How Much Does It Cost To Remove A Palm Tree In Northwest Florida?

Making sure your trees are healthy are an important part of taking care of your landscaping. In Florida, that usually means maintaining and paying attention to your palm trees.

Palm tree removal is such a normal part life here in Northwest Florida that our clients often ask us how much it costs to remove a palm tree. The answer, as you can probably imagine, depends on a number of factors.

Before we get into actual cost to remove a palm tree in Northwest Florida, let’s talk about what we monitor with palm trees.

Keep Your Palm Trees Healthy With Regular Maintenance

Like other plants and trees, palm trees do require regular maintenance to stay healthy. When a palm tree is getting established in a new location (whether it’s young or was moved to another spot), it needs adequate water.

Fortunately palm trees are drought-tolerant, so once established, they don’t need regular watering.

It’s important to fertilize them with micronutrients two times per year, to make sure they have the food they need to be healthy.

You’ll also need to remove your palm tree’s dead fronds and seed heads. The dead fronds can be a fire hazard, and can also harbor pests.

Sometimes the green fronds need trimming if they’re blocking a pathway, as they can be sharp and injure people. They can also displace overhead wires if the tree is tall enough and positioned in their way.

Why Should A Palm Tree Be Removed?

Of course if a palm tree is diseased, removal is a good idea. There are a few sections of the tree to look at when determining if a palm tree is diseased. A professional considers the canopy (leaves), to see their color, shape, size and how they are hanging. The flowers and fruits should grow and drop at normal times. The trunk shouldn’t have holes or splits, and it shouldn’t have gummy sap on the exterior either.

But some also choose to remove healthy palms for good reasons. Sometimes the palm tree is too close to a building and its fronds are in the way, or the trunk is too close to a structure for maintenance or just comfort. Some prefer to move the palm in a different place for aesthetic reasons.

The Dangers Of Diseased And Dying Palm Trees

A diseased or dying palm tree is a huge liability to home and business owners. The popular sabal palm in Florida can grow to 65 feet in height. If it fell, it could cause a lot of damage to buildings and cars, not to mention what could happen if it fell on a person.

It’s safer and cheaper to remove a questionable palm tree before it falls on its own, causing destruction in its wake.

Considering Palm Tree Replacement?

If you remove a palm tree, you can sometimes plant another in the same spot. However if it’s diseased, that may not be possible. If a palm tree died of fungus, there still may be fungus in the soil. Fumigating or replacing the soil is a possibility, but not a guarantee that the next palm won’t get this disease as well.

Also, if the root structure of the diseased palm is dense, it might be cost prohibitive or difficult to remove them all. The roots might be crumbly or mushy as well. If the roots are diseased, you may need to plant elsewhere, or at least not within a couple of feet of the previous planting.

Factors To Consider In Palm Tree Removal Costs

When a landscaping company determines the price to remove a palm tree, we look at a few factors. The first, of course, is the palm tree’s size. The larger it is, the more expensive it will be to remove, and there will also be more debris for disposal.

Landscape companies like GreenEarth also consider the property’s location as well as the tree’s location. If the property is in a more remote location, we’d need to travel further with our equipment to get there and to dispose of the tree.

A tree close to a building can also add to the cost because the professionals need to take extra care to make sure nothing close by gets damaged; it requires more work to remove the upper parts of the tree. If the site is difficult to access, that can make things more expensive as well.

We usually move in large, heavy equipment and need room to do that. If there’s no room for equipment, then additional manual labor is the only solution, which adds to the palm tree removal cost.

How Much Does Palm Tree Removal Cost?

There’s no finite answer to the costs for cutting down a palm tree, since there are many factors involved.

If you just want to cut an average height (18 feet or shorter) Sabal palm tree flush to the ground, it can be done for around $300, provided there’s easy access and no buildings close by.

In the same scenario, also removing the root ball would increase the price to around $425. Palm trees like Canary, Medjool and Pindo are much larger and can cost around $500 for removal.

These, of course, are estimates, and each scenario depends on factors mentioned above.

GreenEarth Has Solutions For Your Palm Tree Problems

At GreenEarth, we know the importance of maintaining your palm trees and keeping them healthy. We can inspect your trees to make sure they’re cared for, so they look great and last a long time. If you have diseased or dying trees, we can also help you out. We have the expertise and equipment to move — depending on size — and remove palm trees to meet your needs.

If you’d like a consultation or want to know what we can do to help you, give us a call at our Panama City Beach office at (850) 236-1959, or call our Santa Rosa Beach office at (850) 267-0010 to set up an appointment. You can also fill out the online form on our website to schedule a consultation.

Images: Fallen palm tree, Sabal palms