Southern Utah
Palm Tree Pruning and Skinning
Annual palm maintenance, done without gutting the tree.
Southern Utah
Annual palm maintenance, done without gutting the tree.
The work
Palms are their own trade. They are not pruned like a shade tree, they are dangerous to work on, and the most common thing done to them around here is also the most harmful. We take the fronds that are actually spent, clear the seed stalks, and skin the trunk clean.
Around here specifically
The City of St. George tree guide says it plainly for Washingtonia palms: prune fronds only when they are completely brown. The tight upswept haircut people ask for strips the tree of the green fronds it lives on and leaves it weaker into the next summer. We do not cut them that way.
What we will tell you
If your palm only needs the seed stalks pulled this year, that is all we will do. A palm does not need a full prune every single season just because it is on the calendar.
Questions we get
Most palms here are on a once a year cycle, and some need less than that. If the only thing due is pulling the seed stalks, that is all we will do.
Because green fronds are what the palm lives on. The City of St. George tree guide says to prune Washingtonia fronds only when they are completely brown. Cutting back into the green leaves the palm weaker going into summer, and repeated hard pruning narrows the trunk permanently.
Yes. Skinning the trunk clean also removes the harborage that rodents and insects use, which is usually the real reason people want it gone.
Where we do it
Palms only survive in the lower, warmer end of our service area, so this one is a valley service. Higher up, ask us about the trees that do grow there.
Related services
Tell us what you are looking at. We will come out, take a look, and tell you what we would do and what it costs. No job is too big or too small, we do it all.