Question

Fish Tail Palm Damage   QUESTION: Nick,
We have a fishtail palm that has been planted for a few years. This year central Florida received some extended nights of freezing temps and pretty much al of the leaves on the Palm are brown. Since the plant is very dense with numerous trunks, I am not sure if the plant will come back from pruning all of the branches off. Could you recommend the best manner for pruning this type of palm?

ANSWER: Hi Frank, I know, I live here too and we got some pretty cold weather in early February; this did a lot of cold damage to a lot of plants and palms. Your Fishtail will be fine if you strip off all the "totally" brown fronds, cut them at the base where the  frond meets the trunk, and don't be concerned about how it looks when you are finished, its the new emerging fronds from the center that will eventually fill out the palm; many people with Areca Palms must do the same thing, eliminate all the brown fronds, (for they will never turn green, as some think..) for aesthetical reason, they must be excised from the palm. Nick

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Birds of Paradise   QUESTION: Nick,
Thanks so much for the advice. Hate to ask a follow up but, I also have some very tall Bird of Paradise that of course received damage to all of the fronds. Would you recommend leaving them be despite the look or should I trim them also in some fashion that will allow them to grow back? I had thought about cutting out the tall leaning trunks and just allowing all the smaller trunks to fill in over time?

Answer
Hi Frank, same goes for the Bird, cut the melted sections off, but do so by removing the entire stem from the area where they are all joined, your new emerging growth from the center should fill in nicely for you, and within a couple of months everything will be back to normal, albeit a smaller version for awhile. You can take that taller cane out with no problem, but again, remove it from where it joins the other stems , avoid cutting into that main junction however, for that is where the new growth is developing. Nick