Palm Trees

[Laker14]

Palm trees are lovely.

do they require a lot of maintenance?

[larbud]

Palm trees are lovely.

do they require a lot of maintenance?

Yes and they are roach and carpenter ant factories.

[Two Bills]

Yes and they are roach and carpenter ant factories.

................don't even mention the rats!

[TNLAKEPANDA]

Yes but if you keep them properly trimmed from bottom to top you will not have any rat or roach issues at all. Just maintain them like you have to do with all plants in Florida

[JDRVKR]

Many palms require continual maintenance and the seed pods in Queen palms are a real pain to keep up with.

[JohnN]

Depends what kind of palm tree you'd like. Queen palms and sylvesters, yes they require seed pod trimming and queens are frost susceptible.

A windmill palm is a fabulous little palm tree, almost zero maintenance but they grow slowly and don't get tall. Ours is about 5' tall and is 8 years old. It's quite a pretty palm.

We also have a lot of sable palms, the state tree of Florida and tons of 'em around TV.
They do need fronds trimmed and get some seed pods (not as nasty as Sylvesters), but if you get shorter ones, you can trim it yourself pretty easy for a few years, then get some landscaper to do it.

European fan palms and sugar palms are pretty nice, not much maintenance.
Take a look at those.

[vintageogauge]

I have Sylvesters, Fan, Sugar, and Robellini palms, the Sylvesters are the most work but well worth it as when properly taken care of they are beauties. I found out from a neighbor that "male" Sylvester palms do not have the seed pods, his requires much less maintenance than mine. I might add that we have never had a rodent or bug problem around any of our palms but they do attract a lot of birds when the seeds come out.

[Skip]

Depends what kind of palm tree you'd like. Queen palms and sylvesters, yes they require seed pod trimming and queens are frost susceptible.

And all Queen Palms, although sold here out of their zone tolerance, will suffer from "Butt Rot" and will eventually die. Insects in the trunk will bring woodpeckers too that can destroy a palm in a month or two unless you systemically rid the palm of its bugs. I have two, planted 17 years ago, that I baby sit. I notice that The Villages does not plant Queens on their house lots. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
Maintenance - YES, but Beautiful - also YES.

Skip

[eddie888]

I have three sable palms.They are beautiful. I maintain them twice a year. Love them

[am.zinger@aol.com]

Until they grow so tall that they aren't safe to prune and you need a professional to trim them. $$

[Girlcopper]

................don't even mention the rats!
Seriously? Rats? If theres rats, youhave a more serious problem than a palm tree

[banjobob]

Palm trees are lovely.

do they require a lot of maintenance?
A lot of maintenance is not needed ,as with all plants in Florida they do require care. I think palms are beautiful but are a very dirty tree,,seed pods ,froms etc.harbor bugs and in some cases rodents.

[Pedrocarrasco01@yahoo.com]

Palm trees are lovely.

do they require a lot of maintenance?
Yes some do require lots of work, and yes the bugs and rodents live in the fronds. The most beautiful are the Christmas Palms, we had 3 of them in a cluster when we lived in Palm Beach, beautiful, slow growing, but cannot tolerate the colder weather here. We chose our home without a Palm, but we have a beautiful Oak in our back yard. Wish we could have Christmas Palms here, google it they are beautiful.

[Guitarman1951]

The most high maintenance trees I've ever had. If I knew what I know now, I would have never had them put in.

[Dlbonivich]

Personally I believe the northerners who come here fuss over palm way to much. Plant one and leave it. Never saw a rat roach or any other problems caused by a palm. People trim them so much here that they over grow. The more you trim the more they grow. They naturally trim themselves. Bugs, rats, snakes, and geckos are part of our eco system. Read up on it and enjoy.

[PaulinTV]

I didn't see any reference to Foxtail Palms in the responses so far. We are considering them as we were told they are "self-pruning". Any thoughts/comments on this variety?

[coconutmama]

Palm trees are lovely.

do they require a lot of maintenance?

We have one Sylvester & 3 Roebellinis. You do need to fertilize them 3x a year and trim totally dead fronds, as they die on the bottoms of their canopies, as the trees grow. And yes, keep the seed pods trimmed off in the growing season. The big thing is do not plant any tree too close to the house or birdcage. They grow faster than you think. If I had to do it again, I probably would just put in one Roebellini & that’s it.

Queens are pretty in someone else’s yard, LOL. The seed pods are huge & heavy and the trees grow quite fast.

Not a fan of oak trees. They are more messy than palms & attract squirrels which can damage your roof vents & birdcage. Just my 2 cents.

[Rzepecki]

Seriously? Rats? If theres rats, youhave a more serious problem than a palm tree

Yes, rats. They are attracted to the fruit on the palms.

Haven’t you ever noticed the rat bait stations in all public areas of TV. It’s a Florida thing.

[kanoa1kale2]

I have Sylvesters, Fan, Sugar, and Robellini palms, the Sylvesters are the most work but well worth it as when properly taken care of they are beauties. I found out from a neighbor that "male" Sylvester palms do not have the seed pods, his requires much less maintenance than mine. I might add that we have never had a rodent or bug problem around any of our palms but they do attract a lot of birds when the seeds come out.

Males are not high maintenance!! (tongue in cheek) :1rotfl:

[lkagele]

Palm trees are lovely.

do they require a lot of maintenance?

Yes and they are dirty. The original owner must have been in love with them as my lot had 16 but now down to 11. Those removed were planted too close to the house/bird cage. Had to replace numerous screens because because the falling branches poked holes in them. The branches were also scraping the roof of the house which can cause damage to the shingles.

I think they are very dirty trees. Anytime the wind blows, I'm out in the yard picking up debris afterwards.

Beware of the sylvesters. They have A LOT of nasty thorns that can be painful if they poke you. Don't even have to break the skin. LOL, just 5 minutes ago the garbage guys just picked up 4 bundles I had out. I had cut them in > 4' lengths and rapped with twine. The guys were swearing when they saw them and one must have gotten poked because I heard a loud 'F@@K'. He's gonna have a sore hand or forearm for a couple of days.......

[Villages Kahuna]

The answer is yes. If you want to know which varieties of palms to plant, look at the varieties planted by The Villages in their landscaping. They choose varieties that are attractive, hardy in cold snaps, and requiring minimal maintenance.

Queen palms are not a variety you will ever see in Villages landscape plans.

[billethkid]

The most high maintenance trees I've ever had. If I knew what I know now, I would have never had them put in.

Queen palms....very fast growing and property dirtying.
The huge seed pods, the gigantic berry clusters and the golden flower buds require a minimum of twice per year cleaning out.
Depending on height and how over grown it can run between $20 to $40 per tree each time.

We had 9 spotted around the property 17 years ago. Had 3 removed last summer. Three more coming out next summer.

Do your home work before hand. The slower growing, cold tolerant plants native to the area are the best.....if one needs to have them!

[emb2458]

Palm trees are very expensive to maintain. Had a tall one cut down. Cost $150. twice a year to maintain. Make sure you check how tall it will grow. If you insist on having one, buy one you can maintain yourself. Would never buy another. Still have two we have to pay someone to climb to maintain them. Prices vary.

[NoMoSno]

European Fan Palm
no maintenance other than lop off the lower fronds once a year
max 15'
good down to 20deg
no rats

[vintageogauge]

Yes some do require lots of work, and yes the bugs and rodents live in the fronds. The most beautiful are the Christmas Palms, we had 3 of them in a cluster when we lived in Palm Beach, beautiful, slow growing, but cannot tolerate the colder weather here. We chose our home without a Palm, but we have a beautiful Oak in our back yard. Wish we could have Christmas Palms here, google it they are beautiful.

Where there are oaks there are acorns and there are rodents, birds, and bugs eating them.

[lennythenet]

Palm trees are nasty. The Sylvesters and Robellinis have large thorns on their fronds. Some Sylvesters drop quarter size nuts all over. They also harbor roaches and rats. We purchased a home with beautiful landscaping including many palms and are now paying to have some of them removed. Never again!

[lennythenet]

Yes, RATS! We have well maintained lawn and landscaping. They have once eaten through my grill cover. I don’t know if they come from the water across the street or the palms but they’re around here. If I ever saw one in my house I would have a heart attack! Yikes!

[bargee]

Best way to take care of a palm tree is with a chain saw.

[Villagesgal]

Been here 20 years, built our home, designed our landscaping. We have 9 various palms, no queen palms. Love them all, fertilize once a year, trim once a year, not much work for all their beauty. No cockroaches, no rats, no mice and we live on a golf course with a lake behind. We have landscaping rocks now. When we had bark chips and then pine needles years ago we did have cockroaches, put down rocks, no more cockroaches, no place for them to hide. It's the ground cover that attracts the roaches, not the palms. If you have rats, you have a food supply for them, they do not eat palms, or palm fronds. Keep your landscaping cleaned up and enjoy the beauty of local palms.

[Curtisbwp]

Yes..also palmetto bugs along with the fact that they are the prefered home for rats.

[fgsJr]

Sa also palms, similar to those on the golf courses, are much less maintenance than the cheaper queens. I cut off fronds maybe twice a year and they don’t have the huge seed pods that are a monthly problem. Sa also are also indigenous, queens are not, so they survive better. I have had mine for 8 years and love them, highly recommend even if they are more expensive...

[eweissenbach]

I have the perfect solution. Our CYV wall backs to a major road and TV has palms in the right of way behind the wall. We get to enjoy looking at them and have no responsibility for maintaining them.

[oldtimes]

We have ours trimmed twice a year and enjoy them the rest of the time. We have stone around them and have had no trouble with rats, snakes or bugs.

[kcrazorbackfan]

I had 5 Queen's and 2 Sylvester's in my previous yard; our new home in Bradford has 1 Robellini Palm and that will be the only one.

[Pairadocs]

Palm trees are lovely.

do they require a lot of maintenance?

They sure do ! And the fruit from queens are really a mess !

[Janis Lee]

You never stop paying for palms.....had to have them.....ended up costing us dearly with maintenance, rodents eating wiring to cars, ac, and pool equipment.........and then thousands of dollars to have removed. Enjoy others and save yourself lots of money and time.

[Keninches]

And all Queen Palms, although sold here out of their zone tolerance, will suffer from "Butt Rot" and will eventually die. Insects in the trunk will bring woodpeckers too that can destroy a palm in a month or two unless you systemically rid the palm of its bugs. I have two, planted 17 years ago, that I baby sit. I notice that The Villages does not plant Queens on their house lots. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
Maintenance - YES, but Beautiful - also YES.

Skip
The same here, 18 year old queens, the seed pods are so messy if you don’t keep them cut out, the woodpeckers have destroyed one of ours, the bugs are awful and we are charged $20 a Palm to trim. Yes, costly.

[rde3036]

I have 2 mule palms in my yard which are easy to take care of. The Mule Palm is a cross between the Pindo Palm, and the common Queen Palm. Surprisingly, this hybrid single trunk palm looks nothing like either parent. And, most think it's far superior in appearance and overall appeal. It almost looks like a Coconut Palm.