Palm trimming that takes the fifty-pound fronds down before the wind does
Royal palm fronds weigh up to fifty pounds and fall on their own schedule; coconuts become projectiles at 100 mph. We take the dead fronds, the pods and the nuts, and nothing green.
Cape Coral grows the full South Florida palm list: royal palms that reach seventy feet and self-shed ten-foot fronds weighing up to fifty pounds, queen palms that drop seed stalks and go orange from potassium deficiency, sabals with their boot-covered trunks, coconuts along the canals, foxtails and Christmas palms in every post-2000 landscape, and the Canary Island dates that cost a fortune to install. Each one needs something a little different, and all of them have the same enemy: the crew that strips every frond above the horizontal — the "hurricane cut" — and leaves a pencil-topped palm that's weaker in the storm, starved of its own nutrient reserve and open to the diseases moving through Lee County.
We remove the dead and dying fronds, the seed pods and flower stalks, the coconuts and the hanging boots, and we leave the green canopy intact — a healthy palm should look like a full clock face, not a half-open umbrella. Between palms our saws and pole pruners are disinfected, because Fusarium wilt and Thielaviopsis trunk rot move on dirty tools and both are fatal. And we tell you when a palm needs feeding instead of pruning: a queen with yellowing, frizzled new growth is short on manganese, not in need of a haircut.
What's included
Dead fronds and pods only
Brown and dying fronds, seed stalks and flower pods removed; green fronds left for the palm to feed itself.
Coconuts and heavy fronds
Royals and coconuts cleaned before the season so nothing fifty pounds comes off in a storm.
Boots and skinning
Sabal boots removed on request; trunk skinned cleanly without wounding the bark.
Clean tools
Saws and pruners disinfected between palms so Fusarium and Thielaviopsis don't travel.
Disease check
Ganoderma conks, lethal bronzing symptoms and nutrient deficiencies flagged while we're up there.
Cleanup
Fronds chipped or hauled; pool deck and lanai blown off.
Palm tree trimming cost in Cape Coral, FL
| Job | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Queen, foxtail or Christmas palm | $60 – $150 | Per palm; less for a row |
| Sabal (cabbage) palm | $75 – $200 | More with boot removal |
| Royal palm, 40–70 ft | $150 – $400 | Lift or climb; heavy fronds lowered, not dropped |
| Coconut palm | $100 – $300 | Nuts and fronds; before June |
| Canary Island date palm | $200 – $500 | Full clean and skin |
| Row of palms (5+) | $50 – $120 each | Street-side or pool-side rows |
These are 2026 Lee County ranges so you can budget. Your written price is itemized — the climb or bucket work, rigging, chipping and haul-off, stump grinding, crane time, the wildlife and mangrove check — and good for 30 days.
Recent work
Questions we get about palm tree trimming
How often should palms be trimmed in Cape Coral?
Once a year for most palms, ideally in late spring before the storm season, when the dead fronds and the season's seed pods are ready. Royals and coconuts along the canals sometimes get a second light pass before the peak of the season. Over-trimming is the more common problem here, not under-trimming.
What is a hurricane cut and why won't you do it?
It's stripping the palm to a few upright fronds so it 'catches less wind.' It doesn't work: palms are built to bend, and a full crown protects the bud. A stripped palm loses its stored nutrients, grows a narrow pencil trunk, and is more likely to snap at the bud in a storm than a full one. University of Florida research says the same, and we follow it.
My queen palm's new fronds are yellow and frizzled. Is it dying?
Probably not — frizzle top is a manganese deficiency, common in Cape Coral's alkaline fill soils, and it responds to manganese sulfate. Potassium deficiency shows as orange flecking on the oldest fronds. Lethal bronzing is different: the oldest fronds go bronze from the tips and the spear leaf dies. We'll tell you which.
Can you take the coconuts down before the storm?
Yes, and you should — a coconut at 100 mph is a cannonball. We clean coconut palms of nuts and dead fronds in May and June every year for canal-front homes.
Do you climb or use a lift?
Both. Royals over the lanai usually get the lift; palms in the back of a canal lot get a climber with spikes only when the palm is being removed, never on a palm that's staying — spike wounds let disease in.