How to Cut Fronds or Frond Stubs From a Date Palm Tree

Put on a long-sleeved shirt, gloves, hat and safety glasses to protect your skin and head from injury. Remove debris, rocks and other obstacles from around the base of the date palm.

Pour 1 part water and 1 part bleach into a bucket. Stir the solution briefly with a stick to combine the liquids. Submerge the blade of a pruning saw in the liquid for 5 minutes. Pull the saw out and hold it over the bucket to allow excess solution to drip back into the bucket. Set the saw on a flat, clean work surface to air-dry.

Place an A-frame ladder next to the date palm if needed to reach the base of the fronds. Position the ladder to the side of a dead, brown, dry or yellowing frond.

Bring the saw to the tree. Climb the A-frame ladder to a point where your torso rises above the stems of the fronds selected for pruning.

Grasp the frond in one hand, holding its stem just below the leaves. Lift the frond upward if it is drooping to better expose its stem. Hold the saw in the opposite hand. Cut horizontally through the frond's stem, 1/2 to 1 inch out from the trunk to avoid damaging the bark. Ensure that no one is standing below the frond. Drop the frond to the ground.

Repeat the pruning process to remove all dead or dying fronds. Dip the saw in the bleach solution after removing each frond to kill any pathogens on the blade. Pick up the cut fronds and stems, depositing them in a trash bin. Leave the frond stubs, also called boots, on the tree to dry for two to four weeks.

Climb the ladder to reach the frond stubs. Grasp the end of a stub in one hand. Pull the stub repeatedly back and forth to loosen it from the tree. Do not use excessive force to make the stub loose as this may cause the trunk's bark to tear, creating a wound that disease and insects may enter. Continue to pull on the stub until it comes free from the trunk. Drop the stub to the ground. Leave stubborn stubs that do not loosen on the tree for an additional two weeks to dry further.