Palm Tree

[st11x]

G'day,

We have a large palm tree in our little garden and it is very close to our house. The leaves are already extending over the roof.

On the one hand, it does provide us some shade, but by looking around the community, the palm tree has a habit of "shedding" (some bark + leaf) and we are thinking it is going to bring down our roof tiles sooner or later. Also, it seemed (again from the other samples) like it also has a habit of becoming hourglass shape and rotting at the point where the circumference is the smallest.

If it ever fell, it might fall on the neighbor and that is not going to be good.

We asked around and it will cost us 2K THB to cut it down. It cannot be relocated owing to its location.

Do you think we can save it if we are more careful with its maintenance?

Matt

[Crossy]

This will likely do better in the gardening forum, let's try it there for a while

[GungaDin]

Matt...If the 2Kbt includes complete removal and disposal, I would go for that option.

Your alts. are a bit too risky.

Got a pic?

[opalhort]

What is the botanical name of the palm you have? From the way you describe it it could be a Roystonea Regia aka 'royal palm' (common in Thailand) or a Hyophorbe Lagenicaulis aka 'bottle palm' (less common here since quite expensive).

In any case you should trim the fronds reaching over your roof. If the palm is healthy don't worry about rot at the narrow part of the trunk if the palm is kept dry (they don't need too much water and prolonged flooding can kill it!).

As an additional measure you can secure a strong nylon rope about 20cm below the lowest fronds and secure it somewhere in your garden to make sure it can't topple onto your house.

opalhort

[st11x]

Sorry for the late reply.

I don't know what the botanical name of the tree is, but here is a picture of it. It is still healthy at this stage. The tree to the left is the one in question.

[opalhort]

You have nothing to worry about. It is a Roystonea Regia (Cuban Royal Palm, but here in Thailand they call it ปาล์มขวด = Bottle Palm, which is not correct!).

You may want to trim some of the fronds hanging over the roof but this is about all and is certainly not necessary.

The rot between the brown and green part of the trunk will only come if the palm has been standing in water (flood) for a long time and had no time to dry out.

The older fronds which will fall off from time to time are dry and light and will certainly not damage your roof.

The palm looks healthy and beautiful and I would leave it the way it is. It would be a shame to cut it down.

opalhort

[drtreelove]

It appears to me that the big question is how close to the roof structure is the stem of the tree and will it eventually rub against the tiles and underlying structure and do damage. Or can the roof structure be altered to accomodate the tree.

Palms are very strong structurally and usually do not fracture or uproot unless there is serious compromise to the root system or stem, a slight constriction is not enough to worry about. They do not continually grow in trunk diameter like dicots, but the trunk can enlarge somewhat as it grows. This species of palm continually sheds it's dead fronds, but this is more of a clean up issue than a hazard, unless there is a patio or childs play area underneath.

Royal palms get very big and it looks to me that it is too close for long term preservation. As much as I love trees and like to save them, you have to be practical about it and may consider having it removed while it is at this size and the cost is only 2000 baht. don

[sbk]

looks a bit close to the foundation as well...

While I know experts can dig it up and move them I don't know where you would go about finding ones and how much it would run. Its a pity, they are lovely palm trees.

[opalhort]

It is difficult to see from the photo but it looks like the palm is at least 1mtr from the foundations of the house so this is certainly no problem.

If there is a gap of about 50 cm between roof and trunk then also no problem.

We have three huge Roystoneas now 16 years old and they never even bend in strong winds. The max diameter at the thickest section of the trunk is about 40cm.

I would keep the palm the way it is.

opalhort

Edited November 2, 2009 by opalhort

[drtreelove]

This will likely do better in the gardening forum, let's try it there for a while

What's the "gardening" forum Crossy? I didn't know there was one; only this one that lumps plants and pets or the "Farming in Thailand" forum, or have I been missing something? Your the mod, you should be telling me, but usually ornamental/landscape plant (and non-crop palm tree) discussions get addressed here, or the farming forum for crops and agro-forestry issues. But why don't you talk to the powers that be about creating a gardening/landscape/plants forum, this one is dominated by pets. Nothing against pets, I have 4 and read this forum sometimes, but certainly a different category than plants. don

[Nienke]

This one? http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Organic-Farm...-Kitc-f142.html

[drtreelove]

This one? http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Organic-Farm...-Kitc-f142.html

No Nienke, that's the organic farming/gardening sub-forum, not normally about ornamentals/landscapes, although there are some very friendly, generous, knowlegeable members there who I'm sure would offer some input an any subject even remotely related to organic horticulture.

I don't really need another forum, I can't keep up with the ones I look at regularly, I was just surprised to see a "Super-moderator" indicate that he may shift an ornamental palm tree discussion to a gardening forum that I'd never seen. This integrated forum is okay, pets and gardens do coexist and we can always talk about dogwood trees and catclaw vines to really bring it together.

Edited November 2, 2009 by drtreelove

[opalhort]

Here are three photos of our 16 year old Roystonea regia palms planted next to our water liliy ponds in Suphanburi:

opalhort