Question
We have a 20' queen palm in the atrium of our house.  We had a house fire and have been trying to save the tree as we rebuild our house, trying to keep it warm and watered through this process.  I don't believe that it is dead, although all of the leaves have turned brown. Do you recommend cutting off all of the dead leaves to see if new leaves will come back? Any help would be great so that we might save this tree. I live in St. Louis, but the tree is inside my house.  It probably sat in 30-40 degree temperatures for a period of time.  We put a large tent around it and heated it, but it was hard to keep warm enough.  The crown at the top is still green.  The existing fronds are completely brown.  Hope this helps.  thanks.

Answer
Ok, thats good news that the crown is still green, that tells me that you successfully protected the root system from freezing (hopefully..); keep it properly irrigated (as you have been...) not over wet though! spray the crown down with a Copper Fungicide, this will help deter any fungal problems from developing, which is a danger in its weakened state. If the fronds are completely brown, then yes, trim them away, so you can maybe compress the tent a little to keep it warmer, but if there is any green in those fronds at all, then they are still functioning, and it needs all the help it can get from them. Everything you have done , is what I would have suggested, so all you can do now is hope that Mother Nature smiles on it. Nick