Question
Picture of my palm
I was given this palm 10 years ago, and it's now about 12 ft tall. I have lots of cathedral ceilings, but even so the palm has only another foot to hit the ceiling.How do I prune it, I would like to keep it-base and all. It branched into two at the top, and flowered only once, but it was quite an experience. Please help.
AnswerHanna,
You can cut it back to the lower branch using a very sharp knife and heavy duty pruning shears. You can then lay the top piece that you cut off aside for 10 days to dry then pot it in cacti soil and it put it in a very sunny window and it should root within a month.
Once you have remove that upper growing point the lower portion of the plant should sprout one or two new side shoots lower on the plant which may allow you to prune it even lower in another year or two.
If the top roots you can wait till it is growing well and is 3-5 feet tall then prune out just the very top 1/4 inch growing tip. Then it will stop the growth and force it to send out side shoots before it is 12 feet tall and a problem. It is much easier to keep a plant smaller than it is to let it get extremely overgrown for your home then reduce it back down to a reasonable height.
Good luck.
Darlene
