The tall, straight queen palm tree (Syagrus romanzoffianum) is well suited to U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 9b through 11. It grows rapidly to heights of 30 to 40 feet, therefore it should not be planted under power wires. Its arching fronds spread to diameters of approximately 20 feet. The queen palm is low maintenance when planted in a sunny location with good drainage, requiring relatively small water after three decades old. Even though the queen hand rarely needs pruning, apart from eliminating spent fronds, if it’s exposed to the occasional cold snap, careful pruning becomes necessary.

Wait before pruning the queen palm until all risk of further freezing weather has passed. Although freezing damage can be ugly, do not get rid of any fronds due to damaged fronds can insulate the queen palm in subsequent cold weather. Wait an extra time period until new growth appears in your queen palm.

Set a ladder against the queen palm which has freezing damage in the event the queen hand is too tall for you to effortlessly reach the fronds. Position the ladder so that the bottom is on a solid, level surface. Expand the ladder so that its top is inside a foot or two of their lowest palm fronds.

Climb carefully to the fronds of the queen palm. Cut off only completely brown fronds using a pruning saw alongside the trunk, but do not cut the trunk tissue.

Remove only brown portions on the far ends of fronds that still have green tissue near the trunk. Cut the frond as close the brown part as you can but make the cut in live, green tissue.

Leave any green fronds which have yellow speckles untouched. Don’t get rid of any live tissue of the queen palm.

Monitor the queen palm over the next few months. Should you see collapsed fronds or deformed, abnormal new fronds appear, it’s a symptom of trunk damage. If the damage is too extensive, the tree may die.

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