Remove All Roots of Palms During Removal?

Q. We have decided to have our Mexican fan palms removed. Do we need to have all the roots removed or just cut the palms down to the ground, especially the one next to the pool?

Suckers from palms such as date palm are oftentimes removed when they get larger.

 Success rate depends on taking a small amount from the "mother" palm as well as the sucker.

A. If your palm trees do not sucker from the base (date palm, Mediterranean fan palm do produce suckers from the base) then as soon as the top is cut off, the palm will die. Both Mexican and California fan palms have one central bud at the top which is the only place where new growth can occur. Once cut and they die, they will slowly decay if left behind.

Suckers from date palms are usually removed when bigger.

Palm "Wood" Rots Very Slowly

            The problem you will have when you leave any kind of stump is the palm trees very slow decay rate. Palm debris decay or rot very slowly. Coir is taken from coconut palms and is used in soil mixes to build soil structure because it resists decay. It is slow to decay and is the main reason I discourage its use in compost piles or use in woodchip mulch. It makes a great semi-permanent component in soil mixes. In both cases you want fertilizer or compost added to circumvent its slow decay. When plants decay, they add to the organic content of the soil and help make it darker.

Coir is an ingredient we use in our soil mixes at our farm in the Philippines. Why? Because it is available and cheap.

Remove as much of your palm trunk as possible. The palm roots won’t regrow, but any debris left behind from the trunk will decay very slowly. If you decide to use it in your new soil mix (it is a great addition to soils to improve soil structure), chop it as small as possible and make sure that fertilizer or compost is added to the soil to compensate for the slow breakdown of palm debris.

By the way, water from pools is not all that desirable by any plants if they are getting enough water from irrigation.