Here in lovely Orange County, we are fortunate to be able to experience all manner of flora. You’ve probably seen more trees in California than you’re able to identify, of all shapes and sizes. However, perhaps the most iconic California tree is the palm tree. Palm trees come in many different forms, but they all share similar traits of being long and skinny, with a collection of palm fronds (essentially oversized leaves) sticking out of the top like a messy hairdo. But you already know this.

What you might not know, however, is how heavy palm fronds can be, and by extension, how dangerous it is if one is to fall on somebody. This is one major reason why we provide tree services in Orange County — falling palm fronds are more dangerous than most people realize.

To put things in perspective, let’s take a look at things that weigh as much as palm fronds. Try imagining these things falling on your head — that will help to paint a mental image of how dangerous a falling frond can be.

A Bowling Ball – 15 lbs

Because there are so many different kinds of palm trees, we can’t give an exact weight for palm fronds, so we will use many different weights in this post. On the more generous lighter side, palms might weigh as little as 15 pounds. That doesn’t sound too bad, right? That is, until you consider the fact that many bowling balls weigh that amount. Imagine one of those dropping off your head from a hundred feet up. We’re going to guess you’d rather not think about it.

Light palm fronds aren’t as dense or concentrated in mass as bowling balls are, but they are still solid, wooden, and can be lethal when falling from high distances.

A Fifteen Foot Canoe – 40 lbs

If you’re looking at a slightly larger palm frond, it can be anywhere from 40 to 60 pounds. Let’s be conservative and go with 40. Did you know that’s the same weight as a 15 foot canoe? We’re going to assume that you didn’t wake up this morning planning on getting crushed by a giant canoe falling out of the sky, but then again, most people don’t wake up expecting for a medium-sized palm frond to fall on them. And yet, if palm trees aren’t properly trimmed and maintained, it can happen anywhere in Orange County.

A Toilet – 100 lbs

In particularly dangerous cases, large palm fronds can weigh 100 pounds or more, which can effectively turn into a ton’s worth of force upon hitting the ground. It’s likely that you don’t spend much time thinking about the weight of toilets, but, as it turns out, that’s about as much (give or take) as an average toilet weighs.

Can you imagine walking outside, only for a ceramic toilet to fall out of someone’s window ten stories up? Yeah, that’s probably the end of life as you know it. Unfortunately, exceptionally large fronds can have just as much of an impact.

Tree Trimming in Orange County

Fortunately, there’s a solution — professional tree companies such as OC Tree Service are trained to trim palm trees so that dangerous and unstable fronds are removed. It is very important to call a tree service for this kind of job — even at the source where the fronds grow, they can be very dangerous if mishandled.

Need tree removal, tree trimming, or stump grinding anywhere in Orange County? Contact us today!