The MOST DANGEROUS TREE 

No need to apologize for your videos. They're all both instructive and entertaining.

I had no idea such a beautiful tree would be both extremely dangerous and dirty.

Thats a huge monstrous palm tree! I really enjoyed your commentary and the whole video. The camera footage was such a thrill ride. Made the perspective so amazing. I learned alot from this. Be careful of the spikes!

So many date palms in Saudi Arabia and where I am from in the Eastern part it is a produce tree. It is well taken care of in date farms. Traditionally we climb them step by step with a rope harness tied around the trunk and cut the branches using very sharp sickles. My grandpa asked me once to cut one with the chainsaw and I refused, it messes up everything ! This was really interesting to watch, it is something I could relate too!! Thank you

Always enjoy your videos! Always lots to learn and the way in which the work is explained! Perfect

apparently there is a button in the go pro editing software that will remove the curves. As you may recall I haven't even owned a chainsaw for twenty years but I watched the whole video. YOu do a great job of presenting. Thank you. "listen to the old guy" :-)

Definitely not long or drawn out. It’s as always interesting and informative. Those trees are never seen in the northern parts of England. The first palm trees we saw were in Spain and I was shocked at the knives growing only a few feet above my head. The dangers of these trees is emphatically brought home by your video. Cheers Blair.👍

Great video! I appreciate seeing trees from different parts of the country. Can't recall the last time my phone range for a palm in Pennsylvania! The new camera work looks great.

Nasty trees is an understatement! Thanks for the video.

you have a pleasant voice to narrate with. Very calming video

Realy nice video..... thank you so much for your time and effort. I have one of these trees... yup, A REAL MESS !!

I'm afraid my mom has TWO of these beside her pool. I had no idea how bad they were until I tried recently to clean up the dead limbs. (The trees are about 20 ft. high.) I discovered the spikes. Mercy! I had to quit after about 2 hours of cutting and cleaning up after myself, but I'm 68 and no spring chicken. Now I'm heaitant to go back to finish.

we got them in Arizona as well ...thanks for talking more about the bucket truck ,its super cool!

Great video - really good at communicating the process - and making a point of how to protect yourself from injury!

I subscribed to your channel a ways back for educational purposes and I love your channel still. Listen to your elders, spot on.

These trees are no joke! I had one go right into the eyelet of my boot complete 1 in a million shot.. went through one of the tendons in my foot as well and I ended up in the hospital having surgery do to the infection it had caused to save my foot. Some friends of mine in the landscape business know people that have lost limbs over these trees. Definitely nothing to mess around with. Thanks for bringing it to peoples attention how dangerous they can be. Need less to say I will no longer be trimming them !

after watching this video i can safely say that those trees are nastYYYY!! Loved it.

They are very beautiful when maintained. Which high end species of palm do you recommend to most home owners?

excellent video, not boring at al, somewhat salifying to see the job after. Thank you

Hay boss nice job...i have one of these on a property that I own. But it has a bunch of babies growing at the base...my question is do I trim off completely to get to the truck...or sacrifice the main trunk and replant the babies ...will they survive?

I recall trimming one of those many years back. I wish I had a bucket to do it. There was a dead bird in it that apparently flew into the tree and didn't see the spike and it got impaled.

Love your stories

Younger years, the boss got the spike through his gloves and into the webbing of his hand. He manage to get the glove off but the spike had broken under the back of his hand but the point was showing. And yes the way they serrate backwards and tamper to the point, we only had oneway to go. A pear of pliers and pulled it right through. But how your friend with it through his wrest didn't get septicemia is incredible. Client broke one off in her large butt check, before travelling by air to England from Oz, she was dropped off in Singapore and went to hospital in agonizing pain. Hate those trees, I get spiked and I reach like and old man with arthritis with stiff fingers all curled in. I don't like mowing underneath them, I've been there when one fell like Thor's hammer with spikes on the ground behind me.

Well, Blair I do not have any date trees in my Alabama yard, and the only trees of this type I have seen were actually in the Canary Islands when we visited friends some years ago. One of the most interesting trees I saw in the Canaries was the Dragon Tree (Dracaena draco) However, I still enjoy your informative videos and have learned quite a bit about tree care. Please keep the videos coming. Thanks.

I've had to work on plenty of them here in Australia and I've been stuck really good sometimes with them.

Got stung by one of those spikes 3 weeks ago right in the front where my foot meets my leg , still swollen and some pain but I don't think I have ever had something hurting for so long ever before . I saw the tree on google earth 13 years ago but it was removed before I bought the house next to my main house , well one of the seeds that sprouted only now got me .

You ew gopro looks amazing, love wide lens so I can see what you are doing. I hope your daughter is all right. Thank you for sharing your amazing story’s. God bless you and your family.

Excellent and entertaining 👏 👌 video.

back in 1997 , the crew n I pruned the seed pods of about 20 date palms, we used hand pruners , to cut a path into the head of the palms and wiggled our way around pruning out all the seed pods and dead parts that were in the middle your explanation in spot on about this species of tree ..at the end I've had a few tree owners call me back one the years just because some tree guys made a mistake of cutting there tree wrong n now Im the only tree guy fro them yes it is a honor and a great feeling when the client alway super happy when you do there tree the way they like it plus the tree is happy and healthy ..

Thank you for the feedback, well explained

In addition to the critters you mentioned inhabiting date palms, I’ve seen snakes and lizards in them also.

I climb these often enough on Maui where I live on deer stands. We just use silkys and repel down. Once you’ve done a couple you get the hang of how to do it safely enough, but the most dangerous part is taking out the flowers. Gotta dog up into the frawns to grab them. I got three deep pricks in my writing hands knuckles once and my hand swole up to where I couldn’t move it. Four days later swelling went down but pain didn’t completely go away for two weeks. Be careful w these. I would recommend initially using really thick gloves I have a pair of lobster harvesting gloves I like. Nice video

YES!! I can't stand ugly trees!!! I so glad I found your channel. It's like I was the only one!!

Love this vidoe thank you

Nasty tree .we don't have these hear in NH .what's the trunk wood like ? Does it make decent fire wood ?

We have a smaller one of these in my backyard that I've been trimming every year or so. Can these be trimmed all the way to the trunk like other palms, or do you need to leave a few inches of the petiole against the trunk?

That Strawberry turned out Beautiful!!

Good video 👍

I had one of these thorns go in my wrist area. It went in at the lower palm(backside of my hand) and almost exited 1/4 of the way up my forearm.

how many inches is the bar on that chainsaw used for this video?

55 yrs exp. here--Cert. Arb.-enjoyed your video-and agree with you as to the danger of these and their dificulty. i"m in S. Ariz. and had to do these in Phx. and also where I live 100 m. East of there. 2 years ago did one of these that was 40' and not been done for 12 years and I hand climbed it. I used the big shot to shoot over entire palm for a climbing line that I used later when i also used a flip line to get other limb on the way up, using comb. of chain saw, power pruner, and pole saw. I did it when 104 degrees out so had to come down 3 times from sweat and exhaustion--I was 74 then too understand. I still climb, but more picky now what trees I do, and do it only once a week at the most. If I do one again I'd take your advice and do it only when the weather is cooler so I could protect myself more. I shaped the trunk also so the tree really looked nice when done, and I did not haul anything for I didn't want to deal with the junk that came down--they could not find anyone else that would do it so they agreed to do this----it was in the heart of town so I could refer people to it later for references for it looked GREAT when done, so I took a little pride in doing it--wish I could show a pic here--not sure how--but I'm not sure I will do anymore. Got bloodly doing it but nothing deeply impaled me. I will refer others to your video here on these Canary Date palms. Thanks for sharing.

GoPro wide angle is fine. I think we have gotten use to seeing the distorted view and it is not a problem; at least for me it's not. Being able to see the full scale of the work space is more informative and interesting I think. Great video as usual.

Got one of these in my yard, so far been able to cut dead fronds with long pole saw and have fun dodging them as they fall and bounce in unpredictable directions haha, never got poked too bad, but it just got tall enough that I started using a ladder. I just cut the thin part of the frond about 2 feet from the trunk, and after a couple years I can pull the remaining thick bases of the fronds off the trunk. So the trunk looks clean almost all the way up, then there's a couple feet of dead frond-stumps that aren't loose yet, and above that are the green ones. Never seen any edible dates, but I love these things, so cool to have my own bigass palm tree right in my yard 😁

what saw are you using? Are they special blades?

What a job! Love that saw sheath. Is that just a plunge cut 8 by 4? Genius.

Fun video. As the owner of four canary islands, I'm well aware of the dangers you explain. I've found the worst is just brushing against a thorn because the tip breaks off under the skin and gets infected and takes a couple of weeks to heal. I hope your warnings are heeded. I really hoped to see the finished trees. Maybe next time. Thanks!!

Wow. I'm lucky I found this! Thanks for the info. I almost purchased some of these! Hopefully, Sylvesters aren't as bad?

I have two of these in my backyard and what a nightmare. I’ve been stung many times, once piercing the vein in my wrist and blood was pouring out! And learned the hard way to clean the wound immediately, even if it doesn’t bleed since it does cause pain later, especially if it wasn’t cleaned. Such nice trees to look at but truely a menace!

Can the spikes be removed and if so will they grow back or continue to grow?

The old throw dirt on bad pruning cut lol 😆 😂 man the things some ppl do to trees

i have one of these trees in my garden i hate it when i need to trim it lucky its a small one but still the chipper i use a heavy duty domestic and if i dont put mix wood with it the fronds just tie it up like bits of string had gone though it

I like a longer bar to keep me away from the spines! I cut just outside the spines first, then cut a clearing up through the remaining butts and work from right to left too, when possible. They are definitely nasty! As an Arborist on the Santa Barbara city crew, we’ve done quite a lot of them!

I"m still with you. I will never trim a palm like this but found your video extremely interesting. You have a great narrative voice. In 2022 there is a beetle attacking the heart of these Canary palms in So Cal. There are dead palm trees by the 1,000s across the region.

What machine or bucket lift are you using? Is it a lift from the truck or a tow one?

I'm glad I don't deal with palms lol I never knew they had those spikes. I saw that video of the guy going on that crazy ride in Palm an started a little Bing on palm tree vids. Iv watched alot of your vids before we talked about sena s one of your video lol. But thank you for your vids love the commentary.

My Roebelenii palms is gorgeous and I love all 9 of them in my landscape here in Florida. However, I agree the thorns are dangerous. But, I have nothing going in them as creatures here have to be afraid of those thorns. Even lizards 🦎 seem to stay away 😊 but, I think mine is Gorgeous and has grown big and beautifully since hey were very small 2feet when I got them put in. I think they are way prettier than all the other Boring palms here in Florida. As long as you keep them trimmed up and the trunk clean from cuttings, they are a beautiful addition to any landscapes.

I agree the Canary Island date Palm is a bear to work on. Worst I ever got it was a mature Mexican Fan Palm. The fronds have saw teeth that are razor sharp. I took a full sized frond across the forearm while throwing it into the chipper. Didn’t take stitches but it was close!

I have a bunch of these annoying palms. How do I skin it? It seems too fiberous and breaks my saws

i started my bussuness a while ago and i still dont climb with ropes and stuff just by pure guts and holding on but i really want to learn how to climb to get in one of this trees

Near the beginning of the video you mention the job is underbid. Do you regard it as underbid because of the time on the job, or the fact its an unpleasant tree to deal with?

MUCH MUCH RESPECT TO YOU! I as well tackle the hardest work first. I promise everyone this work in general is not for the weak of heart.... I’m clearing an entire property now and dealing with Years of palm growth as well ground debris. I’m up to 100 debris bags in 2 weeks time. Quick story- took down a bougainvillea this week in a pergola... 25 foot wide vine going two ways.... I had gloves on however nothing stopping the thorns. By night time I had so many sticks to my body that I was having difficulty breathing. The next day I could barely ball my fist up from how inflamed they were from the bougainvillea pricks.

Where did you buy thay chain saw?

Do the thorns cause swelling?

Blair, I like the wide angle view. Just don’t dance a jig in wide angle! Interesting to see you work.

I'm from the sahara, and we have alot of them here, in my garden too, 2 are over 10m high, few people dare climb up barefooted using a bucket isn't an option bc our garden i walled and there is no hangar door access i had no idea how fast the grow, like 1-2m every year just 2 days ago i hit my leg on one of the dry thorns on the ground when i was walking around at night in my garden, and we have scorpions too and one worker before found one hidden as he was climbing up i mostly cut or work those shorter than 5m because i can use a ladder, over that it's too much for me one short guy who worked for us before, used to walk from one palm tree to another like a crow lol, i coudn't believe it how he could walk over the palms like he was a bird

I agree the worst trees ever to work on. Plus if you get stuck with the spines they have a bacteria that makes the area feel sore and arthritic for a few days afterwards. I was wearing leather gloves and still found a 1/2" long spine broken off in the back of my hand several hours later and didn't even know it was there. My whole hand was sore and stiff for two days afterwards.

I also really appreciate your video, it isn't too long. I appreciate the detail you show. I have two of these to do, and I'm reconsidering my price. They are both next to a pool and have long old fronds that have those nasty spines sticking out. The old fronds are about a foot long. The client has two small children that likely to get seriously hurt by those spines. He sent me a picture of two palms done the pineapple cut way and asked me if my price included doing them like that... there's no way, just like you described in this video.

got any on gutting em out ?

I got a Sylvester date palm thorn in my had this summer trimming my grandparents date palms. It got infected and it was bad. It took 2 months to work its way back to the surface.

Have one of these trees at the apartments I live in now. I so badly want to take it out because of the seed pods. They get everywhere and my dog has hurt his paw several times on them.

Great video and not too long. I can vouch for how nasty these spines are, I had one go through a glove and finger, it was a year before it was back to normal. Watch those bear wrists a well.

Which palm seed are edible and which are poisonous?

I got poked just from watching this video. I'm in NE Florida, I hate those things as well. My climber got hit in the shoulder and went about 2 to 3in deep.

Just curious on why these people keep the date palm. In my area we try to eliminate anything that vermin are attracted to. Seems they wouldn’t want rats nest close to their house

I have 2 of these in my front yard, less than 3ft tall. Man do the little ones hurt. Never thought about when they get bigger😳

Very cool 👍 A leather jacket, or even the top half version used for welding would be handy for that. Whould be hot, but 🤷

Acacia trees can be pretty nasty too. I've also had my share of getting poked by pyracantha.

Phoenix & Washingtonia palms are widely planted and are beautiful viewed from a distance, but they are as thorny as you say. Sabal mexicana and Trachycarpus palms are spineless and although they are both fan type palms are equally hardy and better, friendlier palms that should be used more. It's just that people plant the spiny ones because they see them more often, so that's what they plant.

I’ve been trimming one of them for years it started out only 4 feet tall now it’s almost 18 feet at top of growth ball those spikes hurt for a long time after it gets you healed slowly

I was climbing one and got into a huge wasp nest. That’s the worst because you can’t retreat fast enough.

I trimmed up my neighbors palm like this one and I was stuck several times and they hurt. One broke off on the top my finger and I pulled a half inch thorn out. They’re very sharp and very painful.

I have 3 of these on my property. We have them professionally trimmed twice a year. I don’t like them either. Our guys climb them...yikes! Before moving to Florida, I loved palm trees, not so much anymore. They are so messy! doesn’t look like those have been trimmed in a long time.

What kind of Palm tree is this

I had no idea that a lot of people frown on using a top-handled saw one-handed! I thought the whole idea of top handled saws was so that you can use them one-handed. That electric saw looks brilliant - maybe I'll get one - are they a lot lighter than an 020 / MS200T?

Too bad that you can't just put a match to them. Some years ago in San Diego there was a grouping of Mexican fan palms. They caught fire. Cleaned up nicely. Some black smudges, but overall a nice effect.

Electric Chainsaw. How do you like them?

When I was about 10 years old I got a spike that went into the top of my foot. Dad tried to pull it out but it wouldn't budge ( me screaming) so the doctor put some kind of poultice on and a few weeks later it popped out. Very very painful. And I now own a property with four of these devil trees! I'd like one of those little saws.

Lol and i thought poncirus trifoliata and the invasive babies off the bradford pears had some mean thorns! I believe this palm has them both beat!

I've 3 Phoenix Canariensis palms I've grown from wee tots over 22 years... they're beasts now! I've been impaled many times & like your "wrist" story... similar to my ankle... No clue how. To the ER I went. Ugly scar. Used to do it ALL myself, now they're too big, scary & will ONLY hire "licensed & insured due to the fear of them harming themselves.

I just got down to Florida and heard about these trees. Oh boy..

And I thought pruning the smaller ones is dangerous! If I ever have a large one I'll probably let the old fronds hang. Great job! Had no idea how bad those jobs actually are apart from the heights...

I absolutely hate these palms. I have removed them and it was always miserable. Just talked a customer into removing a smaller one that we had been fighting and backing into for a week. That was a joyous occasion. haha

That’s one dangerous tree! If I lived in a tropical region I wouldn’t dare to plant a palm as nasty as that one

I liked the go-pro the helmet better then the chest. It feels like I am seeing through your eyes.

Dang I thought our Gleditsia triacanthos were bad! I cant imagine catching one of those in the chest.

when I was a teen, my brother had one of these palms (mexican fan palm?) that had huge saw tooth thorns sticking out both sides of the fronds and I was up at the top of extension ladder cutting them off with a hand saw...that was a nasty and dangerous job. But I was a teen and teens do stupid dangerous things. Miracle I didn't get knocked off the ladder or snagged by those thorns.

I was pruning 40 yrs. old tree's leaves over 100 x dead leave's branches. I got injury my hands left thumb, left finger and right-hand finger, all got stuck in by this Canary Island Palm, I WEAR ALDI garden Gloves, color green, thick rubber with cloth material lining, Thorns still stuck in gloves, my hands very painful. I end up HOSPITAL today, Australian DR GUY 35 yrs. old, has removed 7 x thorns out my hands by knife to picker. Does your Leather gloves are still Stucks in by thorns?

For those wanting guidance on these, read my comments below, but I want to add something I forgot to mention. On some of the dead fronds, I would use the pole saw to reach out on the dead fronds where they branch out and pull to me, then just JERK on them to put pressure on where they attach to the trunk and they would break off--makes a clean break--others would not break so later had to cut with a chain saw. Also, when about 1/3 of the way from the top I transferred from being strapped to the trunk to that climbing line I mentioned below pre-installed from the ground. Then, using foot ascender, climbed up above all the remaining fronds, including the green ones, to then use a chain saw, which is lot safer then, but still a lot of work.

wow !!!

I listened to the old guy and pruned my 7 date palm trees with my excavator (to the ground).