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David E. Ross[_2_] · 22-06-2020, 05:15 PM posted to rec.gardens

On 6/22/2020 7:45 AM, wrote:
I have a 30 ft Canary Island Palm, 25 inch diameter main trunk at 2 ft from the ground. Main trunk is about 2 ft from a wall.

it has not been maintained for years. Smaller trunks have come up all around the base, and one on the back is now touching the wall.

I plan to cut the back trunk off to the ground and not the entire tree.

My question is, will it damage the tree if i continue to cut downward into the root ball?

If you email me i cab send you photos. Thx.

(Is there another group that is more on trees, palms, etc?)

Are you sure the smaller growths are branches from the older palm?
Could they instead be seedlings and thus separate plants?

In any case, consider the following two items:

* If you cut off the top of the side growth of a palm, it will die.
You will have to cut across the trunk and not merely cut away the
fronds. If you leave a stump, eventually it will rot at the base and be
easily broken away.

* Palms are well known for adventitious roots. That is, they will grow
more roots if existing roots are cut. There is no taproot. As long as
you do not cut away more than half of the root ball, the older palm is
safe PROVIDING you do not destabilized it. You might have to provide
some support for the older palm for one or two years while new roots
grow. I have a fan palm (Washingtonia filifera) in a 15-inch flower pot
in front of my house. This year I will AGAIN remove it from the pot,
trim about 2 inches from the sides of the root ball and about 3 inches
from the bottom, and then repot it with some fresh potting mix to
replace what I trimmed. I do this every 4-5 years without killing the
palm.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary