What Palm is this, and can it be saved ?

gav888

This Palm is in Melbourne (Bayside)
It has probably been neglected over the last two or three years with little extra watering or feeding.

It is looking predtty sad, with wilting brown fronds.
No new fronds have grown for 6 to 9 months, and none have dropped.

About 50cm up from the base the bark of the tree shows signs of cracks, and for a height of another 1 meter or so the bark has cracked, and broken away from the trunk on one side. Just to top it off, a borer of some type has made a hole in this area which extends 2 - 3 cm's into the trunk. I poked a stick on the hole and when I withdrew it, out came a couple of slug like pests.

I am assuming the worst, but is there any hope of saving it ?
What type of Palm is this.

The tree to the left of the palm in the picture has also been looking pretty sad for a while, but with a recent feed of seasol seems to be greening up.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Attached Thumbnails

   

Eric Frei

Unlike dead wood in trees, palms turn to soft mush.

You better get that down whilst it's still standing.

Warning, dead palms are mush

Palm tree dropped crown - drought and palms

Vertical speed line, a nice trick

Falling Palm Tree Kills 4yr. Old| Ekka makes news comment

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Jeff Darby

I second that, get it down before it costs you money..mushy palms are trouble.

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Davo The Terrible

Looks like a Kentia Palm (Howea forsteriana) - Ekka, I don't think all palm dead wood turns to mush, as there is pretty big timber industry involving the wood of the Coconut Palm.

Eric Frei

Yeah, and some the processes are well hidden and secretive, there's a lot of "stuff" put into the wood to preserve it.

Since when can you compare dead treated timber to a living tree?

Fungicide and pesticide treatment for timber is a process that cannot be emulated in trees, search the forum there's many posts on it. It is also a well known fact that once you get moisture levels in timber below 20% fungi cannot degrade the wood, hence why keeping it dry is important. There's also CCA treated timber outdoors which again cannot be replicated for trees.

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The Tree Whisperer

as palms are a monocot they do not compartmentalise like other trees if you really want to save it I suggest cleaning out the decayed 'Mushy' wood to harder wood inside and let the air dry it out this will reduce the spread of rot.

KEY POINT here is that what ever wound you make will remain a wound and could be unsightly to the owner.

LOOKS to me like it is a Cocos palm Syagru romanzoffiana. as i do not believe a kentia palm would grow outdorrs in Melbourne for long enough to survive to that size.

in warmer more tropical regions these are a declared environmental weed but a lot of nurseries grow them and ship them to Sydney and Melbourne.

ONE MORE POINT!!!! if by cleaning the wound of all teh decayed tissue the wound is deeper then 1/3rd the diametre of the tree and longer then 100mm i would recommend its removal due to compromise of structural integrity of the trunk.

Eric Frei

It's definately not a Syagrus romanzoffiana

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The Tree Whisperer

GAV 888 Can you please get a better photo of the crown like a clear close up shot the lighting here is too difficult to really get a good look. also if there are any see pods on the grond can you take a photo of these.

Davo The Terrible

I'd be interested to know why you think this Tree Whisperer?

glennak

I don't think you realise how warm parts of Melbourne are. I grow bananas in the back yard. In the 20 years we have lived here we have never had a frost.

Brent Ferris

WOW! In Toronto, only in July and August can we be confident of not having frost, and killing frosts typically start in October, and end in May.
You can grow bananas in the backyard...... Wow!