Sylvester
Here is a picture of our Sylvester. Fortunately, the Sumter county extension services here are very involved with the community. I signed up for a workshop on "managing your own yard" and am learning things that I wish I'd known prior to having the landscaping done.
(1) Don't put turf fertilizer under the canopy of the palm. Instead, use the 8-2-12 palm fertilizer on the grass and shrubs adjacent to the palm. I was told that in fact you can just use palm food on everything. The grass will love it and you won't be applying the wrong fertilizer to the palm.
(2) Be sure it is slow-release as is the "Lesco" fertilizer sold at John Deere. Apply at the rate of 1-1/2 lbs. per 100 sq. ft of canopy, three or four times per year from March to Sept. The palm roots grow horizontally and can extend out 50' from the trunk. Putting grass fertilizer on that space can be very detrimental to the palm.
As for GG's question about trimming, only one frond has fallen off in a year. My husband cut the bark to match the existing diamond cuts. It wasn't hard to do at all.
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