Palm Tree Problems? (Christmas: rental, house, landscaping)

[Satsuma]

I like to watch this forum because some day in the near future my husband and I will transition our PG rental into a winter home (we live in Montana). I've learned a lot reading all the different threads.

We will need to do some landscaping work and look forward to planting tropical plants like palm trees. However, recently a friend started telling me how awful palm trees were to grow and maintain and how they harbor roaches. Your thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks!

[MikeM8560]

mine are no problem at all except my royal palm have grown so fast the fronds are huge when they fall off and I see no roaches

[Harbor Hopper]

Originally Posted by Satsuma

However, recently a friend started telling me how awful palm trees were to grow and maintain and how they harbor roaches. Your thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks!

Does your friend have a "black thumb"? Most palms are fairly easy to grow. Plant with milorganite, support the trunk for 6-9 months, water thoroughly for the first 2 months, fertilize and trim fronds as necessary. Most grow pretty fast. Roaches, sure. They all will harbor a few roaches where the frond meets the trunk (moisture). As long as they stay outside!!

[Restrain]

I am hoping my palm makes it. Base of trunk was damaged on one side, gonna have to talk with a gardening expert about sealing it, etc.

[Messing About]

I have 27 Sable Palms, 2 multi-trunk Christmas palms, 2 multi-trunk Pigmy Date palms, 1 Sago palm and a Bismarkia Silver leaf palm with enormous fronds...and no roach problem. Once a year those Sables aka Cabbage Palms (the FL state tree, by the way) have to be pruned to remove old fronds and seed pods. It's a lot of labor but I love the look of them when they are freshly pruned. I chose to do it myself but there are plenty of contractors who will do them for about 20 bucks a piece.

Years ago I dropped about $400 on a commercial pruning saw that extends 18', plus my arms reach. I can do them all from the ground and the saw has paid for itself in less than 2 years. A few of my palms are getting close to out of reach but the majority I will continue the DIY method.

[sware2cod]

I see tree frogs in the palm trees. Sometimes when I cut an old brown frond - sometimes a tree frog is still on the frond. So I leave it next to the tree overnight until the frog finds its way back up the tree.

I had a family of racoons living in some queen palms that were touching a large oak tree. They would climb up/down the trunk/branches of the oak tree and then transfer to the palm tree when it was time to sleep. You could see the babies up there cupped into the area where the palm frond meets the trunk. They only lived there while the babies were small. Then they dispersed.

Squirrels will eat the seeds of the Queen Palm and disperse them. Then new queen palms pop up from the seeds. I have a lot of new queen palms as well as new sabal palms that grow from seeds that I didn't plant. I don't water them and don't fertilize them. So they are fairly maintenance fee. The only maintenance is that some of them get the brown palm fronds trimmed, but the ones that are in hidden areas don't get trimmed and nature trims the brown fronds on those trees.

I saw a rat snake climbing a sabal palm tree once. A beautiful red rate snake. They are non-venomous. I suppose there are roaches and maybe even rats up there at times. But who cares...it's way up high and it's outside. I don't plan to go 30' high into a palm tree to do an inventory of the critters. The critters can enjoy themselves up there and are welcome any time.

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by sware2cod

I see tree frogs in the palm trees. Sometimes when I cut an old brown frond - sometimes a tree frog is still on the frond. So I leave it next to the tree overnight until the frog finds its way back up the tree.

I had a family of racoons living in some queen palms that were touching a large oak tree. They would climb up/down the trunk/branches of the oak tree and then transfer to the palm tree when it was time to sleep. You could see the babies up there cupped into the area where the palm frond meets the trunk. They only lived there while the babies were small. Then they dispersed.

Squirrels will eat the seeds of the Queen Palm and disperse them. Then new queen palms pop up from the seeds. I have a lot of new queen palms as well as new sabal palms that grow from seeds that I didn't plant. I don't water them and don't fertilize them. So they are fairly maintenance fee. The only maintenance is that some of them get the brown palm fronds trimmed, but the ones that are in hidden areas don't get trimmed and nature trims the brown fronds on those trees.

I saw a rat snake climbing a sabal palm tree once. A beautiful red rate snake. They are non-venomous. I suppose there are roaches and maybe even rats up there at times. But who cares...it's way up high and it's outside. I don't plan to go 30' high into a palm tree to do an inventory of the critters. The critters can enjoy themselves up there and are welcome any time.

I'd say the roaches ( as well as other critters, snakes, frogs, you name it) are pretty much outside in or near any vegetation that's out there. I haven't seen the roaches ( knock wood, LOL) but I've seen the snakes and frogs- we have a number of those tree frogs that take up residence under the carriage lights in the front and side of the house at night. They do a good job of making meals of the bugs attracted to those lights, and they're part of the package, as I see it.

[Florida or Bust....]

I would rather see tree frogs instead of the cuban tree frogs. I have four that hang around the trim of my front door and I have to clean up there friggin poop in my overhang. wtf???? Someone told me to remove them and spray vinegar around the doorway and that should keep them away cause they don't like the smell. I guess it's worth a shot.

[wpc691]

Originally Posted by Satsuma

I like to watch this forum because some day in the near future my husband and I will transition our PG rental into a winter home (we live in Montana). I've learned a lot reading all the different threads.

We will need to do some landscaping work and look forward to planting tropical plants like palm trees. However, recently a friend started telling me how awful palm trees were to grow and maintain and how they harbor roaches. Your thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks!

Highly recommend Christmas palms for a small tree, Royal palms for big trees. Both are self pruning, and very attractive. The tops stay pretty clean, so I don't think they harbor many rats, which is a problem with palms that get scraggly. As noted above, one drawback to Royal palms is that one of the huge fronds dropping off a big tree could kill you if you happened to be standing under it, although I've never heard of that actually happening.

[Dazed1]

I had what I believe was a Canary Island Date Palm, but it only lasted about 15 years. I didn't know the proper way to prune it so it grew out rather than up and had probably a 5' trunk. It was majestic looking until disease got it. No roach problems and I spent plenty of time pruning it in the later years.