# Almost had Coronary over Pruning of Phoenix canariensis. Please HEEEEELP



## babalina (Sep 14, 2011)

I had two Phoenix canariensis. that were lovely canopy shading my commercial cattery. I asked a tree pruner ("I have 30 years experience") to come in and to take off the fronds that were hitting the cattery ceiling. Before the extreme "pruning" they had an umbrella like canopy... I went outside and I almost had a heart attack. The guy (I'm in new zealand), chained saw ALL the fronds off ..ALL OF THEM, and just left the ones on top to look like a pineapple. These fronds were shading my cattery. Someone please PLEASE tell me why this guy would have done this? They look AWFUL stupid ...all the beauty of the draping fronds are gone. Please someone help, I am besides myself. I am in New Zealand.


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## beastmaster (Sep 19, 2011)

Well the good news is they should grow back over a few seasons. That is assuming this knocklehead didn't interduce some disease to your palm. Normally only the lower ring of fronds are removed and then only those that are dead or turning yellow. Its common to remove old seed pods sometimes too to give them a cleaner look. Your palm if it survives the stress of the first 6 months or so should be OK. Beastmaster


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## beastmaster (Sep 19, 2011)

Del_Corbin said:


> It does do long term damage to the palm. The palm trunk will now always be of lesser diameter where the live fronds were removed before being naturally shed(dying).


 
That is true to a degree,but for many years that is how date palms were trimmed before transplanting in the mistaking notion it would slow down transpiration and increasing survival. Many landscaping companys out here in So. Calif. still remove all but a few fronds and then tie them in a bundle sticking straight up. This does cause long term damage, but most survive.


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