Palm Tree Removal
 

A few years ago I had a Sylvester palm planted in front of my courtyard villa. It has now outgrown its boundaries and I would like to have it removed. Looking for a reasonable, reliable tree removal service .

Tree Frog, he is good at what he does and is very careful not to damage anything.

I wonder if you could call the company that put it in and offer to let them take it back for free, then they could sell it again as a "Mature Tree"

Palm tree removal
 

We had 2 Sylvester Palms in front of our courtyard villa and 1 Sylvester Palm in the back. Way too big for the villa and the roots were invasive.

We used:
Ace Tree Service
(352) 636-3505
Jerry Stanage

Ace was the only tree service I called (I had many estimates) that was able to provide a Certificate of Insurance for liability insurance and for Workers’ Comp.

The workers' comp is important. If company has no workers' comp insurance, the homeowner is liable for any injuries to an employee or worker while removing the palms.

Ace was not the cheapest and not the highest $'s, but towards the upper $'s.

Ace was also the only tree service that mentioned up front that they would have the water & electric lines marked. Ace had a 3rd party come to our villa before they started and marked the water & electric. It was a good thing since the water was very near the front palms.

Also, we wanted the stumps ground down as low as possible, so we could replant something. Ace had a large stump grinder for the front and a small stump grinder that fit though the gate for the back. Ace did an excellent job.

FYI, No need for CDD approval for palm trees.

I have no idea if this is accurate information or not, but I was told that if you contact the palm tree nurseries, they will actually pay you to remove your palm tree. Like I say, I don't know that's accurate, but it would be worth few phone calls.

Such Good Advice but rarely followed
 

You gave EXCELLENT advice, but we've found few really follow through with making sure of the insurance on ALL those working on private property. We talked directly to FL dept. of insurance and have found OVER & OVER the "insurance" number painted on vehicles and on business cards are either expired or have never been in the data base. Was told this is not unusual in FL, to go through the process of actually filing and getting a number, and then NOT renewing, and subsequently NOT removing from vehicles and business cards ! Seems there should be some kind of fail-safe to catch this, or some kind of penalty, but was told, "no, really no way to stop this". ???? ALWAYS check ALWAYS, we found just because it is a popular plumber, roofer, etc. does not guarantee the insurance is actually ACTIVE and on file with the state.... it does not take that much effort to check ! BTW, what was the approximate cost of three palms ? Recently a neighbor got a bid of $300 for for three fairly high (18-20 ft ?) palms, maybe 10 inches in diameter. Didn't know if that was average (they did not ask that the stumps be ground out, they got something from HD that took care of the stumps.

Certificate of insurance
 

I do not rely on a business card or a vehicle sign or take any information from the sales person or vendor at face value. As for insurance, I requested a "Certificate of Insurance" for liability and workers' comp. directly from the vendor/company's insurance provider. The certificates most likely come from two different insurance companies as most workers' comp insurance providers do not also provide liability insurance. The certificates should be original and mailed by the insurance company directly to the homeowner.

There are some very good and honest folks trying to make a living with a service business in TV. I respect their efforts. But they may not have insurance, and if something goes wrong, it is the homeowner who will pay.

The suggestion to call Palm Tree Nurseries is probably valid. You can also try Sunscape Landscape Nurseries out of Tampa
813-855-2121
They paid me $375 for each of 4 Sylvester Palms and did a great job.

True, but do your homework with prices.

I am currently interested in planting a Sylvester palm tree in my property. What are your recommendation in regards to size, age, planting location, etc.

In addition, I would like to know what it means that the palm have outgrown to the point that it have to get removed.

Anyone have experience with date palm trees such as medjool or barhi palm tree?

There are companies that will buy your tree. They excavate it , fill the hole and plant what you'd like in its place. Sorry don't have name but neighbor did it with wonderful results.

I also had a great experience with Sunscape out of Tampa. They paid me last year $400.00 for our Sylvester and did a terrific job of making the area look like there never was a tree in that spot.

Companies like Sunscape that buy trees are interested in specific trees. The typical palm tree like queen palms they have no interest in.

As for insurance certificates tell contractors to provide one with your name on certificate. Then call that agency for proof that he has a policy and if cancelled u will be notified. As a retired contractor I gave many customer insurance certificates and had many customers request this be done. No biggy

Sunscape removed our Canary Date Palm. We were paid and they replaced the spot w a triple robellini. They are highly professional and careful. But they won’t remove it until they have a spot for it...so it will only be uprooted once. We went into contract and waited about a year.