I had several palm trees cut down but (big mistake) I did not get the trunks and roots dug up....how to do it

Question

I am doing it manually.....which means I cannot hire someone to do it....any advice would be appreciated....thanks......

Answer 1

The problem with palm trees, especially big ones, is that they have these long tendrils flowing out from the root ball in all directions to hold the tree to the soil. These tendrils are very tough and practically cemented into the soil. For small palm trees (less than about 15 feet tall), earthmoving equipment can be used to dig the root ball out without much damage, to where the trees can be transplanted elsewhere. But, for taller/older palm trees, the root ball is so big and dense that you need heavy excavating equipment to dig them out. And, they will get damaged to where you can't transplant the tree.

The only other option is to grind the stump, as Eskie Lover mentioned. In this case, you grind it down to about a foot below the surface of the ground and backfill the hole with dirt. Eventually, the remnants of the stump will decompose. Until then, you just have to realize that you can't grow anything over the ground-out stump that has to be planted more than a foot deep.

Answer 2

You are lucky because most palms aren't very deep rooted.  You can rent a stump grinder which will make fast work of it (about $35 a day at the Home Depot but cheaper to rent over the weekend).  You can also use a reciprocating saw to cut the stumps into quarters, then horizontally for each quarter and then using a pry bar lift out the sections.  That is the way I have seen the gardeners do it in our area.