Maxwell Pons - Texas Nature Conservancy - Palm Tree Expert

Information Provided by Maxwell Pons - June 2010

Confirmed that the species of the Division Street Palm is Washingtonia filifera or California Fan Palm.
Max Was not overly concerned about browning of young fronds June of 2010. He suggested that after the transplanting operation the tree was putting more energy into growing roots rather than developing new fronds.
Max indicated that the bend in the trunk of The Division Street Palm indicates that the tree was probably several feet tall when planted on the overpass slope.

>The Division Street Palm was moved from Arlington, TX to Carrollton, TX on December 11, 2010 which is near the beginning of winter. The cold 2010 winter was not kind to The Division Street Palm. There was a historical snowfall in mid-February and blowing snow on Christmas which augmented the transplanting stress on the tree. By March all the fronds of the tree had turned brown. The author was euphoric on March 28, 2010 when new fronds were discovered emerging from the center of the canopy. This was proof that the tree hard survived the winter and transplanting ordeals. When notified about the new growth, Tree Place professionals removed the dead fronds. Unfortunately, the new fronds that subesequently emerged turned brown quickly and the author contacted Maxwell Pons of the Texas Nature Conservancy, a palm tree expert from south Texas, for guidance. After talking with Max on the phone the author send detailed images of the Division Street Palm, including images of the move for his review. Max responded quickly with valuable information. He was not overly concerned about the short lived fronds and attributed the relatively quick demise of new fronds to the fact that the large tree was putting energy into developing a new root system rather than growing new fronds. This news was a great relief to the author. He also confirmed the species of the tree as a Washingtonia filifera or California Fan Palm. In addition, from the images I sent him he concluded that the bend in the trunk indicated that the tree was several feet high when originally planted on the steep highway overpass slope in Arlington.

Carrollton, Texas 3/16/2010

Three months after the move from Arlington to Carrollton fronds on the Division Street reflected the effects of transplanting stress and below freezing north Texas temperatures. The author utilized Homer's Buckets, filled with water from his home and transported with his car, to water the tree subsequent to the transplanting work. Braces and Christmas lights, installed by the Tree Place, were still in place.

Carrollton, Texas 3/28/2010

>In late March, when the author checked the tree, new green fronds were emerging from the heart of the tree. This thrilled the author who had been disheartened by the fact that originally healthy fronds had turned brown due to transplanting and cold winter temperatures. The emergence of new fronds was immediately reported to Robert Hafkesbring of the Tree Place who was also greatly enthused.

Carrollton, Texas 6/5/2010

The growth of new fronds from the Division Street Palm indicated that the tree had survived transplanting and winter temperatures. The Tree Place removed the dead fronds to help the tree "push" out more new fronds. This image reflects new fronds that emerged subsequent to trimming off dead fronds. When checking the tree at this time the author was concerned about the condition of new fronds. The author sent images to Maxwell Pons, a palm tree expert with the Texas Nature Conservancy, and asked for his evaluation and advice.

Carrollton, Texas 7/5/2010

Maxwell communicated with the author and reassured him about the condition of new fronds. Maxwell was not concerned about the frond condition and indicated that the newly transplanted tree would focus growth in the redeveloping root system.