Canary Island Date Palm with Yellow Fronds in Need of Water?

Q. This tree in my front yard is turning yellow. It is 20 years old. Is it because of lack of water? Should I have it trimmed?

This is the canary island date palm talked about. Notice the lower fronds scorching on the edges and turning yellow. Water could be an issue.

A.

Lack of water can have two meanings. 

Not enough water applied or not watered often enough. Sometimes it can be both…too little water applied and the water that is applied is not applied often enough. 

Hard to judge but my guess is that water may be part of the problem. When water is applied to palms, a lot should be applied all at once and then hold off on the next watering for about the same time as other nondesert trees, like fruit trees, need water. For date palms in Las Vegas this is about one week, maybe twice a week at the most in the middle of summer.

 

See that cluster of new growth going straight up in the center top? Good sign. It had enough water to push spring growth. But what about summer growth?

The browning on leaves seen in your pictures is on older leaves at the bottom. That is normal for it to happen that way. It is NOT normal if leaf fronds are turning brown along the edges on newer fronds higher up. 

The palm to the right is getting water. The palm on the left is not. Look at the grass at the base.

Palm Drought

Water should be applied to a distance of about three to four feet from the trunk all around the tree. In many soils about two inches of water in the basin around the tree is enough to get it down to about 24 inches. This would be about 50 gallons. So the palm tree roots have to have access to about 50 gallons of water at least once a week to 100 gallons if it is watered twice a week in summer. But the important part is giving the soil a chance to drain and start to dry out after an irrigation.

This is date palm, not canary island date palm, but the roots will be similar. This date palm was removed from the farm, harvested, so the roots are cut.

It is pushing new growth from the center so that tells me If underwatering is severe the fronds will be smaller and scorched. From the picture

 

Palms pruned with enough canopy remaining to provide some protection to the central bud.

As far as pruning, remove the lower fronds so that the remaining fronds are in a half circle