I am on the Board of the Laurelwood Homeowners Association. This is comprised of 49 homes on Indian Spring Country Club in Boynton Beach, FL. We are currently struggling with a problem related to Areca Palms in our common areas following Hurricane Wilma. The homes in our development are close to 20 years old. The developer planted arecas on the property lines between many homes to act as privacy screens. Some of these trees have now grown to over 30 feet in height and frankly they are pretty ugly. Moreover, they continually drop browned dead branches to the ground. We have them outside the fence to our community pool where they are forever shedding on the pool deck. Some homeowners want to cut them back and maintain them to a height not exceeding 12-15 feet while others want them to remain as is and they are pretty adamant about this. I am looking for some guidance in the proper care and maintenance of these arecas and hopefully some recommendation as to a policy our Board could adopt regarding them.
Palms cannot be pruned like a tree to control height as they have only one growing tip. There is no further new growth once that tip is lost.
Trees don't appreciate being topped either. If they have enough vigor these palms might be able to be managed by periodically cutting off the tallest trunks down at the bottom of the clump, leaving the rest in place. New trunks can be kept continually cycling through, each clump looking as though it was growing to the desired height on its own. Otherwise, if everybody--and not just some of you--hates them and wants to spend the money they should just be taken out and replaced with something shorter.
I didn't mean that we'd prune them at 12 or 15 feet. What I meant to say was that we'd cut the stalks at the base when a stalk exceeded 15 feet. Presumably that would spur new growth from the clump at the base.
