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Palm and Tree Library

Field Notes

What we see in the field across Southwest Florida, written for the managers, boards and superintendents who run communities: the threats that kill palms, the budget calendar, soil and water, and the standards behind the work. See the guides

37posts since May 2025

Featured · Budgets and Planning · 6 min readWhy Health Care, Pruning and Removals Belong in One Plan

Every pruning cut and every removal is a health decision, so splitting them across vendors costs a community more palms and more money.

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Sit on a board? Start with these three.

  1. 01For HOA and POA boardsHOA Budget Season: When to Put Palm and Tree Care on the Table5 min read
  2. 02For CDD and ISD boardsCDD and ISD Boards: Put Palm and Tree Care in the Budget Before June5 min read
  3. 03When a palm turns bronzeLethal Bronzing: What Boards Should Know Before Acting4 min read

All field notes

Newest first · page 1 of 3

2026

12 notes on this page
ThreatsNovember 4, 2026 · 3 min readIn TCI Magazine: Lethal Bronzing in Palms, Test Before You TreatTree Care Industry Magazine published Jeff Kaulbars' article on lethal bronzing. The short version, for the people who answer for the palms.ThreatsOctober 27, 2026 · 4 min readPalm Pests in Southwest Florida: Which Ones Actually MatterThe pest that blackens a frond rarely kills the palm, and the one that kills it is usually hidden until it is too late.ThreatsOctober 13, 2026 · 4 min readPalm Leaf Diseases vs. the KillersA spotted frond is rarely the emergency, four palm diseases have no cure, and a lab test is how we tell them apart.ThreatsOctober 6, 2026 · 4 min readFusarium Wilt Travels on Pruning SawsFusarium wilt moves palm to palm on contaminated tools and hides for months, so the defense is a clean saw and no susceptible replant.ThreatsSeptember 22, 2026 · 4 min readGanoderma Butt Rot: When a Conk Means the Palm Is LostGanoderma butt rot has no treatment, rots the base while the canopy still looks fine, and turns a palm into a collapse risk.PruningSeptember 8, 2026 · 4 min readPalm Pruning: The 9-and-3 Rule and Why We Stop at the LineEvery cut on a palm is permanent, so we prune to one line: everything below it off, nothing above it cut, timed by species.StandardsAugust 25, 2026 · 4 min readPrescription Pruning: Why Every Cut Should Have a ReasonJeff Kaulbars holds the Florida Chapter ISA Prescription Pruning Qualification, and every tree we prune gets a written prescription before the first cut.StandardsAugust 11, 2026 · 4 min readWhat We Check When New Trees and Palms Go InWe assess every new planting against the plan and report what we find, before or after the community accepts it. What happens next is up to the community and its installer.StandardsJuly 28, 2026 · 5 min readANSI A300: The Questions a Board Should Ask Any Tree CrewThe national tree care standard gives a board a yardstick for every bid and every invoice, if the board knows what to ask.Budgets and PlanningJuly 14, 2026 · 6 min readPlanning for a District That Doubles: A Multi-Year Palm and Tree BudgetWhen the inventory doubles in three years, last year's budget is the wrong starting point, and next year's costs are already in the ground.Storms and ColdJune 23, 2026 · 4 min readTree Loss Reports: Know What You Lost Before You File or ReplantAfter a hurricane, a written count and value of every storm-damaged tree gives the board, the insurer and the replanting budget one number.GolfJune 9, 2026 · 5 min readShade on the Greens: Which Trees Are Costing You TurfGrass cannot make up for missing morning sun, so a shade study maps the trees that matter and lays out one plan to fix it.

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