How to Kill a Palm Tree

How to Kill a Palm Tree

Palm trees can add an exotic element to any garden, yet they are not always as nice as they appear in the wrong location.

They can throw too much shade across your yard, and it stops you from growing other plants and veggies you want.

Besides, the fronds can fall and cause serious damage to your home, or you could step in the wrong place without realizing it.

Two palm trees and blue sky

In our guide, you can take a look at the ways of killing palm trees. Just make sure not to add Epsom salt on Palm Trees, as this is used as fertilizer, and you could give them too much of a boost. (Learn How To Prune A Palm Tree)

Will Bleach Kill a Palm Tree?

Everyone wants affordable ways for killing trees or tree stumps by using home remedies. Many have heard that bleach can kill palm trees. Here’s how you can go about this method.

  1. Expose live stump cutting with a chainsaw where live branches fronds come out. You can drill holes in the trunk’s outer layers, yet you can also do it without this.
  2. Paint bleach on the stump or fill the holes.
  3. Pouring bleach over a palm stump can kill branches, yet it doesn’t work well to kill roots.
  4. Trees transfer nutrients through the outer rings of the tree. Cutting the stump, it needs to appear wet. If you see dry wood, go lower.
  5. When you drill holes, it exposes more live tissue so the palm can soak up the bleach in a shorter time.
  6. If this works, you will need to remove the stump. You can rent a stump grinder, yet if you only need to remove one, it is better to let professionals do it. Also, you don’t need to wait until it has been killed to remove the stump.

You can remove the stump by a lot of digging around the stump and cutting the major roots with the best chainsaw brands, and then prying it out using a pry bar or dragging it out with a truck.

Does Salt Water Kill Palm Trees?

Saltwater will kill most trees, yet not coconut palms. You find this palm is from the group named halophytes, and they can convert salt-rich water into water, so they have enough to get a drink.

Many gardeners try to pour mixtures of 2 or 3 pounds of salt dissolved in water over a stump> However, it may not work on your tree, and it can affect all the area around the trees as the salt leaches into the soil.

If you see anything about Epsom salts for palm trees, this isn’t to kill them as it is used as a nutrient to cure deficiencies.

Will Roundup Kill a Palm Tree?

The herbicide Roundup will work fast when it kills plants when you spray it onto the leaves. You can include palms in this, although the amount required would be many gallons to kill something as large. Note, you must own the tree.

Thick bark and tough leaves go a long way to protect the plant, and you can use alternative methods rather than deal with herbicide drift across your yard and other plants. If you wish to try this, then there are certain things you need to do. (Learn How To Trim A Magnolia Tree)

View of the top of a palm tree

Roundup contains the herbicide glyphosate, and you need to take the right precautions.

The trees can grow up to 85ft, and fronds grow to 10 feet in length. Here’s one way to deal with trees of this size.

  1. Drill three good evenly spaced holes around the trunk, up to 1/2-inch in diameter, and with a slight downward angle toward the center of the palm trunk at the waist to chest height.
  2. Wear rubber gloves, and then fill all the holes with a 41 percent glyphosate herbicide solution (or roundup). You may need to use a plastic funnel or another method to make sure the herbicide goes in the holes.
  3. Leave your tree for a few hours so the tree can absorb the herbicide. Depending on how large your palm, you may need to repeat the filling of the holes another two times over the following few days.
  4. Wait three weeks so your palm shows signs of dessication and will comprise the fronds’ drying and possible browning. If you don’t see any change, wait or pour in more palm tree poison.
  5. When you cut down the tree, use a chainsaw, but make sure you have used your best chainsaw sharpener for a clean cutting edge.
  6. Cut a wedge-shaped notch around 1/3 of the way into your tree for the side you want it to fall.
  7. It requires an angled cut from the top to meet with a horizontal cut on the bottom. Take your chainsaw and cut horizontally on the opposite side just above the cut on the opposite side. The wedge notch should act as a hinge to guide the tree as it falls.

Best Way to Kill a Palm

Many individuals go through all the struggle to kill palms using the above methods. All you need to do is check whether you can cause damage your area by cutting your palm yourself.

You will need a way of lowering the top back to the ground, so rather than grabbing your saw and your gloves, you could be well advised to let the professionals deal with it.

To kill the palm, you only need to cut the top portion off the tree trunk. That is, in effect, the only part that grows. The trunk will die, as will the root, and then you need to deal with the palm tree stump and the extensive root system.

Read more: Best Garden Shovel

How To Kill A Palm Tree

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *