Trina is so excited that her palm tree is getting a shave today. :) (and is realizing that this sounds like a metaphor for something else, which makes this sound much funnier than it actually is)
It's no surprise that the responses I got back were hilarious!
But, no, really... I had my palm tree shaved today!
Nice, pretty, shaved Palm Tree!
The palm tree that we have in our backyard is probably about 20 years old, and up until about a year ago when we had our backyard done, the poor thing was pretty neglected. Our landscape designers fell in love with the palm tree, and actually based their whole design around it.
At last, our Palm Tree felt loved. &heart; :)
We've been meaning to have it shaved for the last year or so, but never actually got around to making it happen... until today!
The trunk was full of "hair" from the base all the way to the top.
(from the web)
The "hairy stuff" is an accumulation of dead leaves whose leafbases have not fallen off the trunk. Removing the old growth is done solely for cosmetic reasons.
Our gardener, Ann Marie brings her crew to our backyard every 3 to 4 months. I go back and weed/trim every week or so just for regular maintenance.
Today, Ann Marie brought in a Palm Specialist to help her shave the palm tree. It was a meticulous process, and was so interesting to watch. They shaved the trunk sheet-by-sheet - each sheet was originally formed by individual palm leaf. They carefully trimmed each sheet just above the dead growth (as to not damage the live growth) then sliced it off at the base of the leaf stem. (bad description, and probably not accurate.)
The whole process probably took a couple of hours.
I'm so amazed, and so happy with the results. I love the color of the exposed trunk. It will change color (green in the shade, and light brown in the sun) over time, but I think the pattern of the trunk is so beautiful!
Here are some photos of the process:
Before - covered in hair, and wrapped with lights
This is so interesting! I have palm tree with same hairy stuff & didn't know what to do about it! Thanks for sharing!
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