When does a palm need cleaning or removing?
Palms don't shed the way most trees do. Old fronds die and hang against the trunk, and seed pods and fruit stalks build up in the crown until they drop, often onto a path, a pool fence or a car.
Mildura's council only prunes its urban palms where dead fronds could hurt someone, damage vehicles or blow onto power lines, or where dropped seed makes a tripping hazard. That's a fair test at home too.
Removal is usually about size and spot. A cocos palm can reach 20 m with leaves up to 5 m long. A Canary Island date palm grows to 15 m, occasionally 20 m, on a trunk at least 1 m across, with extremely sharp lower leaflets. Beside a house or a pool, that's a lot of palm.
Cocos palms: a weed listing isn't permission
The cocos (or queen) palm comes with extra baggage. Brisbane City Council lists it as Council Pest Vegetation under its Natural Assets Local Law, and NSW WeedWise lists it as a weed in the state's North Coast region. Brisbane says green cocos fruit can be toxic to flying-foxes, and NSW WeedWise says the fruit may be poisonous to dogs.
None of that means you can simply cut it down. Brisbane says Council permission is still needed to clear pest plant trees that are protected, and on the Gold Coast a listed pest tree has to be identified by an AQF Level 3 arborist first. Ask your council before the palm comes out.
How does an arborist clean or remove a palm?
For a clean, the arborist takes off the dead and dying fronds, the seed pods and the spent fruit stalks, and leaves the green fronds alone. Mildura's tree policy warns against stripping too many, because healthy leaves are essential to a palm's growth and survival.
AS 4373, the Australian Standard for pruning amenity trees, has its own section on palms. Newcastle's tree manual says a palm pruning specification should cover disinfecting tools, to limit the spread of diseases such as palm wilt. It's worth asking about if several palms are being done.
A removal comes down in sections, worked from an elevating platform or lifted out by crane where there's room, with the ground below closed off so nobody is underneath. Safe Work Australia calls that an exclusion zone.
What makes a palm job bigger or smaller?
Height and number. One palm in reach of a platform is a different day from a row of tall ones.
The species. Date palms have sharp leaflets and a heavy crown. Fan palms and cocos palms grow tall and slim, so reach is the issue: the City of Sydney puts the Mexican fan palm at 20 to 25 m in a street.
What's underneath, and access. A pool, a glass roof or a power line means more care with every piece, and no room for a truck or crane means carrying everything out.
The base and the waste. Whether the stump goes too (see stump grinding), and how much bulky frond and trunk has to be chipped or carted.
Do I need council approval for a palm?
Sometimes, and it depends entirely on the council. City of Parramatta says permission may be needed for any tree or palm 5 metres or taller. Inner West's rules cover palms with 4 metres of clean stem, and Glen Eira's local law treats a palm over 8 metres tall as a canopy tree. Mildura's heritage overlay even lists avenues of Washingtonia palms.
A clean that only takes dead fronds is a different request from a removal, but what counts as pruning varies, so ask the council before work starts. Our tree removal permits pages cover each state and many councils.
Palm fronds near a power line?
If fronds are touching or growing into a power line, including the line to the house, don't touch the palm or try to pull fronds away. Anything touching a live line can carry current. Call the electricity network's faults line, keep everyone clear, and see our guide to trees and power lines for who clears what in your state.
Palm tree removal: what you can do yourself
You can
- Pick up fallen fronds, pods and fruit, especially where kids and dogs play.
- Cut off a low, dead frond you can reach with both feet on the ground, using loppers or a pruning saw. Wear gloves and eye protection around date palms.
- Photograph the palm from a few angles, crown included, for the quote.
Leave to an arborist
- Anything above head height, including seed pods in the crown.
- Every palm removal, whatever the size.
- Palms near power lines, roofs, pools or glass.
What a good palm quote covers
- For a clean: which fronds, pods and stalks come off, and that the green fronds stay.
- For a removal: how it comes down, in sections or by crane, and how the area below is kept clear.
- Whether the stump or root ball is ground out or left in.
- Green waste: chipped on site, carted away, or left for you.
- Public liability insurance, and who checks the council rules.
Hiring an arborist for palm trees
We'd have it cleaned before the seed pods get heavy, and we'd ask for the green fronds to stay on. If it's a cocos you'd rather lose, we'd ring the council first, because a weed listing isn't the same as permission to remove it. And for a big date palm near the house, we'd want the quote to say exactly how the crown comes down.