How & when do I prune a mexican palm tree ? What should it look like before and after ?

Question:should it have a hairy look to it ? and yellowing parts on the palms do you just cut them out ?

Answers:
Good Palm Tree care can mean avoiding removing most of the leaves (fronds) yearly or more frequently because it may weaken the Palm and slows its growth. Mature fronds provide food for developing fronds, flowers, fruit, roots and storage reserves in the Palm's trunk (Banjerth 89 in Pfalzgraf 2000).

When Palm Tree green fronds are pruned, the nutrients they would have produced are lost to the rest of the Palm Tree. Some nutrients move from older leaves of Palms to newer leaves as they die. With potassium (and to lesser extent other nutrients deficiency, ) removal of older green or chlorotic leaves exacerbates deficiency. Nutrient deficiencies also cause narrowing of the Palm Trees trunks and decline in the size of the fronds.

Another care point, the pruning now causes the Palm Tree to obtain its potassium from younger leaves in the canopy. These previously green and healthy leaves will then become chlorotic and unsightly. Regular removal of potassium deficient leaves can eventually kill the Palm

Research has shown that mature fronds are those found below the current year's blooms. When pruning, take care to leave at least two rows of mature fronds, preferably more.
Never prune or off more of the Palm's leaves in one year than are produced during that time. Research done by E. J. H. Corner (1966) indicates that each species of Palms has a set number of green live fronds with the same number of developing fronds inside the bud area of the Palm Trees.

As a new frond emerges, the oldest frond dies. The age that a frond may attain will be determined by many factors including size of mature Palm Trees, number of fronds produced, etc.

To prune Palm Trees the key care factor is that only the Palm knows when a frond needs to be pruned off, and that is when it is dying (yellow or brown). As each new leaf opens, it will take the place of a dying leaf. The Palm knows the exact amount of fronds needed for a healthy Palm Tree. When Palms reach their ultimate height, the fronds will decrease in size and the Palm Trees will decline and die.

Here are pics of what a Mexican Fan Palm should look like: http://www.sunpalmtrees.com/gallery/mexi...
http://www.sunpalmtrees.com/gallery/mexi...
http://www.sunpalmtrees.com/gallery/mexi...

Doubtless the most common ornamental palm planted in the U.S. is the Mexican fan palm, Washingtonia robusta. Probably the second most popular is the only other representative of the genus, the California fan palm, Washingtonia filifera. Both these species often have a very characteristic and mostly picturesque shag of dead leaves, someties called a "petticoat." These petticoats are the adherent dead leaves whose leafbases often refuse to fall from the trunk unless pulled, cut or burned off, the latter phenomenon being a common natural occurrence in their native desert and arid grassland regions. The palms seldom retain enough dead leaves in moist and humid climes to form the petticoat but, in more arid regions like southern New Mexico, southern Arizona and all of southern and coastal California, they usually do. Some palm owners love the shag, especially that of the California fan palm; other owners detest it and call it an "ugly haystack." The easiest way to remove the shag is, of course, one leaf at a time; i.e., as the individual leaves die and become pendent, they are removed. Unless the owner wants a clean and smooth look to the trunk, the petioles may be severed by nothing more sophisticated than a pair of loppers or lopping shears, which will leave the leafbases (which are usually called "boots") adherent to the trunk. For tall palms a ladder (or climbing by means of belts) is also a necessity. In humid climates these boots will fall away with time; in more arid regions they are often a permanent part of even tall trunks, only gradually falling away near the base of the trunk with maturity of the palm.

And then there is the "manicurist mentality": those who want palms like Washingtonia robusta to have clean and smooth trunks from the very bottom all the way to the leaf crown. This look is quite popular mostly in southwestern amusement parks and fantasy parks like the Las Vegas "strip." The removal of all adherent leafbases (or boots) from these palms creates an undeniably enchanting tableau because of the elegantly thin and tall trunks, but the procedure is both time consuming and labor intensive, especially for tall specimens, and W. robusta can grow (and rather quickly) to a height of 40 feet and very old palms may attain a height of 100 feet. The boot removal necessitates strength to pull the younger leafbases from the trunks, and often requires a large linoleum knife or similar instrument and, of course a ladder (or climbing gear) for the taller specimens. A chain saw is sometimes employed, but it takes not only strength and a steady hand (in order to not mar the wood of the trunk) but also usually something more substantial than a ladder, something like a cherry-picker, for the taller specimens. For shorter palms a person with strength and a steady hand may skip the lopper segment of leaf/boot removal and cut both leaves and boots in one operation with a chain saw, the caveat being the necessity to avoid cutting into the live leaves and, of course, the trunk.