How to Prune Palm Trees

Pruning palm trees is not something you necessarily have to do. The idea that pruning palms makes them grow faster is actually a myth. It's possible to go to the other extreme, however, and kill palm trees through too much pruning. A palm tree can die from pruning too much of it away. Keep that in mind as you read through these instructions for proper pruning of a palm tree.

Step 1: Assess the Situation

Before you start pruning, make sure that you take a good look at the palm tree first. There are going to be green buds that you will prune away if you excessively prune the healthier parts of the tree. The more green buds you prune away, the harder it will be for the palm tree to grow into the healthy specimen that is your goal for pruning in the first place.

Prune only those palm fronds that are visibly unhealthy. If the fronds are dry, brown, or diseased, they should be pruned. Palm trees have a bunch of leaves at the top of a long, bare trunk. Avoid any pruning of healthy leaves within the leaf bunch at the top of the tree. If you prune, prune only those leaves hanging down below that bunch.

Step 2: Pruning by Hand

Don your safety goggles and work gloves. Feel around the areas of the tree that appear to be unhealthy, looking for anything that will come off easily. If something will come off the tree at a simple tug on your part, it's unhealthy. Remove these. Use the ladder if you need to get to other places of the tree that look like they might be in need of pruning, but remember the two rules established in step one.

Step 3: Pruning by Tool

Pruners and clippers are usually the best choice for this type of work, if you don’t have a personal preference. Look around for anything that didn’t come off by hand, but still looks discolored or dry. Prune those parts of the tree away.

Step 4: Pruning the Excess

At this point, you should have pruned away everything that absolutely needed to go. Now take a look at the tree from a practical point of view. If there are flowers, fruits or clumps of growth that are getting too big for the tree, prune those as well.

Step 5: Review the Situation

Now that you've gone through the full pruning process, take a step back and review the tree to see if you missed anything. Pruning could be a wasted effort if you miss something important. Continue pruning according to the above steps if something has been missed. Otherwise, put the tools away and enjoy the new look for your palm tree.