Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Crews from Gomez Construction were busy removing 15 Canary Island date palms on First Street, which will be replaced by hardier species to reduce long-term maintenance costs.
The newly-reconstructed block of First Street in front of the iconic Walesbilt Hotel in Lake Wales is being re-landscaped to avoid high long-term costs, according to city officials. Canary Island date palms are being replaced this week by different species that will be hardier. Work is expected to be completed by Thursday.
City Horticulturist Kevin Polk made the decision to remove the rows of Canary Island date palms, which have been affected by a disease known as lethal bronzing across the state.
"The long-term cost of maintaining them runs over $4,000 a year," Polk Explained, saying that in the past year he has been forced to treat the trees with tetracycline four times each, at a cost of $100 each treatment for each of the 15 trees.
Polk also explained that the palms, selected for planting by the city's landscape consultant prior to his hiring, were planted in soil with an improper pH, making them weaker and more susceptible to the bronzing disease.
Hands-on city horticulturist Kevin Polk, left with spade, has modified the irrigation systems that will serve the new palms to be planted this week in from of the Walesbilt Hotel.
The trees will be replaced with Livistona Nitida palm trees, which Polk described as similar to both native Sable palms and the decorative "string" palms, which will be highly resistant to diseases and require a minimum of maintenance. He added that they are fast-growing like the towering Washingtonia palms along Tillman Avenue and elsewhere in the city.
The palms were removed at no cost using labor and equipment provided by city streetscape contractor Gomez Construction. Polk is prepping the ground by removing two feet of additional soil and replacing it with new pH-corrected soil. Scores of coontie plants were salvaged from the site and will be installed elsewhere.
Polk indicated that he had experienced similar problems with landscape palms in Lakeland, where he ran horticultural activities including the well-known Hollis Gardens.
"You replace one, then another, then another, and the trees aren't cheap," he said. "it's better to do this once than keep replacing them a few at a time."
Reader Comments(1)
Nonanita writes:
As I recall, several local residents with expertise in this area cautioned the City at a commission meeting when they were replacing the dying palms the first time, to replace them with a more native species. Their advice went unheaded. As far as their being no cost to the city to replace them, I understand that an owed credit is being used to defray the cost. Therefore there is a cost if one considers that the credit could have been used toward a future project, when needed.
06/04/2025, 10:09 am