I suspect that the Phoenix palms are usually planted with their leaves tied has to do with their spines which easily can slash your hands. My landscaper planted several Phoenix species on my property, including CIDP and Sylvestri. Without the leaves tied, it would have been impossible to handle them without your hands becoming a bloody mess.

The fronds are also tied up to trap moisture and help the palm establish. We usually left them tied up for the first 30 days the palm was in the ground.

There is no need to leave the fronds tied up, they are tied to facillitate moving and planting. If the palm is field grown it will be stressed and the canary island date palm is susseptable to the palm weavil, therefore the bud should be treated with a systemic insecticide for the first year. If the soil ph is high all phoenix palms suffer from potassium deficiency. Use a ballanced fertilizer, ie 8-4-8, or a 10-4-10. If it is growing in the lawn use the same fertilizer to fertilize the grass as well to avoid appling too much nitrogen.

The garden writer at the Miami Herald has advised to tie up the fronds that way on really delicate palms to protect the bud in a freeze. My understanding is tying them protects the bud, and if the bud dies, either from freeze or during transplant, the tree dies and nothign you can do will save it.

S