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Is there an easy way to control the roots of Arecas Palms?

Miami Cuse
4 years ago

I have eight clusters of this palm in my back yard. Two of them are getting very close to the swimming pool and spa.


Here is one I just cut off half the stems (the fence is six feet tall for reference).








Is there a way to clean up the root system? It's basically a hump of half rotted mess. I have another one three times bigger then this one with the root being a mount 4 feet tall and 8 feet wide.


Do I need a stump grinder? Trying to decide do I keep cutting it back constantly, or get rid of it totally.

Comments (4)

  • dirtygardener
    4 years ago

    All you can really do is just keep chopping on them, but they're going to come back. The more you cut back, the more it's stimulated to clump. I had a friend in North Port who had his dug up with a backhoe and cut off all but about 1/4 of the trunks with a chain saw. Five years later, it was bigger than ever.

    They look so harmless when they're little, just like bamboo.


    Miami Cuse thanked dirtygardener
  • sonni1
    4 years ago

    I've been trying to get rid of several mounds of these clusters for years. Chopping, digging, hacking...Finally used a stump grinder. Personally can't stand Arecas - the yellow leaves remind me of disease, the fronds which constantly fall off hold pools of water and I assume are mosquito spas.

    Miami Cuse thanked sonni1
  • Miami Cuse
    Original Author
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    That doesn't sound encouraging, looks like I am fighting a losing battle then.

    I have another one that's getting too close to the pool mechanicals and I also worry about the pipes buried underneath. I have been cutting it back, but it gets larger in the base and higher and higher. I think the last owner planted these to hide the equipment, well now they may swallow the equipment.





    The base is like a giant camel hump.



  • jofus, ( Englewood, Fl zone 10a )
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Hi Miami,

    Your post brought back some memories that are replete with stress, sweat and dogged-determination. Long story short, I bought this nice, tidy mobile home on 1/4 acre back in Dec 2008. However, all along the 20' screened-in wall of the lanai, facing a neighbor's home, was a row of mangled, obviously neglected Areca palms,...about 6 in number. Initially, being naive, ( native New York City guy ), I thought I could make 'em look good with some TLC. Didn't work out of course, the tops got up to 8' + and if left alone, they'd start pushing up on my rain gutters,..they'd already sliced into the screens in a couple of spots. Bottom line, - the wrong trees for the job,...all the previous owner wanted was some privacy, so he planted the worst privacy hedge he possibly could have !! Those Arecas belonged out on the border of a large lot, not up against a home, - or heavens forbid, a screened-in lanai !!!

    Enough I says, after 2 + yrs of this fruitless pruning endeavor, I decided they had to go. Once I realized what I was dealing with, ( Almost a month, sawing the top off, then digging, digging,..etc.,...to wind up with a huge 4 ft diameter root ball ), - I bought some heavier duty tools. Luckily for me, my neighbor next door, a workaholic 80 yr old widow, - joined in and we both were able to remove one root ball after another.

    Six months later the 20' border outside my lanai screen was clear,..I then planted six ( 6 ) privet hedge babies, and now after mucho TLC, am happy to report that the hedge is about 90 % filled in, and is just bursting with gorgeous white spring ( fake spring ) flowers, all trimmed off at 6 1/2 ft above the ground outside, giving me a perfect privacy hedge from inside the lanai, ...and best of all, there ARE NO signs at all of the nasty Areca palms,..none !

    So even though your dilemma sounds worse than the one I had, there is hope out there, perseverance is the key word in my book,....Areca's can be dealt with ! Good luck !

    Miami Cuse thanked jofus, ( Englewood, Fl zone 10a )
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