Royal palms are the tall, concrete-gray trunks along older Broward roads, and they are not trimmed like an oak. KAP Tree Service does palm trimming in Davie on royals when the boots hang, the flower stalks drop, or a hurricane has peeled the head.
Call (754) 291-6477 for a free estimate
How a royal is built
One bud. One head. A smooth crown shaft that sheds a boot when it is ready. If you cut into the green and into that bud, you do not get a second chance. That is why a hurricane cut on a royal is vandalism, not storm prep. Take dead boots and spent stalks. Leave the living fronds that feed the palm.
Royals get tall. Most residential work is a climb or a lift, not a pole saw from the driveway. If the palm is in a tight courtyard, say so. In Pembroke Pines they sit on entries and in HOA medians; the work is the same, the traffic is not.
Common problems
Hanging boots: they look messy and they can come down as one heavy sleeve. We take them when they are ready, not when someone wants the trunk skinned to a white pole. Skinning every boot off for “clean” is cosmetic and it is extra wound area.
Nutrient deficiency: new fronds come in yellow or with necrosis. Trimming will not fix a manganese or potassium problem. That is a fertilizer conversation with a label, not a saw. We will tell you if the head looks hungry instead of dead.
Lightning and storms: a royal can lose fronds and still be alive. Wait for a new spear. If the spear pulls out rotten, the palm is done. Ganoderma and other trunk rots are a removal, not a trim. We do not treat a conk with optimism.
How often
Once a year is plenty for most royals if you are only taking dead material. More than that usually means someone is cutting green to keep a contract. Seed stalks can be taken when they hang if they bother you. That is not an emergency.
The longer palm piece on this blog — when to trim palms and what not to cut — covers queens, coconuts and foxtails. This page is the royal.
When it has to come out
Dead head, rotten spear, trunk failure, or a lean toward the house after the root zone was cut for a drive. Royals are tall enough that a failure is a crane conversation. Do not wait for it to “maybe reroot.”
Royals next to houses and wires
A royal that was planted under a service drop twenty years ago is now in the drop. That is an FPL conversation if the palm has to come out near their line, and a trimming conversation if we can take boots without entering their space. We stay off energized lines. If the palm is the problem and the line is too close, the utility goes first.
Boots and stalks land hard. We set a drop zone. Kids and cars out. A royal boot on a windshield is a claim you did not need. Flower stalks are lighter and they still stain a pool deck if you let them sit.
If you want the trunk “clean” like a postcard, understand that is extra climbing and extra living tissue exposed. We will do a reasonable clean. We will not skin a royal to a concrete pole for a photo. Leave the green head; that is the whole point of keeping the palm.
Fertilizer for palms is a labeled product, not a bag of lawn food. Lawn food pushes grass and can make palm deficiency worse. We will not sell you a secret drench. If the new spear is coming in green, leave it. If it is coming in yellow and stunted, take a picture of the whole head and call before you schedule a “shape.”
Royals in a line along a drive can be done as a group. One setup, several heads. That is the only volume discount that is real: less time moving the lift.
If you want us on the property, have the gate code, the HOA rule if there is one, and a clear photo of the whole tree or hedge from the side that faces the house. That is enough to start. We will tell you if we need to walk it before we price. No dollar figures on this page, no 24-hour promise we cannot keep, and no topping.
Davie is the yard we work from. Nearby cities are on the same trucks, not a different company. If the job is on the other side of the county line, say the city when you call so we bring the right permit conversation, not the Davie one.
Call KAP Tree Service at (754) 291-6477 for a free estimate
