[Rons Landscaping]

"It's that time of the year again to feed you palm trees."First of all I would just like to say thank you, to all of our customers that have made some very nice post about our landscape company through out the year, it is very much appreciated. Yes, it is that time of the year again to feed your palm trees. I tell all our customers to feed them in March, July, and again in November.Do not feed them during the winter months because if we get a freeze it will hurt the new growth coming out of the crown of the tree, so wait until around March 15th to feed them again. I use Lesco 8-2-12 fertilizer for all our palms, it is a very good feed. You can purchase this feed from John Deere Landscape Co. they are located in Leesburg on the corner of Griffin Ave. and Thomas St. I saw a post here on "Talk Of The Villages" a few days ago about some one asking about Asian scale on there King Sago Palms. When you look under the fronds of your Sago's you will see a white scale, it almost looks like the frost we use to spray on our Christmas trees years ago. Asian Scale is very hard to get rid of, it has no natural enemies. I have found over the years by spraying water very hard under the fronds it cleans them off some what, and then you can apply some insecticide on the palm. You can use a contact insecticide such as Malathion that will kill the scale, but a systemic insecticide (it absorbs into the plant tissue) is better because any bug that feeds on the plant will die. If you don't feel comfortable using that try using a oil base such as Volck Oil, or Dormant Oil. When you spray the palm cover it thoroughly, you need to suffocate the scale. Asian Scale is very hard to treat, it can be found up to 24 inches down in the soil. Asian scale can reproduce within 3 to 4 weeks after they hatch, so you have to treat the palm every few weeks to keep it under control. You may find that you may just want to take the palm out, rather then trying to fight this tuff little critter. I have not used a King Sago in any of our landscape projects for years because of this pest. Even if you get a brand new palm from a nursery it will catch Asian Scale, it is wind driven and it can crawl, and is transported from lawn tools and mowers. If you trim your fronds off your palm before you spray it, remember to clean your tools by socking them with a solution of bleach and water, I hope this will help some of you. Again from one Villager to another thank you for your post here on Talk Of The Villages.

[moosemann8]

That was great information. Could you advise me what to use and when to fertilize bottle brush trees? Thank you in advance!!

[John_W]

This palm was installed last March. I used palm fertilizer in April and Oct 1st that was supplied by the landscaper. I took these photos last evening, can you tell me what's wrong with it? I noticed a brown palm in mid-August but now the three oldest are brown but haven't fallen off. Is it a potassium deficiency? Thanks

[784caroline]

To me your palm looks like a young "Queen" and if thats the case you will find most Queens lower branchs yellow out after time and eventually die....and thats even with fertilization a couple times a year. They need to be cut out when they are entirely brown. Otherwise Normal!

With the young Queens especially, they are very suspectible to any long periods of temps below 30 degrees. The winter of 2010 was pretty bad for alot of Robelis and Queens.

[John_W]

Originally Posted by 784caroline

To me your palm looks like a young "Queen" and if thats the case you will find most Queens lower branchs yellow out after time and eventually die....and thats even with fertilization a couple times a year. They need to be cut out when they are entirely brown. Otherwise Normal!...

OK thanks, I just got an email ten minutes ago from my landscaper McGowan and that's what she said. That it was fine and just trim off the older brown frowns.

[Rons Landscaping]

Originally Posted by moosemann8

That was great information. Could you advise me what to use and when to fertilize bottle brush trees? Thank you in advance!!

I have bottle brush also on my property and I feed them the same time I feed the palms. You can use the same feed Lesco 8-2-12 on that also. You can use that feed on all your bushes and trees in March, July, and November. It is a superior fertilizer to use I highly recommend it, just make sure to follow the directions on the bag. When feeding any of your plants or trees do not put the fertilizer up close to the plant or trunk of the tree, you can do more damage then good. Stay out on the drip line of the plants and trees that is where the newer root system is, and that is the area where the trees and plants are pulling most of there nutrients from.