Trim A Sago Palm (STIHL GTA26) 

HELPFUL INFO : #1 This sago is in need of some fertilizer(magnesium) to remove yellowing. Home depot sales a special blend for Sago's and will last a very long time. #2 It appeared to have scale (white stuff on prawns) So a good spray coat of "horticulture oil" should be applied and reapplied after hard rains. Every 3 months is my practice. The scale will eventually kill the plant if unchecked.#3 As far as your trimming goes. I personally would NOT use a chainsaw blade. It does not give the plant a clean cut such as a bladed pruner. The shredded area could harbor bacteria such as the scale and kill the plant. #4 Actual pruning cretic. I normally find that if you open the plant up and take out ALL cross branches (prawns) towards the center of the plant(a plant having more than one head) it allows more air flow and detours bacteria growth. I have found by doing this it also helps the heads pull away from each other eventually. This allows you to keep the plant heads separated and if done right it is not very noticeable from the viewers eye. I also remove all sucker from the trunk as well. I enjoyed you commentary Brad. This is why I am replying. I follow a lot of orchard and vegetable growing channels and EVERYONE is very informative and helpful to each other. It always seems the "PROFESSIONAL" Lawn care community is the ones who are not and has the jackass comments. Great to see you calling them out 👊

Love the trim. I have 2 of those in my yard and I love the way they make the yard look. I need to definitely trim them now that Ive seen this video. They'll look a lot better once I do.

I keep seeing people apologizing that the GTA 26 is not a "professional" tool, but it seemed like a good tool for that job. My property is still too soggy and more rain is on the way, but I can't wait to try mine.

Trim looks great. I have 6 of these. They have to be cut back hard once a year. Mine are 9 feet tall. They can hurt you, wear gloves and a long sleeve shirt when trimming. Los Angeles

Don't get me started on Sago palms. They are beautiful--and painful beyond belief. It looked far lovelier than it deserved to look when you were done. Bravo brave man!

I think it was nice 👍 cleared alot of breathing space for both the palm tree and also the shrubs behind it.

I was with you when you got the branches that were touching the ground and the ones that were brown. Good job. I just would have left a little more of the fullness that was still green. I know hack jobs...did one myself on an evergreen bush but I was mad and that's a story for another web-site. LOL!!

Thanks for sharing! I cut back about a dozen large segoes yesterday that had gotten overgrown and pretty beat up by the last few hurricanes. I used loppers because I like the arm strengthening exercise. Doesn't it feel good to look at that big pile of branches?! But I hit a nest of wasps and was hi-tailing it out of there with a slew of them chasing me! Only one sting - whew! Going back today armed with wasp killer! I'm determined to win the war battle by battle! (btw, female, 68... not that it matters!)

Was praying for you the entire time Bud!! I'm so thankful you weren't killed or maimed!! I can not believe you used that saw with one hand!!! Hoping all is well, Dirty Jersey out!!

Great video! I'm going right now to find that cutting tool. My hands will love that. The finished look freshens up the once overgrowth look next to the home.

Very helpful!! I started on mine today and will finish up tomorrow after learning some tips from your video!! Thank you for sharing!!

It looks great now: I liked the fact that you kept two plants. Regular trimming will keep it looking good.

I think it looks much better, nice n tidy. I have afew of these plants n have been doing the same thing . Good job.

I really like that GTA26. That is the first time I have seen it used.

Great job.

Cool little saw, i use my Milwaukee m18 hackzall and I think it does a little better job than that saw, it leaves a much cleaner cut and you’ll be able to get a lot closer to the palm so the cuts don’t hang off as much, but looks good! And for everyone saying he cut too much, the more you cut sago the more they’ll come back, in about a month it’ll look full again

It looks like a couple of pups got huge. It’s an interesting look! I always remove and plant the pups.

Have a few in my backyard and they also split like that grew along the ground 5 feet and then straight upward very weird plant to trim indeed.

You took the words out of haters comments remarks there. Lol

Gave that thing a good workout, and good to see. Sounds "plasticky" but high power, but this is only YT. My suggestion would only be a Backhoe to get it the hell outta there. Seems like an awful place for a big bush, right in front of a window? Let there be light. I've got a similar condition and everyone just got a haircut down to the window sills. I have to agree with Ron's remarks below about the cleanness of the cut. That's a brutal way to cut a frond. But, soon I'll be going around collecting the tree trash from over the winter and that'd be a handy tool for cutting up branches up to 2-3" diameter.

I like that tool. Seems super handy!

Seeing that there is like three heads , the trim looks wayyy better 😌👌🏽

lOVE THIS, I HAVE TRIMMED MY SAGOS FOR YEARS, LAST YEAR WHEN I TOOK MY CHRISTMAS LIGHTS OFF, I NOTICED I AM HAVING 2 SETS OF TWINS. ONE MALE ONE FEMALE BUT NOT NEXT TO EACH OTHER...I HAVE MY DRIVEWAY LINED WITH THEM, LIKED YOUR VIDEO. LIVE WEST OF TALLAHASSEE. WEAR SOME GLOVES BUD

That’s a spiteful plant Brad , the little cutter is a really handy tool for such work . I’m not a fan of spiky plants but you sure did a nice job , great improvement . 🇬🇧

It seems like the ground needs some cleanup too, turn soil and fertilize. Good job pruning.

I honestly find most stuff like that unappealing after they are pruned. There doesn’t seem to be much of a right or wrong way to do it though.

Looks great. I would be most happy. Handy tool also.

Very nice!

Good job don’t worry about the keyboard Bandits. They don’t know how to do it that’s why they watched .

Thank you, looks great. Now I know how to do mine.

There's not much you can do to one that's split in two like that. I trim them now up by grabbing the fronds and snatching to the side and I haven't gone back to snips since. I believe its Wally that has the video of it

It cuts like butter!!!

So glad landscaping is considered okay during this crazy time. Nice job!

Looks ok to me....nice job my friend.....

Nice job Brad. Looks much better. I really don't like palm trees, refuse to plant on my property. There's plenty of those in Phoenix, plus cactus. 😠

i like your channel thank you👍🏼

Looks good

Ewww, I don't know why, but in the end, the little stumps of the branches you just cut off gave the same yuck feeling like holes in trypophobia.

Oh man! Sago Palm is a devil plant. They're sharp on all sides and evil in the middle. 5 words I dread from a client - my-sago-palm-needs-trimming.

I think it works pretty well for that.

These can be cut with out any pruning shears or electric saw. All it takes is removing one and the rest fall off one by one

A good set of hand snips and could easily be just as effective IMO. This works quite well tho.

I like it the video on cutting the the palm I've found

Wow! That was quite the haircut!! How often do you have to trim this type of palm? Really enjoying your work! Still way too much snow on the ground up this way and wouldn’t you know it, there’s more falling overnight. Cheers!!!

You dont hav snakes there.? In Az snakes like to sit in those kinds of trees or brush. Why do people like those kinds of bushes so close to their house? All the roots that are going to eventually get into the sewer system - very costly repair. If it was my house i would yank that out and put something else there. Thats what i did at my house when i purchased it.

i don’t even have palms in by city and it’s still winter lol

you did a good job.

Is that two plants or one that split? I have one that grew like 5 off shoots, trimmed them off to get back to center. I use espson salt ( 1 cup per 2 gallon) and they really green up.

Nice job sir

I think it turned out well!!!

So much better after you zapped it with your laser space gun. They will fill out.

Those things do bite! You don't won't to learn the hard way. Safety gear isn't just a formality when working on these Sagos.

Looks great

Nice work

Needed this thank you

Why do people keep planting these so close to their houses? They have no business being there.

Marathon Watching 4/17/22 This looks much better afterwards!

Cool! Thanks!

I hate sago palms. I have three on my property I plan to remove all of them. They also have a TON of spiders in them. I debated on just burning them but I dont mind the spiders so I am not going that route.

I believe there are palms that once overgrown need to be completely removed. There just hard to trim and make em look good.

A bit too much green taken off for my taste I would have removed the ones which are touching the ground. Other than that its clean and you can easily acces and clear up the plantbed underneath in the future.

Are you nervous Brad? You cut the poor plant a lot ! Lol

Ughhh I hate trimming sago palms, had a customer once and she wanted those trimmed daily every time I come over there it sucked lol had so many thorns on my hands!

Can you remove the extra clusters? Like the one you pruned has three. Mine has two and I’d like to only have a single one. Just asking. Good video!

Hello, when is the best time to trim your Sago Palm? Can it be done in the middle of Summer 90° F ? Ty! 🌴

Strong warning, do not let your pets, dogs being a likely victim, consume any part of the Sago, especially the seeds from the female pods. Mortality rate is 50-75% and if they do survive there is a very high probability of liver damage that can be fatal.

Cest vraiment un super produit je le vend en france dans mon magasin a 149€. Pour l'huile de chaine je dis à mes clients de couper une bouteille et de tremper le guide de temps en temps pour bien lubrifier la chaine. Salut de France mon amis 😉

Another beautiful mature plant butchered by the lawn-guy.

I have brown limbs all over, even on top, from the cold winter. Do I cut all the brown off?

I just found your channel. Since you're in Florida how many run ins with Gators annnd snakes and whatever other creepy creatures have you run into lol. Great content, subscribed for sure

All I have to say is get well soon..with ur ouchie...😆..also I wonder if that makes good fire wood..?.or a fire starter??

They say to not trim the prongs that are 10 and 2 o'clock is that true???

I love my sego palm. I think you did a find job and they grow back quick maybe you can answer this for me....my palm decided to grow 3 other palms on the side. Is there anyway to stop the two sides from growing?

We have to be careful here in East Texas trimming those sagos. The baby copperheads bed in these and come alive about this time of year. BTW That is exactly how we trim them. There is no "pretty" way to trim a sago. It will fill back in and this way there is room to keep the ground around it clean.

Greetings from Brazil my friend

Nice!!!!

I'm in Wisconsin and have never seen a Sago Palm. Can you trim back the individual fronds or do they have to be completely removed? I imagine they would brown out if trimmed back. I would have left a few more rows so it wouldn't look so much like a mohawk, but what do I know about SF. Will the fronds grow back from the lower area where you removed them?

Great video Brad , I'll be posting a video of Echo 2320t trimmer you gave me soon , would love for you to check it out and get your opinion

Have you ever found any animals inside a bush or plant? My neighbor cut down a pine tree and baby squirrels fell out.

I really dislike trimming sago palms. All over the place here in SETX!

It needs moving into the middle of the lawn where it can be seen in the round. Sago palms are slow growing but this in the wrong place and will eventually have to be moved or cut down. Another clueless customer.

How much would you charge for something like that?

It's bulky, trans planted away from the curb appeal of the house. And please keep making videos, your cool.

How long of a charge does that pruner run for before it has to be recharged?

1:55, thats why I hate Palms of any kind

Con la rosadera también se puede

when i trim Sago or other plants with a similar shape i prefer to have the first round of leaves perpendicular to the trunk (or better, at 80 degrees) , otherwise they get a "projection" effect that i don't like. when they are in clusters (like in this case) i only remove 80% of the extra leaves that overlap. anyway, the owner should have placed better those pants

It would have taken the whole thing out. It is ugly, hides the window and obscures the plants behind it. Personal taste👍🏻

I think you did a great job given it was over grown.

Nice ✊

Palm trees suck in general to work around as much as you avoid it you’ll get poked sooner or later

For the life of me I cant figure out why you youngsters dont put a tarp down to put the debris on while your trimming , thanks we dont have these palms up north

That's pretty much how i do it

In my non professional opinion, your trim job was just fine. I just wonder why people plants large growing plants so close to the house??

Little to high and tight...

I hate those things 😠 Nice job though 💪

Hey man

0:59 it was a lady palm, she had a necklace :(

I’d fire you if you did a job like that.... JK looks good!!

👍🏻