Palms that lived need time to look like we remember
For many of the palm trees around town, the verdict on whether they survived February’s arctic storms is in — sort of.
Generally, native palms survived and have already begun sending out new fronds. Some nonnatives also have begun showing signs of life, although nonnative species were the most vulnerable to the freeze and there are still plenty that look — and may be — dead.
Whether palm trees survived has been a question on many San Antonians’ minds after the February freeze. The tall trees are fairly common landscape plants in the area because so many are drought tolerant, and they iconically adorn Woodlawn Avenue in the Monte Vista Historic District just north of downtown, as well as the airport.
“Palms are only a small percentage of the tree cover in San Antonio,” said Ross Hosea, San Antonio’s city forester. “But they have an outsize hold on the city’s self-image.”
For those palms that did survive, it will be weeks, even months before they leaf out fully and look as magnificent as they did before the freeze.
The potential loss of a large number of nonnative palms has raised concerns about the cost of removing them, which experts peg at $400 to $2,200 or more per tree, depending on the tree’s size and location and the complexity of the job.
In Pittman-sullivan Park on the near East Side, for example, there are 29 palms, according to Hosea. While most appear to have survived the freeze, were that not the case, the city would be looking at a price tag of anywhere from $12,000 to $64,000 for tree removal just in that park.
For homeowners, the thought of having to foot the bill to take down and replace even a couple of large palms can be the stuff of nightmares. Homeowners are responsible for all trees on their property, even those planted in the easement in front of their homes.
Among the native palms most likely to survive are the sabal palms, such as the ones at the airport entrance, which appear to have been unfazed by the cold, and windmill palms, according to Bob Webster, co-owner of Shades of Green on Sunset. “These varieties were almost totally undamaged by the cold,” he said. “A lot of them are already sending out new shoots.”
Other likely survivors are the multitrunked Mediterranean fan palms. Even if they lost one or more trunks, they should still be able to put out new ones from the roots.
The news is mixed, though, for the two species of the popular Washingtonia palms, the robosta and the filifera. Webster estimated that 80 percent of the filifera species will come back, while most of the robosto are likely dead. It’s unclear which type is on Woodlawn Avenue through Monte Vista, although they do appear to be sending out new green fronds.
Because those 100-year-old palms are reaching the end of their life span, the Monte Vista Historic District had, even before the storm, convened a committee to determine whether they should be replaced and, if so, with what, according to Lynn Boyd, a committee member.
“The palms are an important part of the image of Monte Vista,” he said. “The line of trees, the repetition, draws your eye to them and makes you say, ‘Wow, this is kind of cool.’”
Other nonnatives, such as pindo and date palms, also suffered major losses, according to Tyler Burkett, owner with his wife, Amy, of Burkett Arbor Care in Bergheim. “I’ve heard numbers like 80 percent or more thrown around as a percentage of casualties to these palm varieties,” he said.
As for the queen palms (the classic palm trees of Hollywood), with their stately, drooping canopy, the news is all bad. “The only way to describe them is dead,” Webster said.
Lastly, the popular, albeit misnamed, sago palms appear to have survived the winter. A member of the cycad family and not really palms, sagos are treasured for their handsome, deep green fronds, which quickly died and turned brown after the storms. But around town, sagos can already be seen sending up new shoots from their crowns at the top.
Now, if you have a dead palm, you will have to take it down. A dead palm tree will likely stand for months, even a year before becoming in danger of falling, which can damage property or injure someone. But taking down a dead palm can be a complex task, especially if it’s near homes or other buildings.
Edward Etter, owner of Etter Tree Care near Stahl Road, said he charges $300 per three-man-crew-hour, to remove trees. When bringing down palms, he sometimes needs to bring in a man lifter so the palm can be cut in slices from the top down.
“We even once had to erect scaffolding around a dead palm near the Menger Hotel to take it down safely,” he said. “A job like that can take several days.”
Trees damaged by a freeze die slowly. So, according to Webster, while you can trim off the dead fronds, it’s still too early to cut down any palm trees, no matter how ugly they may look.
One clue to whether a palm is still alive is to examine the bud at the top of the crown, where new leaves emerge. If it’s firm and dry, there’s a good chance the tree is still viable. If it’s soft and mushy, not so much.
Even if there is some new growth, that doesn’t mean the tree is completely out of the woods, according to Webster.
“There are times a palm will send up a single frond and then die anyway,” he said. “I tell people that once you see three fronds, the palm is going to be OK.”
“We’re still in a wait-and-see situation,” he said, suggesting homeowners wait at least another five or six weeks before cutting down any palms — native and nonnative alike — that haven’t yet shown signs of life.
For those determined to replace their lost palms, the process could be tough — and expensive.
Many of the mature, landscape-size palms sold in San Antonioarea nurseries and to landscape companies are grown in wholesale palm tree farms in the Rio Grande Valley. In February, temperatures there reached 25 degrees and stayed below freezing for two days and three nights, damaging — if not killing — much of the nonnative inventory.
Gonzalez Tree Farm in San Benito is fielding a boom of call from businesses and people looking for replacement palms.
But because of a combination of increased demand and tightened inventories, those callers will be paying more than they would have not long ago. The farm is selling landscape-size Mexican fan palms for $20 per trunk foot, sabal palms for $75 per trunk foot and date palms for $95 per trunk foot — all about 15 percent higher than prices before the freeze, according to general manager Mark Gonzalez.
For now, Nanis Maikhail is still waiting and hoping that the close to a dozen palms of various types at her home in the Vineyard near Stone Oak will survive. “I was born in Egypt, and my husband and I love the Mediterranean look of palm trees,” she said. “It makes the house our own little oasis in Texas.”
Several of her palms are starting to leaf, although a pindo palm in her front yard appears to be lost for good. Maikhail said she’s unsure whether she’ll replace it.
“We’ve paid anywhere from $600 to $1,200 for these palms, so you’ve got to factor in, what if this (arctic storm) happens again?” she said.