How to Prune a Bismarck Palm

Look at the overall shape of the Bismarck palm's canopy of fanlike fronds. It naturally becomes a rounded mass of leaves, even extending fronds horizontally and to the ground in young plants that lack a trunk or have a short one. Note if any fronds pose a hazard such as blocking a walkway, rubbing into a building facade or encroaching upon another prized plant in the garden.

Remove fronds that pose a hazard or are already dried or light brown in color and sagging along the trunk. According to the University of Florida, there's no reason to remove healthy fronds or those that grow horizontally or upward-angled in the canopy. In fact, removing healthy palm fronds stresses the plant and slows its growth and production of food.

Saw into the base of the frond with a pruning saw about 6 inches from the trunk. Grasp the stem petiole of the Bismarck palm frond with your spare hand and balance it as you cut; it is large, heavy and cumbersome. As you penetrate into the stem with the saw, be prepared to support more weight of the dropping frond. Balance the frond as you saw to prevent it from tearing at the base and to help guide its fall.

Lift the cut frond away from the palm or direct its drop to the ground after the pruning cut severs it.

Trim off any flower stalks that emanate from the cluster of frond bases in early summer if desired. Bismarck palms are either male or female based on their flowers; only pollinated female palms yield the blue-green fruits that ripen to black. Removing flower stalks improves the visual "cleanness" of the palm in some people's eyes. Keeping the flower stalks is fine, too, but they will dry to brown in fall and not look attractive.