore counterproductive for a palm tree. Only growth problems on the magnificent leaves can make a cut useful.

Precisely cut off the brown tips of the leaves

The most common reason for pruning palm trees is dried-up, brown leaf tips. Drought stress or low humidity cause the widespread problem. Once the tips of a frond are affected, there is no prospect of regeneration. This is how affected palm leaves shine in their old glory:

  • Best Cutting Tool: Household or pruning shears with two sharp, straight blades (bypass scissors)
  • Cut off the brown tips of the leaves
  • Important: do not cut into the green plant tissue

Cut dried tips off palm fronds to within a millimeter of green leaf tissue. Otherwise, the leaf will continue to dry out and the pruning will become a "bottomless pit". From now on, we recommend spraying the fronds of your palm tree with soft water every two to three days.

Planned removal of dried palm fronds

Evergreen palm fronds have not leased eternal life. As long as the heart of the plant remains undamaged, a continuous exchange of leaves takes place. This process can be recognized by the fact that the lower fronds retract and dry up when fresh leaves sprout at the top of the crown. At the right time you can cut off a dried palm frond. That is how it goes:

  • Wait until a palm leaf has completely died and dried up
  • Cut off at the base with scissors or a knife
  • Use a folding saw (€17.70) with Japanese teeth for leaf stems with a diameter of 3 cm or more
  • Thoroughly clean and disinfect the cutting tool
  • Important: leave a small piece of the petiole

The typical, rough trunk of a palm tree results from the remains of dried leaf stalks. A short frond should remain on the trunk, and not just for visual reasons. This incision also prevents the trunk bark from being injured. Palm trees do not have a cambium, which forms wound wood when the bark is damaged.

tips

The yucca palm is in a different league when it comes to pruning, because it is not a real palm tree. As an agave plant, the popular houseplant tolerates any pruning good-naturedly. If a yucca grows too much for you or annoys you with overly long octopus shoots, simply cut off the annoying branches. The palm lily reliably sprout again from sleeping eyes.

Category:

Trees