Can the ball of a Canary Palm fall to the ground?

Author: Eddie Rodriguez, ISA CERTIFIED ARBORIST #WC-3916 

Over a two-year period, I worked extensive with Canary Palms with the City of Beverly Hills.  It all started when a resident called in one day and said that somebody had thrown a bomb in her front yard and blew up her Canary Palm. She said that it sounded like thump, thump thump, thump thump thump thump! Boom!!!!!!!!!!!!! The ground shook.

I arrived at the house and found a small piece of the ball or pineapple had fallen from the Canary Palm. I was charged with the task to figure out a solution to the problem, as it was not only dangerous but was costing the city a lot of money in claims.   On the average, one Canary Palm ball was dropping each day. 

When we look at Canaries, we notice the one thing that distinctly makes them unique to other palms – and that is their ball or the pineapple. What started happening was these balls were starting to fall.  Now, imagine a ball 80-100 feet up - much higher than the ones here in Las Vegas, falling to the ground – sometimes piece-by-piece, then eventually, the whole thing.

It makes sense that they have the potential to do this, because where the boot of the canary is attached to the palm at the petiole, the structure is very thin. To give you an idea on how large the boot is on some of these palms, it’s about the size of a size of a man shoe (size 12) and weighs 5-8 pounds each! Now imagine how many of these boots make up one ball.  The point of attachment is approximately 1 ½ inches.  Besides the weak structure of the Canary Palm ball, there are a number of other reasons that make them susceptible to falling to the ground.

  

Wind is always a problem for anything that is high.   Rain causes the boots to swell up and become heavy.  Pests bore into the petioles and weaken the boots even more, and then there is also deterioration from age.

But, the biggest problem was the tremendous pressure and weight pushing down on the pineapple with all the other forces that I just mentioned.   To fix this problem, we need to relieve some of the forces causing the pineapple to fail. By reducing the weight, the height, and the width of the pineapple we can tremendously reduce the chances of failure. Please also note that shaping of the pineapple should be done by a professional experienced in crown-shaping and reconstruction. I do not recommend homeowners to this work on their own even if they think that it looks easy. In Southern Nevada, call us at First Choice Tree Service.

Roe Valenti Earns Certified Arborist Certification

Roe Valenti

How many certified arborists does it take to properly care for the trees in Southern Nevada?  

The more the better, according to Roe Valenti, who just just passed her International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) certification exam earlier this month.  Now, Las Vegas-based First Choice Tree Service (and its customers) have four certified arborists among its team of tree experts. 

“Being a certified arborist adds value to me and to the company,” says Roe.  “Besides the fact that we are accredited by TCIA (Tree Care Industry Association), it just makes us more competitive within our field.”

According to Roe, the biggest challenge to becoming certified was absorbing all the material.  “There is so much of it, from pruning to plant health care, risk assessment to soil management, and tree identification, biology and more,” says Roe.

Earning this credential is a voluntary activity, but it demonstrates proper knowledge and skills, as well as a high level of dedication to the profession and to the community. It is said that only 30% of exam takers pass on the first try.  "Knowing this pushed me even harder, along with having a passion for the industry," says Roe.  "I just love it!"