we were involved in the moving of a canary island palm tree about a month ago. although the palm was moved only 200 feet and the root ball was constantly wet down,the company that did the actual moving tied the frawns back of the palm. we have installed tensiometers to monitor watering and another company is careing for the fertilizeing program. the palm is now starting to turn yellow and causing some concern, should we cut the rope and release the frawns now or when should this be done. prior to the move the palm was checked for diseases and was found to be in good health. could this yellowing be transplant shock or the fact that the frawns or leaves are still tied up, the palm was also backfilled using sand according to the specifacations we were given. the palm is in california. this message was posted on 5/2/02 by an employee of mine sam k / we had no responce so i thought it may not have gone through ok

Reply to post by Bob Booty, on May 06, 2002 at 11:18:09:

When you say they were tied, were the lower stems cut off completely, the remaining live fronds trimmed back, and the stems tied together?

On palmettos in the Southeast, we called prepping for transplanting "carrot-topping", meaning all growth was severly cut back leaving only four to eighth frong bases with very short spreads.

Why are the frongs still tied? Are any supports in place on the trunk? Use any phosphorous?

Reply to post by Reed, on May 06, 2002 at 11:18:09:

the fronds were trimmed before the move at a nine o'clock and three o'clock posisition. i don't know why the moving company left them tied, but i feel they should be releasted but then i am not shure. the palm is being supported so it does not fall it's about 45' tall. the fertilizer being used is a mixture recomended by davy tree for palm trees. the remaining live fronds are tied with rope in an upright posistion.

Reply to post by Bob Booty, on May 06, 2002 at 12:31:13:

Okay Bob,

looks to me (and have had successes in moving palmettos - 100% establishment) like either the company just didn't return to complete, forgot to release before uprighting the tree (it's going to be a difficult climb), or is waiting for a bucket truck to be in the area.

We trimmed 11:00 to 1:00 - pretty severe it seems but it always worked, we also eliminated half of the broom of the remaining live fronds. If they tied the frongs, if ANY injury came to the base stalks, the remaining points above this injury will decline and kill the frond. I know many of the customers wanted an "instant" beautiful full tree, but it takes time. Some of the Hotels or commercial businesses were perplexed by the seemingly "naked" tops, but moving the trees any other way (looking at competitor's work) always ended-up with higher mortalities.

Is it possible to get up there and release the ties?

Reed

Reply to post by Reed, on May 07, 2002 at 09:19:57:

Thank you Reed
for all your help

I received a frantic call today from the general contractor who contracted with us to oversee the moving of this palm, this is in a city park and the city is concerned and not happy to say the least that the palm is starting to yellow. So I went over with our bucket truck and removed the rope. The yellowing has not progressed, in fact the fronds in the center are a nice dark green. While I was there I removed the tensiometers thinking that I might be receving false readings regarding moisture content. During the back filling process water retention polymers were mixed with the sand back fill (from the city spec.) I had thought maybe we were getting false readings because the tensiometers may be resting in a pocket of polymers. I used a shovel to remove an area of sand to the depth needed to reinstall the meters and back filled them with virgin sand. Is their any thing else I can do or need to do?

Reply to post by Bob Booty, on May 07, 2002 at 11:27:23:

Bob,
I'm glad you got up there. The core (newest sprouts) is green, it'll make it then. The outer frongs will most likely continue to brown, die, then hang. I called my old compadre out on the east coast and he reiterated the necessity that before transplant, the growth gets cut-back to half/dozen or so frongs, leaving literally a "carrot-top", eleven o'clock to one o'clock. Plus the reason they get a half-back trim is simply to limit damage by moving trauma - wind and sway and such.

The use of polymers.....well I guess a city operates in ways that might make that necessary - you know, not being able to monitor watering often enough, etc. Don't know how that'll work in the long run, hope it won't exacerbate fungal growth or anything.

Damn, I sure miss palms. Back here on the plateau with diseases up to our armpits and no fresh seafood - Palms always take my mind to tropical isles, topless native girls dancing traditional mating rites, colorful birds and ocean breezes. Did you know the palm is actually a grass, not really a tree?

Happy it looks like it's going to recover,

Reed

Reply to post by Reed, on May 08, 2002 at 01:08:02:

Thanks Reed for all your help
I think your right I feel a lot better now that I had seen those green shoots.

Bob